Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities
2002/2261(INI)
24 March 2003
OPINION
of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities
for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
on Communication
from the Commission concerning Corporate Social Responsibility: A business
contribution to Sustainable Development
(COM(2002) 347 – C5-0574/2002 – 2002/2261(INI))
Draftsperson: Anna Karamanou
PROCEDURE
The Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities appointed
Anna Karamanou draftsperson at its meeting of 5 November 2002.
It
considered the draft opinion at its meetings of 19 February and 18 March 2003.
At the
latter meeting it adopted the following conclusions unanimously.
The following were present for the vote Marianne Eriksson (acting chairperson), Olga Zrihen Zaari (vice-chairperson), Jillian Evans (vice-chairperson), María Antonia Avilés Perea, Regina Bastos, Ilda Figueiredo (for Armonia Bordes), Fiorella Ghilardotti, Marie-Hélène Gillig (for Elena Ornella Paciotti), Koldo Gorostiaga Atxalandabaso, Karin Jöns (for Lissy Gröner), Hedwig Keppelhoff-Wiechert (for Emilia Franziska Müller pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Christa Klaß, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Astrid Lulling, Maria Martens, Christa Prets, Olle Schmidt (for Lone Dybkjær), Miet Smet, Patsy Sörensen, Joke Swiebel, Sabine Zissener.
CONCLUSIONS
The Committee
on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities calls on the Committee on Employment
and Social Affairs, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following
points in its motion for a resolution:
B.
deeming
it essential to encourage women to participate more in the establishing and
running of SMEs and promote women's entrepreneurship outside the traditional
retail and services trades, attractive to women because of their low start-up
costs;
C.
pointing out
that the lack of women on boards and in the role of director is the largest
barrier for corporate advancement of women and that advances of female executives
throughout companies in the E.U. have produced a new pool of talent with experience
in many industries, mainly in countries where such initiatives are supported
by financial measures in their favour;
D.
whereas an
increase of the number of women in business – and boards of directors and
in managerial positions – should be encouraged mainly by giving them access
to "how-to" information on business development, providing them
with financial assistance programs and facilitating women's access to loans
and other financial instruments;
E.
recognising that numerous organizations
offer awards commending companies with exemplary and innovative approaches
to women's business development, as a demonstration of their commitment to
CSR;
1.
Stresses that
the promotion of women's entrepreneurship may strengthen companies' sense
of social and environmental responsibility and contribute to sustainable development,
social cohesion and respect for human rights owing to the sensitivity of women
and the priority they give to matters with a bearing on the quality of life.
2.
Points out that gender diversity is an asset for any
firm and calls for greater recognition of the important role played by women
in the production of goods and the prosperity of society by means of strengthening
their involvement in dialogue, evaluation and decision-making procedures to
ensure successful implementation of CSR and the harmonious coexistence of
the corporate world and society in general.
3.
Calls for more
vigorous policy measures to appoint women to leading positions in business
and for advisory measures, incentives and options which could provide an impetus
for a creative approach by women to sustainable enterprise, which will incorporate
the economic, social and environmental dimensions on an equal footing,
4.
Stresses that
companies should take initiatives, in the context of CSR, to take account
of equal opportunities for men and
women as aspects of conditions of employment, training opportunities and programmes
to facilitate the process of combining professional and private life.
5.
Calls on the
social partners to compile detailed statistics, relating to the ratio of men
to women in their internal structures and in all consultative and advisory
bodies in which they are represented and stresses the importance of strong participation by women in CSR, which
should be based on the promotion of transparency, verifiability and representativity.
6.
Calls on professional associations, business networks,
employers', employees' and consumer organisations and civil society to participate
in the EU Multi-Stakeholder Forum on CRS with a balanced delegation of women
and men.</Amend>
7. Regrets that the communication from the Commission does not pay much attention to the gender impact or gender policies issues in relation to CRS principles, considers this as an example of the lack of effective implementation of the Commissions own gender mainstreaming principles, calls therefor on the Commission to add a new chapter as soon as possible to the communication devoted to the gender dimension of the CRS.