THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS
1994-1999 Women's Rights Series
FEMM 105 EN  

Introduction

The Committee on Women's Rights has resulted from a long evolutionary process going back to the creation of an ad hoc committee in 1979. The very limited remit it had at the outset, to analyse the situation of women within the European Community, contrasts with the role it currently plays in promoting women's rights and equal opportunities.

This document aims to give a brief survey of its development and assess its impact and its work during the 1994-1999 parliamentary term. During this period, the Committee on Women's Rights adopted many reports, gave its opinion on a wide range of topics, held hearings on issues which were sometimes controversial such as affirmative action or matters of concern such as trafficking in women. It sent delegations to many countries. During the same period members of the Committee on Women's Rights were very much involved in negotiations on the Amsterdam Treaty.

The Committee on Women's Rights has thus become a kind of mirror reflecting the main questions confronting women in a changing Europe. In this context it endeavours to find a place on the agenda for issues which have not yet been taken up by the Commission or the Council.

I. 1979-1994: CREATION AND ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS

The first direct elections to the European Parliament were held in June 1979. At that time Parliament was chaired by a woman, Mrs Simone Veil. There were 67 women in that new Parliament, not many in comparison with the approximately 170 women in the current Parliament. Nevertheless, those women were responsible in October 1979 for setting up an ad hoc committee to analyse the situation of women in the European Community.

This committee was chaired by Mrs Yvette Roudy and worked for 14 months preparing a major debate which led to the adoption of a resolution on 'the position of women in the European Community' ⁽¹⁾. In this document of 11 February 1981, the ad hoc committee presented an exhaustive list of points concerning the specific problems and discrimination experienced by women, which were exacerbated by the economic crisis at the time.

In principle the resolution meant the end of the committee's mandate, although it made provision for it to be reconstituted after two years to assess changes in the interim. However, in June 1981 Parliament set up a committee of inquiry to review the extent to which the objectives set by the 1981 resolution were being achieved and to monitor developments in the situation of women in all the countries of the European Community, as otherwise the aspirations expressed in the resolution risked being forgotten.

It was not until 1984 that the Committee on Women's Rights was set up permanently. After two and a half years of work, the Committee of Inquiry submitted a report and a motion for a resolution, adopted on 17 January 1984 ⁽²⁾ in which Parliament proposed setting up a permanent committee after the June 1984 elections, in order to preserve the acquis communautaire and promote equal opportunities between women and men. The 116 articles of this resolution provide a guide to a policy on women.

In July 1984 the newly-elected Parliament decided at its constitutive meeting to set up a permanent committee on women's rights. The committee at that time had 25 members (30 after Spain and Portugal joined), and its objective was to monitor the application of the directives which were in force in the area of equal opportunities and also to consider issues such as education, employment, vocational training, new technologies or migrant women. In future it was to draw up reports on various topics, meet every month and regularly organise hearings and debates on all topical subjects concerning women.

The fact that the members and substitutes of the Committee on Women's Rights are also members of other committees has allowed the Committee as such to table amendments to other committees' motions for resolutions when they were relevant to equality between men and women.

The Commission of the European Communities, taking Parliament's resolutions into consideration, has implemented from the 1980s onwards specific action programmes to promote equal opportunities between women and men. At the time when it proposed the first Community action programme to promote equal opportunities for women (1981-1985) ⁽³⁾ discrimination still existed despite Article 119 of the EEC Treaty on equal pay and various directives on equal pay ⁽⁴⁾, equal treatment in employment ⁽⁵⁾ and equal treatment in social security ⁽⁶⁾. At present the fourth medium term Community action programme on equal opportunities for women and men (1996 to 2000) is in force ⁽⁷⁾.

This legal instrument has been complemented by directives on equal treatment for self-employed workers ⁽⁸⁾ and on the safety and health of women who are pregnant, have recently given birth or are breastfeeding ⁽⁹⁾. At the political level, equality between women and men has become, if not a permanent concern, at least a recurrent theme in politicians' speeches. At Community level the 1994 Essen European summit on employment policy recognised that promoting equality between women and men, together with combating unemployment, was a priority task for the EU.

