The Council adopted the following conclusions on the Beijing Platform for Action.

In particular, it :

- emphasises the need to take concrete steps both to implement gender mainstreaming and in support of specific actions to achieve gender equality;

- encourages Member States and the Commission to develop methods and tools for gender mainstreaming, such as gender budgeting, gender audit and gender impact assessment as a priority for the future and to further develop gender expertise and gender training;

- underlines the importance of enhanced dialogue and cooperation with civil society and the social partners;

- invites the Member States and the Commission, in connection with activities under the programme for equality between women and men, the work of the future European Institute for Gender Equality and other Community activities, to continue to focus on the critical areas of concern mentioned in the Beijing Platform for Action;

- invites Member States and the Commission to support, encourage and disseminate research and to continue to improve the collection and compilation of timely, reliable, comparable data disaggregated by sex on the multiple factors that affect the full enjoyment by women of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including their right to development, and on violations that are particular to women and girls; to disseminate the findings and to use data thus collected to set time-bound targets and to assess the implementation of the human rights of women;

- invites Member States and the Commission to strengthen institutional mechanisms and to create a framework to assess the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in order to create a more consistent and systematic monitoring of progress;

- invites the Commission to include the assessment of relevant indicators, developed for the follow-up of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, in its annual report to the Spring European Council;

- confirms the mission of the high-level group on gender-mainstreaming established by the Commission to follow up the Beijing Platform for Action in the Council and to ensure gender mainstreaming in Council formations;

- stresses the importance of strengthening the link between the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Cairo Programme of Action, the Copenhagen Declaration and Action Programme, the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals and emphasises the need to adopt, at European level, a coherent approach towards these different objectives which are reinforced mutually.

Lastly, Member States and the Commission are urged to ensure that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Cairo Programme of Action are fully integrated into the preparation for, and the outcome of, the Millennium Summit in September 2005. Moreover, a gender perspective should be fully taken into account during the high-level review of the Millennium Declaration and integrated through the seven strategic priorities identified in the Millennium Projects in order to empower women and meet the Millennium Development Goals.

The European Parliament adopted a joint resolution by 434 votes in favour, 52 against with 53 abstentions on the follow up of the Fourth World Conference on Women Platform for Action (Beijing + 10).

Firstly, the resolution strongly condemns the brutality of the Turkish police in Istanbul during the demonstration on 6 March 2005 to mark International Women's Day, and asks the Commission to present Parliament with a full report on what happened.

Moreover, Parliament requests that Member States adopt legislation, or enforce their existing laws, to put a stop to the female genital mutilation being perpetrated on their territory, and help the third countries concerned to set up programmes with local NGOs to combat such practices. It equally calls upon Member States identified as known sites of non-consensual sterilisation to coordinate law enforcement efforts and put an end to this practice.

Parliament does recognises that some positive measures have been taken in relation to violence against women; stresses, however, the lack of a clear political commitment to addressing and eradicating domestic violence against women, sex tourism and trafficking in women, including legislative measures such as asylum rights for victims. It calls, therefore, on the Commission to declare 2006 European Year against Violence towards Women and urges it, further, to include Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and neighbouring countries fully in the preparations for, and all events, programmes and projects in connection with, the year against violence towards women. Education and training are essential to the achievement of equality between women and men and Parliament underlines the need for lifelong learning and vocational training to promote equal access for women to skilled jobs and all levels of professional life.

The resolution also welcomes the adoption of the directive implementing the principle of equal treatment for women and men in access to and supply of goods and services and regards the directive as an important tool to ensure gender equality. The resolution regrets, however, that not enough progress has been made towards completely eliminating the use of gender as a discriminating factor for determining premiums and benefits in relation to insurance and related financial activities.

The European Parliament adopted a joint resolution by 434 votes in favour, 52 against with 53 abstentions on the follow up of the Fourth World Conference on Women Platform for Action (Beijing + 10).

Firstly, the resolution strongly condemns the brutality of the Turkish police in Istanbul during the demonstration on 6 March 2005 to mark International Women's Day, and asks the Commission to present Parliament with a full report on what happened.

Moreover, Parliament requests that Member States adopt legislation, or enforce their existing laws, to put a stop to the female genital mutilation being perpetrated on their territory, and help the third countries concerned to set up programmes with local NGOs to combat such practices. It equally calls upon Member States identified as known sites of non-consensual sterilisation to coordinate law enforcement efforts and put an end to this practice.

Parliament does recognises that some positive measures have been taken in relation to violence against women; stresses, however, the lack of a clear political commitment to addressing and eradicating domestic violence against women, sex tourism and trafficking in women, including legislative measures such as asylum rights for victims. It calls, therefore, on the Commission to declare 2006 European Year against Violence towards Women and urges it, further, to include Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and neighbouring countries fully in the preparations for, and all events, programmes and projects in connection with, the year against violence towards women. Education and training are essential to the achievement of equality between women and men and Parliament underlines the need for lifelong learning and vocational training to promote equal access for women to skilled jobs and all levels of professional life.

The resolution also welcomes the adoption of the directive implementing the principle of equal treatment for women and men in access to and supply of goods and services and regards the directive as an important tool to ensure gender equality. The resolution regrets, however, that not enough progress has been made towards completely eliminating the use of gender as a discriminating factor for determining premiums and benefits in relation to insurance and related financial activities.