Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-29-Speech-1-125"

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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we, too, welcome the Commission proposal and the report that Mrs Prets has produced on behalf of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities, even though we do find it very much to be regretted that both fall far short of what had been expected, in that such important areas as education, the media and advertising have been left out. We nevertheless believe that this proposal puts plenty of wind in the sails of equality for women and men in the EU. The removal of these inequalities in services was long overdue, and, with this report, we have set up a landmark for equality policy. It is hypocritical and unfair for the private insurance sector to make threatening gestures; it is merely trying to promote panic among consumers and its customers. As has already been said, it is far better to include other risk factors in calculations. It is lifestyle that is crucial to life expectancy. We know from studies in the USA that 86% of us live for the same length of time. Just as nobody thinks in terms of discriminating on the grounds of ethnic origin, there must be no discrimination on the grounds of gender. Now of all times, when the adoption of a European constitution is about to be adopted, it would be a mockery for us to fail to push forward the equality that it – as has already been said – has as one of its core values. Although I see the Commission’s proposal for the progressive removal of discrimination as something of an admission of its inadequacy – we would have liked more than that – I do believe that, when we vote, we have to send a clear and unambiguous message in support of equality policy and against discrimination. The principle of equality must count for more; after all, even private insurance companies are bound by it, and it is intolerable that these should use unacceptable forms of discrimination as a means of securing themselves a competitive advantage over statutory insurance schemes. I would like us to be seen by the whole world as a beacon for equality policy; I want the EU, being such a great economic area, to set up a landmark, and our vote to carry a clear message."@en1

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