II. 1994-1999: SUMMARY OF THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS

The amount of legislation on equality between women and men has increased during this parliamentary term. The Committee on Women's Rights has drawn up numerous reports which led to resolutions adopted by Parliament. New directives were also adopted during this period, on which the Committee on Women's Rights gave its opinion; for example on the directive on reversing the burden of proof in cases of sex-based discrimination ⁽¹⁰⁾. There have also been directives on matters such as parental leave ⁽¹⁾ and part-time working ⁽¹¹⁾.

During this third parliamentary term since it was set up, the Committee on Women's Rights has drawn up numerous reports, ten of them on its own initiative when, pursuant to Rule 148 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure, the Committee on Women's Rights decided 'to draw up a report and to submit a motion for a resolution to Parliament on a subject within its competence'. To this end, it had to 'request prior authorisation from the Conference of Presidents'.

There is another category of own-initiative reports adopted on the basis of Rule 50 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure in conjunction with Article 192 of the Amsterdam Treaty (former Article 138B of the EC Treaty). Under this Rule 50, 'Parliament may request the Commission to submit to it any appropriate legislative proposal ... by adopting a resolution on the basis of an own-initiative report from the committee responsible and authorised pursuant to Rule 148'. Article 138B of the EC Treaty states 'In so far as provided in this Treaty, the European Parliament shall participate in the process leading up to the adoption of Community acts ... Parliament may ... request the Commission to submit any appropriate proposal on matters on which it considers that a Community act is required for the purpose of implementing this Treaty'.

The Committee on Women's Rights has also carried out remarkable work during the negotiations leading to modifications to the Maastricht Treaty. Many of Parliament's concerns were taken into account, and promoting equality between men and women is now one of the tasks of the European Union.

The main activity of the Committee on Women's Rights during this parliamentary term was based on incorporating equal opportunities between women and men into all Community actions and policies (mainstreaming). Mainstreaming is enshrined in Article 3 of the Amsterdam Treaty; Article 3(2) states 'in all the activities referred to in this article, the Community shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women'. Mainstreaming as a priority Community activity represents incalculable progress, the effects of which will only be measurable during the next parliamentary term.

The mainstreaming strategy must be combined with more specific measures and here it is a matter of ' positive action to promote women where they are particularly disadvantaged' ⁽¹³⁾. The text adopted in Amsterdam also refers to measures providing for specific advantages for women, which has been viewed in some quarters as discriminatory. Article 141(4) of the Amsterdam Treaty states 'the principle of equal treatment shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or adopting measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for the under-represented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in professional careers'. Article 6 of the Agreement on Social Policy, incorporated in the consolidated Treaty, refers to 'specific advantages in order to make it easier for women to pursue a vocational activity'.

Two judgments by the Court of Justice of the European Communities have provoked much discussion, the Kalanke (1995) and Marschall (1997) judgments, and the Committee on Women's Rights held several hearings on this subject. The judgment of 17 October 1995 in the Kalanke case revealed that there was a lack of legal clarity on equal opportunities issues, as it stated that a policy of positive action with regard to recruitment and promotion contravened Article 2(4) of Directive 76/207 on equal treatment, which provides for the possibility of 'measures to promote equal opportunity for men and women, in particular by removing existing inequalities which affect women's opportunities' in the area of access to employment, including promotion and vocational training. On 11 November 1997 the Court judged in the Marschall case that the directive in question allows Member States to adopt measures which, by giving special advantages to women, aim to improve their ability to compete on the job market and to pursue a career on an equal footing with men. Thus, Member States are allowed to apply a national rule under which women with the same qualifications as a male applicant may be given preference for promotion in areas where they are under-represented, if this rule is likely to reduce actual, existing inequalities.

The Committee on Women's Rights has also been mobilised on several fronts to urge the EU to commit itself to specific measures and incorporate the 'gender perspective' into all policies. It has organised hearings on this topic, to review the circumstances of a particular situation or to monitor policy implementation in the Member States, particularly concerning combating violence against women and children and trafficking in women, as evidenced by the number of resolutions adopted on this topic and the written declaration on violence, signed by 350 Members of Parliament. The EU attended the Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 which recognised that women's rights were an integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. This is symptomatic of the EU's willingness to include the women's rights issue as a fundamental factor in its relations with third countries. The Lomé Convention currently contains several clauses relating to equality between women and men. The opinions of the Committee on Women's Rights on reports by the Committee on Development and Cooperation have played an important part in incorporating the gender perspective into development cooperation policy.

