Karamanou (PSE). – (EL) Mr President, Commissioner,
Mr President-in-Office of the Council, as chair of the Committee on
Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities of the European Parliament, I should
like to say that I am delighted that, as far as enlargement of the Union and
laying the foundations for a real united Europe based on our common values is
concerned, we have at last turned into the home straight.
As we do so, I
feel that the women of Europe have a very serious role to play and that it is
high time, in the run up to the new constitutional Treaty of the European
Union, that we placed respect for women's human rights and the practical
application of the recognised principle of gender equality in all sectors of
economic, social and political life in Europe at the top of the political
agenda. Unfortunately, we are still a long way from this vision, as was
perfectly clear during this morning's debate in the Chamber, when the list of
speakers looked more like the membership list of a gentlemen's club to which
women guests are occasionally invited.
I am acutely
concerned about the position of women in many of the candidate countries; their
situation has not improved with the changeover to a free economy. Unemployment
has risen and wage differentials have increased. Infrastructures for caring for
children and the elderly are deteriorating, while trafficking in human beings,
trading in women and children by international organised crime gangs, has taken
on explosive proportions.
We in the
Committee on Women's Rights have repeatedly emphasised that efficiently applied
measures to combat the sexual exploitation of and violence against women must
be at the heart of the enlargement process. We would again point out that
parties and governments need to promote the equal participation of men and
women in decision-making procedures. There is no such thing as a credible
policy which does not promote gender equality in decision-making procedures and
future planning. Parties and governments should field the same number of men
and women candidates in the 2004 European elections. Enlargement gives us the
opportunity to sink the foundations of democracy even deeper. I am also convinced
that gender equality is not a superfluous luxury; it is a basic necessity if we
are to improve the quality of our decisions, improve our understanding of
contemporary problems and make our democracy function more efficiently.