Brussels, 23/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 18 January in Strasbourg, the European Parliament adopted the own initiative report on the role of women in industry, by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL, Portugal). The vote in favour (508 votes for, 41 against, with 24 abstentions) expresses the Parliament's concern about the low percentage of women in the hi-tech sector. The Parliament calls on member states and the European Commission to implement strategies for tackling the career development disparities affecting women working in scientific and technological fields. It also calls on the Commission to encourage vocational training policies and programmes for women in an effort to increase their presence in the different industrial sectors.
A Parliament press release indicated that the plenary assembly, by a small majority (296 votes for, 294 against, with 7 abstentions), had voted in favour of getting rid of a Norwegian clause applying a quota system for increasing the number of women to at least 40% on the boards of public and private companies.
The Parliament is also calling on member states to take all necessary measures to fight efficiently against the exploitation of women at work, as observed in certain sectors, such as textiles. In the text adopted, the EP says that Community aid should not be granted to companies who having benefited from it in one member state, and who then transfer their production to another country, without having fully executed the contracts with the member state in which the Community aid was originally granted. (G.B.)