The Council adopted the Decision on a medium-term Community action programme on equal opportunities for men and women (1996-2000).

The ESC welcomed the basic thrust and objectives of the fourth action programme and stressed once again that equal opportunities should be a constant Community concern. The Commission could be proud of its legislative achievements emanating from Article 119 and complementary articles. Much still remained to be done however. Networking, partnership, active information exchange, mobilisation of public opinion and concerted efforts to achieve a fundamental change of attitudes with regard to the role of women in society were all, no doubt, vital. Likewise, ‘support pilot projects’ and the promotion of ‘30 to 40 Integrated Equality Projects throughout Europe’ would also commendably scratch away at the surface of societal prejudice and continuing discrimination against women. The ESC stressed, however, that, in the final event, it was in terms of real equality before the law and in the application of law that concrete progress towards effective equality of opportunity would continue to be made. The ESC urged the Intergovernmental Conference to consider incorporating the principle of equality and equal treatment in the Treaty, including a provision for positive measures so as to give a firm legal base to equality. It welcomed the Commission’s emphasis on promoting equality in a changing economy by encouraging women’s entrepreneurship and through mechanisms of mainstreaming, studies and greater information dissemination. It noted with regret that no measures or actions had been proposed in the programme that focused on health and safety issues at work or the problems associated with all forms of atypical work. It also regretted that no specific measures were included in the programme that addressed the issues associated with homeworking. The ESC was in favour of the Commission’s proposal for a framework directive for the care of children and other dependents. It reminded the Commission that such legislative initiatives needed to be accompanied by appropriate financial commitments.

The rapporteur, Mrs BENNASAR TOUS, recalled the different stages of the programmes on equal opportunities between men and women (1982, 1986, 1990) and stated that the present document differed from the others because it developed the citizenship of women. The priority objectives of the fourth programme were information and training for women, in particular with a view to adopting or strengthening the legal measures to combat all forms of social or private violence. She called for further mainstreaming of the programme, in other words integration of equality in all of the EU’s programmes, actions and structural funds and in all policies at every level. In short, the programme, which was based on the positive outcome of the Beijing Conference, sought to mark a change of attitudes towards the relationships between men and women within the family and in the workplace. Commissioner Flynn noted first and foremost that Parliament and the Commission had similar views on this issue. In this respect, he hoped to give priority to the amendments that significantly improved the programme. The Commission would continue to develop the programme from a legislative perspective and would present a communication on the principle of mainstreaming. The ‘Anima’ technical assistance unit would assist with the implementation of the programme. However, the amendment on the autonomous collection of statistics could not be taken over as its substantial financial costs would encroach upon the programme’s limited budget; it could perhaps receive support from Eurostat. Finally, Mr Flynn confirmed that he would support the negotiation in the IGC of a specific legal basis in the social field, and in particular for equal opportunities.

The Council held a policy debate on the proposal for a decision on a Fourth Programme on equal opportunities for men and women. It covered the following points in particular: - the objectives of the programme; - the incorporation of the principle of equality between men and women in all policies and programmes (mainstreaming); - the respective roles of the Community and the Member States. The delegations spoke favourably of the principle underlying the programme. Many felt, however, that important aspects of it should be made more specific. At that stage one delegation maintained a reservation on the legal basis proposed by the Commission, namely Article 235 of the Treaty. The same delegation also doubted that certain actions proposed would be compatible with the principle of subsidiarity. On the conclusion of the debate the President noted that: - the delegations felt that this sort of programme would give new momentum to action in this area; - the objectives, among which ‘mainstreaming’ was considered essential, were adequate although they should be made more specific; - the legal difficulty that had emerged must be examined in greater depth. The Presidency confirmed its intention of having the Fourth Programme approved at the Council’s December meeting on Labour and Social Affairs in order to ensure continuity of action in this field.