Parliament in general ⁽¹⁴⁾ and its Committee on Women's Rights in particular, have expressed satisfaction with Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty (former Article 6a). This provides that the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting Parliament, may take appropriate action 'to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation'.

The Committee on Women's Rights stressed that discrimination was particularly prevalent on the job market and that labour policy should take account of the difficulties faced by women. The Amsterdam Treaty has responded to these concerns as it includes a new title which incorporates the women's perspective (Title VIII - Articles 125 to 130).

At the extraordinary European Council on employment held in Luxembourg on 20 and 21 November 1997, the Member States agreed on the guidelines for national employment policies, and these commitments led to the national employment plans submitted to the European Employment Council in Cardiff in June 1998. Part of the employment strategy was devoted to measures which the Member States should implement to promote equality between men and women. The Vienna Summit of 11 and 12 December 1998 called for stronger national action plans and an employment pact to be submitted to the summits during the German Presidency. In 1999, mainstreaming must be included in the employment guidelines to the extent that a horizontal policy of equality between men and women must be applied to all four other chapters ⁽¹⁵⁾.

III. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTIONS ON THE BASIS OF REPORTS BY THE COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Parliament evaluates the three previous equal opportunities action programmes. In the light of the objectives set out by the Commission in its White Paper on European social policy - a way forward for the Union ⁽¹⁶⁾ (need to combine paid and unpaid work, to end segregation on the labour market and bring more women into the decision-making process), it lays the foundations of the fourth medium-term action programme 1996-2000. This should be implemented by a binding procedure and provided with sufficient financial means, with precise evaluation criteria. Parliament welcomes the idea put forward by the Commission of an annual report on equality between women and men and stresses the need for information and awareness campaigns at national level with regard to the acquis communautaire and its implementation.

With a view to EU participation in the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in September 1995, Parliament, aware of the future importance of this event, states that the rights of women and children are an integral part of universal human rights. It also draws attention to the various forms of discrimination and violence suffered by women throughout the world. As the World Conference took place in China, a country where a coercive policy is in force against women wishing to have more than one child, Parliament took the opportunity to emphasise respect for human rights, the situation of women from minority groups, particularly from Taiwan and Tibet, and the importance of a strong NGO participation in the conference. Parliament also highlights the problems of poverty, the situation of women's health in the world and women's participation in the development process and advocates information and training campaigns, particularly with regard to trafficking in women and girls, the situation of women in armed conflicts and rape.

Parliament is in favour of the Commission proposal but includes amendments aiming to achieve better monitoring of the implementation of equal opportunities directives and the preparation of new directives on atypical working, reversal of the burden of proof and combining work with family life. It proposes that the principle of equal treatment and opportunities be included in the Treaty so that positive measures can be taken in the area of economic, political, social and cultural rights with the aim of achieving parity between men and women.

Parliament welcomes the Commission memorandum on equal pay for work of equal value as a specific strategy instrument and calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a directive to put in place positive measures to eliminate discrimination against women and as a matter of priority to evaluate the effect on equal pay of all its proposals in relation to the job market. It also calls on the Member States, the Commission and both sides of industry systematically and transparently to gather information on pay and on segregation in the world of work in order to ascertain in what way pay is discriminatory. Parliament also calls on the Intergovernmental Conference to propose a new, more precise, wording of Article 119 of the EC Treaty with regard to equal pay for work of equal value, in line with the Court of Justice Case Law referred to in the Commission memorandum.

Parliament welcomes the proposal for a recommendation, subject to various amendments concerning in particular monitoring the effects of various types of voting system on the political representation of women on elected bodies, equal participation by women and men in access to and exercise of judicial functions at local, regional and European level and the appointment of equal opportunities ombudsmen in particular to monitor implementation of equal opportunities legislation, to whom women could apply for information about their rights.

The Commission adopted a modified proposal on 30 May 1996 (COM(96)0252).

The Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994 resulted in an action programme where women play a central role, both in population development and in effective demographic stabilisation. Parliament in its resolution maintains that improving the status of women and their participation in economic, social and cultural life are among the essential preconditions for the success of any demographic or development policy. It also highlights some objectives of the Cairo programme, particularly universal access to family planning services before 2000. Lack of information is the reason why female sterilisation is still the most widely used birth control method. Parliament calls on the EU and its Member States to promote cofinancing of development programmes which take account of the differences between men and women, while promoting the creation of networks and exchanges between NGOs, governments and the people concerned. It calls on the Commission to evaluate the effect of development programmes on demography, in particular with regard to women's health and education.

