Strasbourg, 15/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 8 March, International Women's Day, the European Parliament held a debate on follow-up to the platform for action of the World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. Also, on 10 March, it adopted a resolution affirming that, despite many improvements, the situation of women in the EU has not made substantial progress since the conference (EUROPE of 9 March, p.15, on the subject of the press conference by President Barroso and Commissioner Spidla). In its resolution, the EP welcomes the Commission's proposal on an updated directive on equal opportunities and the treatment of men and women when it comes to employment and work, and also the adoption in 2004 of the directive on equal access to goods and services (a very controversial proposal from the Commissioner at the time, Ana Diamantopoulou). The Parliament is firm that there is a need to combat violence against women throughout the world and calls for 2006 to be a “European Year against Violence against Women”, in which the candidate countries - Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey - as well as the “neighbouring countries” should be actively involved (Commissioner Spidla gave a somewhat ambiguous answer to this request). On the subject of Turkey, the EP condemns the brutality of the Turkish police in Istanbul on 6 March during a demonstration organised to celebrate the International Women's Day. While welcoming the reforms adopted in Turkey, it deplores the fact that women continue to be the victims of honour crimes and violence, and calls on the EU to closely follow women's rights in the country. The EP is adamant that women should participate on a more equal footing in political life including “with positive discrimination measures such as quotas”, as well as in economic life and again expresses the hope that a “quota of 40% women at least should be guaranteed” for personnel taking part in mediation activity, peace-keeping, conflict prevention and disaster relief, including fact-finding and observation missions on behalf of the Union and its Member States. The EP, moreover, calls for special attention to be paid to reproductive health and for specific indicators to be adopted regarding feminisation of poverty. Opening the debate, President Borrell mainly spoke of the phenomenon of violence against women and the feminisation of poverty. He exclaimed that, although there is still much to be desired when it comes to women's rights, this is not just a problem for women to solve, but rather for the whole of society. Germany Social Democrat Lissy Gröner welcomed the role played in New York at the “Beijing + 10” UN conference by EU Council President Marie Josée Jacobs. “I would have liked the same commitment on the part of the European, Commission”, she admitted. Also, like other MEPs, she welcomed the fact that, in New York, the attempts by the United States to take a step backward on the right to abortion had been thwarted. The only man who took the floor during the debate was Marin Libicki (UEN, Poland), who was highly critical of abortion saying that it can entail sterility and “post-abortion depression”. Belgian Socialist Véronique De Keyser said in response to this: “Allow a woman and a psychologist to point out that there is also post-partum depression”. Ms de Keyser also paid tribute to Simone Veil, the first elected president of the European Parliament, who, in her capacity as minister and after having been the target of mudslinging by detractors, had courageously defended the law in France to legalise abortion. Mr Libicki took offence at the reference in the resolution to “reproductive health”, as did Urszula Krupa (Ind/Dem, Poland) who protested that one cannot speak of “reproductive health in women - it's a term fit only for animals”. Slovakian national Anna Zaborska (EPP-ED), Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights, who said in French that the “choice of abortion is not an issue just for women but for society as a whole”, also paid tribute to those who have dedicated their lives to defending the dignity of women. The question currently raised is that of choice, AVril Doyle (EPP-ED, Ireland) asserted, stating “we are now able to control our fertility and should be able to choose whether to become a mother or work if we want”. In Ireland, despite “all our economic success”, most women cannot allow themselves a second child, she said. Portuguese Socialist Edie Estrella expressed indignation about the criticism that women receive when “they must leave their work early to pick up a sick child, when it is considered perfectly normal for them to pick up a car from the garage”. Marie Josée Jacobs, speaking on behalf of the Luxembourg Presidency, and Commissioner Vladimir Spidla recalled the progress made in Europe thanks to anti-discrimination legislation, and Mr Spidla announced that the European Commission will be preparing a communication on violence against women for this half year.