Karamanou (PSE).
– (EL) Madam President, Commissioner, whether we like it or not, today's
debate is being held in negatively-charged times, what with the economy in
recession and the threat of war with Iraq, which was the subject of the
previous debate. As employment statistics show, labour market reforms have not,
unfortunately, been strong enough to create the sort of momentum which
translates into new jobs, to the point that, even in countries such as Greece
which has growth of around 4%, unemployment is still a problem. This means that
growth does not always bring jobs, mainly due to weaknesses and rigidity on the
labour market, such as the difficulty young people and women have accessing the
labour market, the mismatch between the demands of the labour market and the
skills of graduates of our educational establishments and the survival in
numerous areas of the Union of anachronistic and outdated perceptions of work
and the value of women's work.
The new generation of guidelines on
employment you referred to, Commissioner, need to take account of the fact that
the labour market is still, unfortunately, split along the gender divide, that
women earn less than men, that only 25% of companies are owned by women and
that the glass ceiling is still very firmly in place. I think that quality of
work, which is the core concept of the guidelines, sustainable development and
individualised rights may well be the driving force behind longer careers for
women and I should also like to stress, as Mrs Evans said on behalf of the
Committee on Women's Rights, that the new employment strategy should be
predicated on mainstreaming.