Activities of Inês Cristina ZUBER related to 2013/2156(INI)
Plenary speeches (4)
Equality between women and men in 2012 (A7-0073/2014 - Inês Cristina Zuber) (vote)
Equality between women and men in 2012 (A7-0073/2014 - Inês Cristina Zuber) (vote)
Equality between women and men in 2012 (debate)
Equality between women and men in 2012 (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on equality between women and men in the European Union – 2012 PDF (273 KB) DOC (152 KB)
Amendments (52)
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states that any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the European Union is currently facing the biggest economic and financial crisis since the depression of the 1930s, a crisis aggravated by the so-called austerity measures that have been imposed on Member States by the EU institutions in the context of economic governance policies (SGP, European Semester, Pact for the Euro plus, fiscal compact) and ‘financial assistance’ programmes, and whereas unemployment rates in all Member States, and especially the southern Member States, have risen significantly as a result of this crisis;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the state of the labour market and that of social conditions remain critical, and whereas inclusive growth will require more strategic public investment;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas youth unemployment rates have reached unprecedented levels, averaging 23.1 % throughout the EU, and long-term unemployment has risen in most Member States, reaching its highest level ever in the EU as a whole;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)
Recital A e (new)
Ae. whereas the net destruction of jobs has coincided with an increase in precarious employment, in the form of low-paid part-time jobs and short-term contracts;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas unemployment rates in the south and on the periphery of the euro zone reached an average of 17.3 % in 2012, compared with 7.1 % in the north the centre of the euro zone1; __________________ 1 EU Employment and Social Situation; Quarterly Review, IP/13/879, 02.10.2013.
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) reached an average of 22.4 % in the south and periphery, compared with 11.4 % in the north and centre1; __________________ 1 EU Employment and Social Situation; Quarterly Review, IP/13/879 de 02/10/2013
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G c (new)
Recital G c (new)
Gc. whereas there are 25.4 million children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU, who are exposed material deprivation going beyond poor nutrition; 5.7 million children are unable to buy new clothing and 4.7 million do not have two pairs of wearable shoes (including a pair of all-weather shoes) and children suffering from material deprivation are less likely to do well at school, enjoy good health and succeed in their adult life than those living in decent conditions;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G d (new)
Recital G d (new)
Gd. whereas women entering working life are playing a leading role in the return to growth; whereas they make it possible for family income to increase, which leads to an increase in consumption, social security contributions and the volume of taxes collected, as well as revitalising the economy; whereas gender equality therefore has a positive impact on economic growth and in improving the standard of living;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G e (new)
Recital G e (new)
Ge. whereas the increasing risk of poverty is closely and directly linked to the destruction of significant social functions performed by the state, as seen, for example, with the recent destruction of public social security systems in a number of Member States, along with cuts in key social benefits (family allowances, unemployment and sickness benefits and income support) which affect many women, particularly those with dependent families and responsible for managing all their household problems;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas precariousness is a persistent feature of the EU’s labour market, which favours the accumulation of profit by management and primarily affects women, who suffer from wage discrimination and are more likely to be in part-time work, with lower wages, less social protection and fewer possibilities for economic independence; whereas women represent a large proportion of those engaged in undeclared work;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas the falling birth rate in the EU has been exacerbated by the crisis, given that unemployment, precarious situations and uncertainty regarding the future and the economy have led couples, and younger women in particular, to delay having children, thereby further reinforcing the trend to demographic ageing in the EU;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
Hc. whereas in 2012 the Council and the European Parliament discussed the Commission’s proposal for the 2014-2020 multiannual framework, and Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality adopted an opinion which referred, among other issues, to ‘the need for increased funding for gender equality actions, in terms of employment and growth in order to tackle horizontal and vertical gender segregation and to combat the gender pay gap and pension pay gap and the increasing poverty rate among women, as well as in terms of rights and democracy calls on the Commission and Council to establish gender equality as a specific objective in the Rights and Citizenship programme, as well as safeguarding the Daphne programme as an independent subheading in this same programme’1; __________________ Opinion of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality for the Committee on Budgets on the interim report in the interests of achieving a positive outcome of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 approval procedure, 19.9.2012;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H d (new)
Recital H d (new)
Hd. whereas, in 2012, three out of four members of national parliaments were men and those countries with over 30 % women in their national parliaments were Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Germany, with women having less than 10 % representation in Malta and Hungary;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H e (new)
Recital H e (new)
He. whereas in 2012, local and regional assemblies in the EU included an average of 32 % women and national governments were made up of 27 % women, a 3 % increase since 2003, which shows minimal change, with major variations between countries (for example, figures for women in national governments show 49 % in France and 6 % in Greece)1; 1 EC, Report on Progress on equality between women and men in 2012, p.54
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H f (new)
Recital H f (new)
