Activities of Kira Marie PETER-HANSEN related to 2021/2080(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on reaching women’s economic independence through entrepreneurship and self-employment
Amendments (24)
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas femalewomen entrepreneurs and self-employed are an under-utilised source of sustainable economic growth and, job creation and its promotion is an important tool in fostering women’s economic empowerment and independence; whereas supporting this group can also strengthen EU competitiveness;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas women only constitute 34.4 % of the self-employed in the EU and 30 % of its start-up entrepreneurs; whereas even though self-employed women are in the minority among self-employed workers, they are more likely to fall into poverty; whereas the lack of social provisions for self-employed workers is especially problematic for women as the lack of access to adequate pension rights, sick pay, paid maternity/parental leave aggravates the gender pay and pension gap for self-employed women;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas women face more difficultbarriers in pursuing entrepreneurship than men; whereas these barriers includeare constructed around gender stereotypes which contribute to gender segregation in education, a lack of specific training, a lower level of self-entrepreneurial confidence, less access to information, financial support and social and business networks and difficulties in reconciling work and family life due to the persistent expectations of women carrying out most of the unpaid care and domestic work combined with the lack of adequate public care infrastructures to support families;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas women facing intersectional discrimination due to their racial, ethnic or economic background, origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender expression and identity impacts the way women experience challenges, including in pursuing entrepreneurship and becoming self-employed;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas promoting women entrepreneurs as role models can be useful in encouraging women to consider entrepreneurship as a career; whereas it is important that these role models show women in all their diversity and appeal to women from diverse backgrounds and intersecting identities;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas statistics show that femalewomen entrepreneurs have more difficulties than men in raising finance; whereas women-led companies still account for a very small portion of investment recipients; whereas all-malen founding teams received 93 % of all capital invested in European tech in 20188 ; _________________ whereas on average, start-ups owned by women receive 23% less funding than those run by men; whereas although women account for 30 % of all entrepreneurs in Europe, they only receive 2 % of the non-bank financing available1a; _________________ 1a [1]European Commission and European Investment Bank, Funding women entrepreneurs: How to empower growth, 2018. 8 Skonieczna, A. and Castellano, L., 'Gender Smart Financing. Investing In and With Women: Opportunities for Europe', European Economy Discussion Papers, No 129, July 2020, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas only 10 % of business angels in Europe are women9 and only 10 % of all senior positions in private equity and venture capital firms globally10 are occupied by women; whereas several studies show that investment managers tend to provide capital to those who are similar to themselves; whereas, leaving women and especially those from diverse backgrounds and facing intersectional discrimination in a clear position of disadvantage; whereas implementing quotas to achieve gender balanced leaderships and developing the ecosystem is key to improving funding conditions sustainably for women-led companies and creating a reliable network of femalewomen investors; _________________ 10 International Finance Corporation, Moving Towards Gender Balance in Private Equity and Venture Capital, International Finance Corporation, Washington DC, 2019. 9 EBAN, Statistics Compendium – European Early Stage Market Statistics, EBAN, Brussels, 2019.
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas six Member States have created 11 private funds to fill the gap in funding for femalewomen entrepreneurs and these funds use gender considerations in their investment criteria; whereas some of these funds have received national or EU support, which shows the important role of public policies in promoting entrepreneurship11 ; _________________ 11 Eurofound, Female entrepreneurship: Public and private funding, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2019.
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas 59 % of scientists and engineers in the EU in 2018 were men and only 41 % were women, representing a gap of 18 %12 ; whereas social norms, stereotypes, cultural discouragement and gendered expectations about career choices, which are often reinforced through educational content and curricula, are two of the main drivers of gender segregation in higher education and in the labour market; _________________ 12 Eurostat, 'Women in science and technology', Products Eurostat News, 2 October 2020.
