Activities of Edite ESTRELA related to 2009/2204(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Gender aspects of the economic downturn and financial crisis - Assessment of the results of the 2006-2010 Roadmap for Equality between women and men and forward looking recommendations - Charter for Women’s Rights - follow up (debate)
Amendments (19)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas much attention has been focused on the male-dominated construction and car industry, in contrast to thethe first wave of the crisis hit mostly the male-dominated financial sector as well as the construction and car industries, this way gaining more attention, however the second wave of the crisis equally negatively affected the mostly female-dominated retailing, general services sector and tourism sectors; whereas it is urgent; therefore it is necessary to address the gender dimension of the impact of and solution to the economic and social crisis in national and European recovery plans,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas mainstream economists have pointed out that the credit crunch, which started the recession, was quite literally a man-made disaster; whereas responses at state and international level – none of which awere not sufficiently gender-sensitinclusive – have also been decided upon mainly by men; whereas it is important that women, who are generally better qualified than men, be fully included in the decision-making process in the political, economic and financial spheres as well as social partners agreements,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the world economy is facing the most severe recession since the Great Depression, with social consequences across the EU and beyond; whereas the economic and financial crisis in Europe is having a particularly harmful impact on women, – who are more likely to be in insecure jobs, more liable to be made redundant and less likely to have social security cover – a circumstance which has so far not been given the attention it deserves by the Council, the Commission and the Member States,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas, according to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working conditions, women spend three times as much time as men on caring for children, dealing with domestic issues and looking after dependent relatives, whereas the sharing of family and domestic duties between men and women, not least by developing the use of parental leave and paternity leave, is a precondition for promoting and achieving gender equality; and whereas not counting periods of maternity and parental leave towards aggregate working times is discriminatory and places women in a worse situation on the labour market,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas in times of economic recession particularly, people who are already at risk of falling into poverty become even more vulnerable, the majority of whom are women, become even more vulnerable, especially female migrant workers and those belonging to a minority group; whereas efforts and complete solutions to eradicate poverty as agreed upon by the Lisbon European Council as long ago as 2000 have become a matter of urgency; whereas special attention should be paid to protecting those groups facing multiple disadvantages, especially the Roma, and to ensure their inclusion into society,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas quality full-time employment with quality jobs is the bestrights is a safeguard against poverty and social exclusion; whereas it is crucial to design and implement policies as well as springboard to financial and psychological independence; whereas by addressing universal access to quality public services, it is crucial to design and implement policies, that respond to the needs of women and men respectively, including access to affordable and, accessible and quality care services, that respond to the needs of women and men respectively for children, the elderly and other dependents,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas domestic violence, which mainly affects women, is a widespread problem in every country and every social class; whereas studies have shown that violence against women intensifies when men experience displacement and dispossession as a result of the economic crisis; whereas economic stress often leads to more frequent, more violent and more dangerous abuse; whereas the cost of domestic violence to the EU is in the region of EUR 16 million per annum,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. DeploNotes with regrest the fact that policy responses to the crisis, including recovery packages, have failed to acknowledge, analyse and rectify the gender impact of the crisis; criticiseregrets the fact that gender mainstreaming in the post-Lisbon strategy is basically non-existent;, calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to integrate a gender chapter on gender equality with specific targets into the employment and macro-economic guidelines and the EU 2020 Strategy, and to introduce gender budgeting in all policies;,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Member States to develop affordable, accessible and quality care services for children and other dependants, in line with the European targets; underlines the fact that, and to ensure that the availability of those services is compatible with women and men’s full-time working schedules; urges the Commission and the Member States to fully capitalise on the potential of the Structural Funds and of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development forand to facilitate the access to the financing of quality services should be fully utilised; urges the Commission to propose a directive on paternity, adoption and filial leave;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Asks the European institutions and, the Member States and the local and regional authorities to take effective steps, notably through legislation, to encourage gender balance in corporate and political positions of responsibility, including on boards of directors, and in local, regional, national and European public institutions, administrations and organisations which should set an example; therefore calls for binding targets to ensure the equal representation of women and men;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. UNotes that, in the light of the EU 2020 Strategy, the 'green economy' is crucial, underlines the fact that ‘green jobs’ have the potential to become a key growth segment of the future European labour market, that today more than 20 million jobs in the European Union can be considered as ‘green’ and that recent evidence shows that jobs in the renewable energy sector alone have a potential to double to 2.8 million by 2020;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Encourages the European Institute for Gender Equality to undertake an gender impact analysis of the gender impact of the economiceconomic and financial crisis; considers that this impact assessment should be performed with the aid of precise indicators taking account of the specific context of the crisis and; calls on the other European institutions, such as the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, to addresspropose responses to gender issues in their ongoing work;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas recent studies have shown that only 5% of those with decision-making responsibilities in the EU financial institutions are women and all 27 central bank governors in the Member States are men, and whereas gender studies have pointed out that women manage in a different way by avoiding risk and focusing more on a long- term perspective,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas women continue to assume the greater part of family and domestic responsibilities and are likely to become even more overburdened by those tasks with decreasing household purchasing power,
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas, according to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, women in full-time employment work 40 hours per week on average and men 43, this being above all because women spend three times as much time as men on caring for children, dealing with domestic issues and looking after dependent relatives,
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas studies have shown that violence against women intensifies when men experience displacement and dispossession as a result of the economic crisis; whereas economic stress often leads to more frequent, more violent and more dangerous abuse,; whereas the cost of domestic violence to the EU is in the region of EUR 16 million per annum;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to draw up a study at Union level on the relation between the number of women on company boards and companies’ financial performance, taking into account the study drawn up by Catalyst Inc. in 2007 which concluded that companies with three or more women on the board have an 83% higher return on shares and a 73% higher return on sales;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Stresses that Europe’s economies stand to benefit from better use of female talent; recalls that since 2000 women have filled 6 million of the 8 million new jobs created in the EU, and that women account for 59% of graduates; points out that, according to a study of 2006 by the Women & Work Commission, for example, the UK could generate an extra GBP 23 billion (2% of GDP) if it made better use of women’s talents;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the Norwegian Government’s decision to increase the number of women on the boards of public limited companies to at least 40 %, which has made it possible to raise the proportion of women on boards to the current figure of 41%; calls on the Commission and the Member States to take the Norwegian initiative as a positive example and move in the same direction for listed companies;