Parliament welcomes the Commission proposal, subject to some amendments aiming in particular to extend the directive's field of application to contracts for atypical work (including contracts for part-time employment).

The Commission adopted an amended proposal on 19 November 1996, incorporating the amendments to include part-time workers in the directive's field of application (OJ C 379, 14.12.1996 and COM(96)605).

Parliament hopes that the work of the Intergovernmental Conference will lead to a new legal basis for equal opportunities in the Treaty and that positive action will be defined so that it can be included in the amended Directive 76/207/EEC. It calls on the EU Member States to give priority, in recruitment or promotion procedures, to candidates of the under-represented sex in the service where the post is vacant, to encourage more women to work for public bodies, to evaluate progress and to provide more opportunity for both sexes to combine work with family responsibilities. Parliament calls on the Commission to propose provisions encouraging the Member States to adopt equal opportunities measures in the public sector. It also calls on all the Community Institutions to eliminate any form of indirect discrimination against women in selection procedures and to encourage their access to responsible positions.

Parliament deplores the fact that Directive 86/613/EEC ⁽¹⁸⁾ had not really made it possible to improve the situation of the spouses of self-employed workers with regard to work or adequate social security cover, and hopes that the Commission will draw up an amended and more binding directive which would also apply to unmarried people assisting their partner. It calls for the proposal to provide for compulsory registration of 'spouses' to give them a legal position in social law and social security cover as well as the right to some benefits, to give them access to vocational training and the right to represent their company. Parliament also stresses the need to adopt a flexible formula to avoid excessive costs for small family businesses.

Parliament is in favour of the Commission proposal, subject to some amendments aiming to define indirect discrimination more precisely, to extend the directive's field of application, particularly with regard to parental leave and social security cover, to include a reference to positive measures and to oblige the Member States to inform the Commission, from 1 January 2002 and every three years, on progress made in implementing the directive.

Parliament retables some of its previous amendments and emphasises procedural aspects, particularly the parties' access to relevant information held by the opposing party, except for information relating to private life.

The Commission submitted a revised proposal (COM(97)0624), and the Council adopted a directive (97/80/EC) on 15 December 1997 on the burden of proof in cases of discrimination based on sex (OJ L 14, 20.1.1998, p. 6).

Noting that violence against women is a persistent and widespread phenomenon throughout society and deploring the fact that it is still too often tolerated, being considered essentially a private matter, Parliament calls on the Commission and the United Nations' member states to convert the Beijing Declaration into a binding convention and to criminalise acts of violence against women. It also calls on the EU Member States to introduce specific legislation to protect victims of sexual violence and to draw up specific provisions against sexual harassment.

Parliament suggests organising special training for judges presiding over this type of case, combating pornography in particular via the Internet, including rehabilitation projects for victims in programmes to combat trafficking in women and promoting research into the costs of violence by men against women. It hopes that 1999 will be designated the European Year Against Violence Against Women and that respect for women's rights will be included in all agreements with third countries.

Parliament regards the Commission communication on mainstreaming as a step forward in equal opportunities policy. It proposes setting up an interinstitutional working party to ensure that the objective of equality is constantly borne in mind in all Community activities and calls on the Commission to implement information campaigns leading to equal opportunities and rights in all the Community's policies and actions.

Parliament considers that the Commission annual report is not sufficiently analytical and neglects priority areas such as violence against women, women's health and the environment. It calls for the report to be more specific (for example by including a title on mainstreaming and positive action for women), for lines of action to be defined for the following year, for greater focus on developments and a glossary of terminology used in the equal opportunities context. Parliament also proposes measures to enable working life and family responsibilities to be combined effectively.

Noting that Member States' and European legislation to protect women against degrading images in the media is inadequate, Parliament calls for legislation to prohibit all forms of pornography in the media and advertising, and a ban on advertising for pornographic products and sex tourism. It proposes setting up a committee on ethics which would draw up a code of conduct.