Hf. whereas the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that women shall be guaranteed, on equal terms with men, the right to vote and be elected to publicly elected bodies, to participate in the formulation of government policy and perform all public functions at all levels of government and to participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H g (new)
Recital H g (new)
Hg. whereas the Strategy for equality between women and men 2010 2015 notes that although women make up almost half the EU’s workforce and over half of university graduates, they are still under- represented in decision-making processes and positions and that according to the most recent available data (2010), although 46 % of all PhD graduates in the EU 27 are women, only 15.5 % of higher education establishments are headed by women and only 10 % of universities have a female rector1. 1 EC, She Figures 2012 - Gender in Research and Innovation (2013)
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H h (new)
Recital H h (new)
Hh. whereas the 2012 report on the implementation of the EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development 2010-2015 was published in November 2012;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H i (new)
Recital H i (new)
Hi. whereas 31 gender mainstreaming initiatives were implemented in 2013 in various countries (including Bulgaria, Estonia, Denmark and Spain), notably including studies examining the impact of the crisis on women’s lives;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in April 2012 between UN Women and the EU, reaffirming the partnership between the two organisations and their commitment to promote and support capacity development for the inclusion of gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes and to ensure that national plans and budgets are sufficient to implement gender equality commitments1. __________________ 1 Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/who/partne rs/international- organisations/documents/un- woman_en.pdf.
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas poverty is increasing, with 26 % of women being considered at risk of poverty in the EU 27, against 23.9 % of men1; __________________ 1 Source: EUROSTAT
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a(new)
Paragraph -1 a(new)
-1a. Notes that part-time work has increased during the crisis and continues to be the most common form of employment for women (32.1 % in 2012, up from 30.8 % in 2007 and that involuntary part-time work has also increased and in 2012, accounting for 24 % of overall female part-time employment (against 20 % in 2007); __________________ 1 Source: SWD82013)171 final.
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1b. Notes that the current crisis has had a particular impact on young people, with the unemployment rate for under-25s standing at 22 % (10.7 % women, 10.6 5 men) in September 20121; __________________ 1 Source: Eurostat 155/2012, 31 October 2012.
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes that the standard of living of most Europeans continues to decline, particularly in the case of women, for whom the unemployment rate in the EU27 stood at 10.8 % in the last quarter of 20121. __________________ 1 Source: SWD82013)171 final.
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Points out that the experience of previous crises shows that the male employment rate generally recovers more quickly than that for women;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses the fact that, despite unemployment rates for men and women being comparable, the crisis affects women differently; points out that working conditions for women have become considerably more insecure, especially with the increasing prevalence of atypical forms of contract, and that women’s incomes have fallen significantly thanks to a number of factors, including the persistent wage gap which stood at 16.2 % in the EU in 2011 and over 20 % in Estonia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and Greece, with the resultant inequality in their respective levels of unemployment benefit and pensions and the feminisation of poverty. __________________ 1 Source: Progress on equality between women and men 2012 – A Europe 2020 initiative.
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Draws attention to the need to strengthen public mechanisms for labour inspection and to adopt methodologies able to measure the value of work and, for example, identify the existence of low- paid forms of work where the workforce is mainly female and which create situations of indirect wage discrimination;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the Member States to combat all forms of precarious employment, in line with the principle that permanent jobs should involve proper employment contracts;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Calls on the Member States to adopt active employment policies which promote the grade and quality of jobs and net job creation;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Calls on the Member States to develop specific measures targeted at the long- term unemployed, essentially focussing on professional training and swift reintegration into the job market;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses the need to enhance the responsibility of states and employers in relation to generational renewal and maternity and paternity rights, which means that women must have the right to be both mothers and workers without forfeiting labour rights;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Takes the view that helping women to return to the labour market requires multidimensional policy solutions incorporating lifelong learning and action to combat precarious work and promote work with rights and differentiated work organisation practices, at the woman’s request, so that they do not have to give up their careers or take career breaks;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Notes that social security is particularly targeted by two of the main thrusts of austerity policy: reduction of budgetary deficits through reducing social spending and improving competitiveness and cost-efficiency by cutting contribution payments by enterprises;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Calls on the Member States to strengthen social protection for the unemployed as a means of addressing the rise in poverty, particularly among women;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Calls on the Member States to apply specific measures targeted at young workers, specifically by prohibiting the abusive hiring of young people for posts that are essentially permanent and ensuring the existence of written contracts, traineeships and training grants which respect applicable collective bargaining agreements, and provision of social security;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 f (new)
Paragraph 4 f (new)