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
K a. whereas women’s economic independence and empowerment is central to realizing women’s rights and gender equality; whereas promotion of economic independence requires boosting women entrepreneurship and self- employment but also the implementation of a set of policies that ensure: women’s equal participation in the labour markets; equal pay for equal work or work of equal value; women’s access to and control over productive resources; access to decent work; control over their own time, lives and bodies; equal sharing and recognition of domestic and care responsibilities; and increased voice, agency and meaningful participation in economic decision- making at all levels from company boards, banks, governments to international institutions;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes Commission initiatives such as Women TechEU and the European Innovation Council Women Leadership Programme and the creation of various European networks for female entrepreneurs; urges the Commission to promote such initiatives more actively by focusing on the EU sustainable growth potential and to support the achievements of women entrepreneurs; in all their diversity
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Stresses the importance of broadening the horizon of women entrepreneurship to include more sectors than STEM and IT and to promote various forms of entrepreneurship; Calls on the Commission and Member States to implement measures to improve the diversification of entrepreneurship and to allocate specific resources to promote social and collective forms of women entrepreneurship;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights the necessity and importance of recognising and promoting women entrepreneurs as role models and to ensure that these role models represent women in all their diversity; notes, in this regard, the European Network of Female Entrepreneurship Ambassadors, which encourages women to consider entrepreneurship as a career;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Urges the Commission to continue working with the Member States to urgently break the deadlock in the Council and adopt the proposed Directive on ‘Women on Boards’;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Calls on the Commission to develop an strategy with Member states to ensure the meaningful representation of all women from diverse backgrounds in decision-making roles and with specific actions and policies to promote their economic empowerment; Calls to ensure that all measures for women entrepreneurship include an intersectional perspective to ensure that all women receive the relevant help and support and that no woman is left behind;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes public and private women entrepreneurship programmes in the Member States that include elements of networking, mentoring and training to support and advise women entrepreneurs; notes that publicly available reports and testimonials in seven Member States suggest the positive impact of these programmes; urges the Commission to collect data from all Member States and analyse the impact of femalewomen entrepreneurship programmes; calls the Commission to share best practices to strengthen and increase the share of women entrepreneurs and self-employed in the Member States;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls, in particular on the Commission and the Member States to allocated specific funds for awareness-raising campaigns aiming to break the persistent gender stereotypes in education, training, school curricula and career guidance, for greater women- focused promotion of STEM subjects, social economy, digital education and financial literacy in order to combat prevailing stereotypes and ensure that more women enter these sectors and contribute to their development; highlights the importance of promoting education and careers in finance to women to support the development of a reliable network of femalewomen investors;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on Member States and the Commission to increase financing opportunities, create dedicated funds, and seek innovate ways to support and facilitate access to funds for women entrepreneurs and self- employed and to assist them in overcoming the multiple barriers they face; urges the Commission to establish a European network of gender- conscious investors; considers that such a network will be able to provide women-led companies with relevant connections, networks and funding opportunities; Stresses the need for awareness-raising and information campaigns about EU funding possibilities to provide tailored support to women business owners and women entrepreneurs;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes public and private funds that implement diversity policies; notes, in this regard, the diversity commitment initiative, which is the first initiative in the world where private funds have committed to measuring and tracking representation on gender and to reporting annually and in public on their findings; Suggests that these diversity commitments become mandatory for all funds;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission and Member States to systematically track and monitor gender-disaggregated data across the whole Union to ensure high-quality data on EU and national funding programmes; Reminds as well the importance to collect equality data in order to have information on intersecting experiences of discrimination and highlights that this could serve as a basis for more informed policy decisions in the future;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Better framework for femalewomen entrepreneurs
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Calls on Member States to implement the 2019 Council recommendation on ensuring effective access to social protection systems and entitlements, including pension and leaves for all self-employed workers and to implement all the principles set out in the European Pillar of Social Right as a way to ensure non-discrimination and foster gender equality;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Calls on Member States and the Commission for the introduction of gender mainstreaming at all stages of the design process of support measures for women entrepreneurs and to consult with a diverse group of potential and current women entrepreneurs in order to ensure they are aligned and match their expectations and needs;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights the importance of work- life balance for women entrepreneurs and self-employed; calls on Member States to support social frameworks, such as flexible childcare, that are essential to encouraging more women to take part in entrepreneurship; Stresses the importance to achieve equal share of domestic and care responsibilities between genders and calls for equal fully paid and non- transferable maternity, paternity and parental leave between parents; welcomes actions already taken by some Member States on this matter; recognises national differen and urges them to ensure universal access to quality childcare and long term care services and to promote access in social policy and respect for subsidiarityfor self-employed workers to public services and relevant tax and social advantages in the area of childcare;