Parliament stresses its concern that trafficking in women is increasing, for various reasons: women's vulnerability, poverty and marginalisation in their countries of origin; the large profits which this traffic can generate and low risks run by traffickers; the demand in Europe for women for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation. In order to combat this problem, Parliament proposes information campaigns covering the EU and third countries and addressed to women in general, and establishing a system of assistance to victims of trafficking to prevent them being socially excluded. Parliament regards this form of traffic as a violation of the fundamental rights of women, which cannot be viewed exclusively in terms of the fight against organised crime or illegal immigration. It calls on the Member States to implement the joint action adopted by the EU, and the international commitments derived from it, in particular from the Ministerial Conference on trafficking in human beings held at The Hague from 24 to 26 April 1997.

Parliament points out that the social economy covers the economic activities of enterprises, cooperatives, mutual societies and non-profit-making organisations. This 'third sector' is growing fast. Cooperatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations (CMAFs) combine economic goals with social provision, encouraging growth based on employment, fairness and equality. This sector of the social economy therefore should have a beneficial impact on women's employment; it offers a very wide range of jobs. Parliament calls for an assessment of the contribution made by the social economy to combating unemployment and to raising women's skill levels. It calls for the social economy to be taken into account in measures concerning SMEs. Parliament highlights a problem: the existing legal provisions do not fit in with these new forms of enterprises and Parliament considers that this could mean that their development is hampered. It therefore calls on the Commission to work closely with the Member States to set up a legal framework to encourage this new sector of the economy. Parliament also calls on the Member States to provide greater support, particularly financial, to cooperatives. It considers that the decision to set up a consultative committee on CMAFs ⁽¹⁹⁾ is very positive and calls on the Commission to draw up a white paper on this subject. Parliament also calls for new impetus for the proposal for a Council decision on a multiannual programme (1994 to 1996) of action for cooperatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations in the Community, as this programme was abandoned when it was not possible to find a consensus in the Council.

Parliament deplores the fact that women are invisible in unemployment statistics and that women's unemployment is underestimated. It considers that this is because the International Labour Organisation's definition of unemployment is used. It suggests adopting a new definition reflecting the situation of women in the job market and making it possible to provide better protection for women against unemployment. It also calls for all statistical information published in all documents concerning employment policy to be broken down by sex.

Parliament deplores the fact that women form the majority of a typical workers. It calls on both sides of industry to conclude a framework agreement on all these new forms of atypical work, noting in particular the problems of part-time working. Parliament calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a framework directive on services to care for children and dependants. Similarly, Parliament supports the idea of 'care years' to be taken into account on the same basis as any other work. With regard to parental leave, incentives such as reasonable payment or recognition in statistics of the value of this unpaid work would seem to be necessary. Parliament once more calls for individual social security rights, an essential stage to end provisions which discourage women from entering the job market. Parliament underlines the lack of a horizontal approach to employment, particularly in national employment plans; this is an essential measure and should be combined with ad hoc positive action measures. Parliament calls on the Commission and Member States to evaluate the impact of the social economy on women's unemployment.

Parliament notes that 10% of households are single parent families and that 80-90% of single parents are women, a very large majority of them not having chosen this situation. Referring to a previous study ⁽²⁰⁾, Parliament points out that these single parents face many difficulties on the job market, mainly because they are solely responsible for both work and family duties. Social organisation and the law do not take account of these new situations, they are based on traditional family patterns. Parliament therefore considers it essential to adapt laws, particularly on housing, insurance, taxation and social security. With regard to the latter two topics, Parliament for many years has been calling for individual social security rights. With regard to welfare benefits, although Parliament admits that because of the Member States' various budgetary problems, a reduction in the number of recipients of welfare benefit may be envisaged, this should not be to the detriment of the poorest, which often include single parents. Parliament criticises the measures adopted in the United States which deprive single mothers of welfare benefits if they do not work but are considered able to do so. Parliament also indirectly warns the United Kingdom against heading in this direction through its intention to place greater responsibility on single mothers.

IV. REPORTS AT THE END OF THE PARLIAMENTARY TERM

Following a public hearing on European case law on positive measures and a lengthy debate, the Committee on Women's' Rights rejects the Commission's proposal for amendment of the directive which reflected the decision by the Court of Justice in the Kalanke case (1995), referring to another Court decision in the Marschall case (1997), which took a more favourable view of positive measures. The Committee points out that after all the Me