Prepared by CWSP

The Spring European Council of March 2003 asked the Commission to report annually on developments towards gender equality and orientations for gender mainstreaming of policy areas. This report is the fourth to comply with that request.

The Report focuses on development of the EU gender equality policy and legislation and challenges and policy orientations aiming at eliminating gender gaps on the labour market, encouraging a better balance of private and family responsibilities between women and men, ensuring that policies on gender equality have the full support of cohesion and rural development policies and ensuring effective implementation of the legislative framework.

The European Union, which has now been enlarged to 27 Member States, is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of gender equality policy and the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. Moreover, equality policy is at the centre of two areas of concern: growth and employment, and demographic change. It will need the full support of the cohesion policy, the new programming period for which begins in 2007.

With the adoption of the Roadmap for equality between women and men on 1 March 2006, the Commission defined its priorities and its framework of action for promoting equality in the period to 2010, thus continuing its task of promoting gender equality and ensuring that all its policies contribute to that objective. The Roadmap represents the Commission's commitment to continuing and intensifying its actions in this area. Detailed follow-up reports will be compiled annually.

At the European Council of 23 and 24 March 2006, the Member States approved a European Pact for Gender Equality. The Pact demonstrates the Member States' determination to implement policies aimed at promoting the employment of women and guaranteeing a better balance between professional and private life in order to meet the challenges of demographic change. 

2006 saw the adoption of the new regulation of the Structural Funds (Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006) and Regulations (EC) 1081/2006 and 1083/2006) and of the Community strategic guidelines on cohesion for the period 2007-2013, which foresee both specific measures and the integration of the gender perspective in all actions.

As regards violence and human trafficking, in a Communication of August 2006, the Commission put forward a Strategy to measure crime (including human trafficking, violence against women and domestic violence) and criminal justice.  Actions for the EU plan on developing a comprehensive and coherent EU strategy to measure crime and criminal justice 2006 – 2010.

Gender equality is also recognized as a factor in economic development in the framework of the EU's External Affairs. By the beginning of 2007, the Commission will prepare a Communication on the integration of gender equality in development cooperation.

CONCLUSIONS

Building on this report and in line with the priorities set out in the Roadmap and the European

Pact for equality between women and men, the European Council is invited to urge the Member States to urgently take up the challenges described above, in cooperation with the various stakeholders. Particular emphasis will need to be placed on:

• taking all possible steps to eliminate the gender pay gap;
• strengthening gender mainstreaming in the implementation of employment policies;
• continuing the efforts aimed at allowing men and women to reconcile their professional, private and family lives, and supporting the social partners in implementing measures in that area;
• adopting an approach to issues of demographic change which takes account of and supports gender equality;
• making full use of the potential offered by the Cohesion and Rural Development Policy to support the promotion of equality between women and men through programmes co financed by the Funds;
• acting promptly to transpose Directives 2006/54/EC on the equal treatment of men and women (recast) and 2004/113/EC on the equal treatment of women and men in the access to and supply of goods and services.