Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-08-Speech-1-085"
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"en.20040308.7.1-085"2
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"Mr President, I should like to concur with Mrs Karamanou in what she stated a moment ago about the coherence in the Commission's policy. I should like to congratulate the Commissioner warmly on the report on gender equality that was issued during the Spring Summit. At long last, it has to be said, that report pulls no punches.
Although progress has been made over the past few years, social inequalities between men and women remain extremely persistent. We know for a fact that women are disadvantaged in terms of labour participation and pay, that their economic independence is inadequate, that there is an unfair distribution of household and caring tasks and inadequate child care, while poverty in Europe is still predominantly a women's issue.
The theme of the Spring Summit will be the often-expressed aspiration towards becoming the world's most competitive knowledge economy. The Commission's message is quite clear: if we are not prepared to enable women to actually realise their right to equality, nothing will come of this noble ambition. The ageing of the population means that the economic basis is vulnerable. The ratio between the so-called active and non-active population should go up. Europe can simply no longer afford to leave the economic potential of women unutilised.
Socio-economic equality, however, cannot be realised unless the balance of power between men and women is also tackled in other areas. Violence against women and trafficking in women must be fought; more women should go into public administration; women must gain an equal share in research and science.
The social inequality between men and women revolves around the balance of power: power in cutting the cake, power in apportioning tasks, power in using the public space, power in determining the political agenda and definitions, power where identifying social problems are concerned and power in the fight for self-determination in respect of our bodies and lives.
Equality in those areas is a
but is also the price we are asking for using our economic potential. This requires tough negotiations around the kitchen table, but also around the tables of political power. At every summit, we always see a sea of men in grey suits, older men with grey hair, and a few women thrown in for good measure. They should be careful, because one day we will have the last laugh."@en1
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