4f. Stresses that making the Youth Guarantee a reality requires public investments that will promote net job creation, create permanent jobs with proper employment contracts, and respect collective bargaining for wages and the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value; urges the Member States to ensure that the Guarantee, when implemented, does not reproduce the same gender inequalities existing in the labour market;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 g (new)
Paragraph 4 g (new)
4g. Insists that prevention is better than cure; therefore urges the Member States to more closely follow the situation of children, by monitoring youth unemployment, the percentage of young people not in education, employment or training, family disposable income, the at- risk-of-poverty rate and wage inequality, which will enable more rapid and accurate identification of major social and employment problems;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 h (new)
Paragraph 4 h (new)
4h. Calls on the Member States to increase their child support budgets, specifically by expanding the public network of day care, nurseries and public services providing extracurricular activities for children;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 i (new)
Paragraph 4 i (new)
4i. Strongly recommends to the Member States that they boost investment in public education, strengthening its democratic outlook and pedagogical organisation, upgrading school curricula, improving working conditions in schools, guaranteeing universal free access to high-quality and inclusive educational and social provision and thereby combating school failure and dropout;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Strongly recommends to the Member States that they boost investment in public services, particularly primary care health services, relating to sexual and reproductive health-focusing on health promotion and disease prevention; recommends to the Member States that they safeguard women’s right to free, high-quality public gynaecological and obstetric healthcare services and to sexual and reproductive health in general, including the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Recalls that the UE ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 22 January 2012, according to which signatory members undertake to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the basis of disability and to refrain from engaging in any act or practice that is inconsistent with the Convention;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
Ib. whereas a diversity of family structures exists in the various EU countries, based on civil partnership or marriage, between persons of the same or different sexes, families where the parents are married or unmarried, of the same or different sexes, single parents, foster parents and families with children from previous relationships, all of which deserve equal protection under EU laws;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Notes that the destruction of jobs and the rise in unemployment are two of the most salient features of the current crisis, as shown by the increase in unemployment rates in the EU 27 from September 2011 to September 2012, from 9.8 % to 10.6 % respectively, representing a further 2.145 million people unemployed1; 1 EUROSTAT news release of 31 October 2012, 155/2012.
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Stresses that the need to combat the reproduction of social stereotypes relating to women and draws attention to important measures included in Parliament’s report on the elimination of gender stereotypes, which was adopted in 2013, such as monitoring of media advertisements promoting stereotypical views of women’s and men’s roles in domestic and working life.
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Draws attention to the increasing prevalence of flexible working hours: weekend work, more irregular, unpredictable and extended working hours; also notes that flexible working times mainly apply to part-time workers, who are mainly women, so that the latter are more affected than men by week-to- week variations in their schedules which make it difficult to balance family and working life; emphasises the importance of promoting measures designed to reconcile professional, personal and family life;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Stresses that flexible working hours should be the worker’s decision, and should not be imposed or enforced by the employer; rejects situations of flexibility and contractual uncertainty that do not provide for family formation and stability;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a . Observes that the economic crisis contributes to harassment and violence of all kinds, as well as prostitution, with women as the victims, and that this is a violation of human rights; insists on the need to increase public, financial and human resources with which to intervene in support of groups at risk of poverty and to tackle situations of risk faced by children and young people, the elderly, people with disabilities and the homeless;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Points out that austerity measures in various countries have increased women’s vulnerability, both collectively and individually, adding to their exploitation and driving them towards poverty and marginalisation, which also feeds the trafficking of women and prostitution;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Underlines the need to improve the collection of high-quality primary data on support services for women who have survived domestic violence, and that such data need to be comparable, reliable and not limited to criminal statistics provided by the police, which should be complemented with comprehensive, high quality studies based on field research;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Points out that the EU’s migration policies to ‘combat illegal immigration’ are based on a philosophy of criminalising the status of ‘illegals’ and clamping down on immigrants, as reflected in the 2010 Return Directive, and should be refocused towards social inclusion in host countries; stresses that these policies are adding to the vulnerability of, and failing to protect, undocumented migrant women victims of violence, who, for the most part, do not seek help;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8d. Points out that undocumented migrant women are in a more vulnerable position and that, in many countries, those who suffer domestic violence have no source of support other than the public health services;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 e (new)
Paragraph 8 e (new)
8e. Recommends to the Member States, in their national action plans to eliminate domestic violence, that they lay down the obligation of supporting undocumented migrant women in exactly the same way as women staying legally, without any requirement for institutions to report such cases to the authorities;