41994X1223

RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL of 6 December 1994 on equal participation by women in an employment-intensive economic growth strategy within the European Union (94/C 368/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Whereas the Council directives on equal treatment for men and women have made an essential contribution to improving the position of women;

Whereas Directives 75/117/EEC (1), 76/207/EEC (2), 79/7/EEC (3) and 86/613/EEC (4) adopted with a view to harmonizing the living and working conditions of men and women and promoting equal treatment of men and women are of considerable importance in this context;

Whereas the Community action programmes on equal opportunities for women and men covering the periods 1982 to 1985, 1986 to 1990 and 1991 to 1995, together with the undertakings entered into in this context and in several related areas, constitute positive contributions to promoting equality of opportunity;

Whereas implementation of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of the same value provided for in Article 119 of the Treaty as well as of the resulting principle of equality, in accordance with Community provision, is an essential feature of the construction and operation of the common market;

Whereas the harmonization of the living and working conditions of men and women is essential in the interests of equitable economic and social development; whereas, at its meetings in Madrid and Strasbourg, the European Council stressed the need to pay as much attention to economic and social aspects;

Whereas earlier efforts made in particular in the areas of awareness, education and training and the aid available under the European Social Fund have created conditions favourable to the pursuit of more ambitious future objectives;

Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty, one of the tasks of the Community is to promote a high level of employment;

Whereas provision should be made, while respecting the responsibilities of Member States and bearing in mind the characteristics of the labour market structure in each Member State, including the different types of work, for a sufficient supply of full-time and/or part-time work for both men and women;

Whereas an effective policy of equal opportunities presupposes an integrated, overall strategy allowing for better organization of working hours and greater flexibility, and for an easier return to working life; whereas a strategy of this type must cover qualification opportunities targeted at women and the promotion of self-employment,

I

1. RECALL that the legal instruments of the Community constitute the necessary basis for the development of Community action, and emphasize the role of the Commission as the guardian of the Treaties;

2. STRESS that:

(a) equal opportunities depend on men and women being able to support themselves by taking up paid employment;

(b) Europe needs a high level of skills;

(c) current demographic trends already suggest that the growing number of highly educated women provides a hitherto insufficiently exploited source of skills and innovative capacity which will have to be developed and used more intensively;

(d) the female unemployment rate in most Member States far exceeds the rate for men, particularly where long-term unemployment is concerned;

(e) while the level of female employment has risen in recent years at Union level, women are still over-represented in the less skilled and lower paid jobs which offer less security and are concentrated in a small number of employment sectors;

(f) women are under-represented in management posts and in new areas of employment requiring a high level of technical skills;

(g) women wishing to join the labour market face specific structural and practical difficulties;

3. CONFIRM that if the internal market is to continue to develop dynamically and notably if new jobs are to be created, positive measures in particular will have to be taken to promote equal opportunities between men and women;

4. PUT FORWARD against this background a number of important objectives without wishing to foreclose discussion within the Union:

(a) facilitating access by women to the labour market and their progress up the career ladder, in particular by improving opportunities to gain qualifications;

(b) overcoming the sex-based segregation of the labour market;

(c) promoting the employment of women in decision-making posts in economic, social and political circles and institutions, with the aim of achieving equal employment;

(d) removing the discrepancy between men's and women's pay;

(e) promoting full-time and part-time work on a voluntary basis;

(f) improving the organization and flexibility of working hours;

(g) promoting self-employment, and, in particular the creation and recovery of businesses;

Improving the flexibility of working hours

5. NOTE, while acknowledging the important role and responsibilities of the two sides of industry in this area, that improving the organization and flexibility of working hours within the framework of an active employment policy:

(a) is both a necessity as regards commercial management and the national economy and a social requirement which will offer both men and women an opportunity to reconcile their work responsibilities with their family obligations and personal interests;

(b) must be underpinned by adequate structures, such as child-care services;

(c) can have positive implications for employment;

6. ARE CONCERNED that the labour market is segregated on the basis of sex, particularly in the area of part-time work;

7. BELIEVE, to this end, that it is necessary to:

(a) introduce flexibility of working hours into working arrangements in both the public and the private sectors;

(b) make flexible working arrangements possible in a growing number of areas of employment, qualified jobs, as far as possible, included;

(c) use the increased flexibility of working hours in such a way as to have a positive effect on employment;

(d) organize part-time work on a voluntary basis for men and women in order to break down the sex-based segregation of the labour market;

(e) instruct personnel managers in the organization of working time and in questions involving work preoccupations, with a view to encouraging equal opportunities;

Europe needs a high level of skills

8. NOTE that:

(a) new technologies presuppose a high level of skills on the part of workers; it is precisely these technologies which require a basic level of training which can be built on, and continuing training;

(b) the number of training posts available remains largely based on sex and, together with the sex-based obstacles which inhibit access to work and to career advancement, continues to prevent any extension of the range of jobs open to women;

9. STRESS that if women are to be ready to meet future challenges and to develop their potential in a wide range of jobs at all levels, it is essential that:

(a) greater numbers of women be given training in non-traditional jobs, particularly technical ones, and have an improved chance of finding work;

(b) women be prepared for positions of responsibility and for new sectors of employment, in particular in the technical sphere, by means of specific measures which will provide young women with role models;

(c) the traditionally female jobs be modernized and upgraded and the possibilities for promotion improved;

(d) the training and vocational training possibilities offered be better tailored to the needs of women within an adequate structural framework (e.g. childcare) and continuing career and professional development planning encouraged;

(e) women be offered specific further training which will open up new career prospects to them, particularly in rural areas particularly affected by structural change;

(f) women benefit adequately from national and Community assistance measures, taking into account the proportion of women in all target groups (e.g. young people without training, the unemployed, the long-term unemployed);

(g) national and transnational strategies designed to combine activities to improve vocational training and the job opportunities for women receive effective support at various levels with a view to putting into practice new prospects and innovations, particularly within undertakings;

Facilitating the continued entry and re-entry of women into the labour market

10. STRESS that it is therefore advisable to

(a) maintain the flow of women into the labour market, and

(b) facilitate their return to work after a career break for family reasons by offering opportunities for guidance and retraining;

Encouraging self-employment

11. NOTE that:

(a) in a number of Member States a considerable proportion of businesses are started up by women, and that the creation and recovery of businesses by women can have a positive effect on employment;

(b) for many women, setting up a business means escaping from unemployment while at the same time creating jobs for others;

12. ARE CONVINCED that, consequently:

(a) business creation or recovery programmes should take particular account of the specific needs of women and offer them relevant opportunities for guidance;

(b) the conditions laid down in business creation or recovery programmes should be examined to see whether they would be equally relevant to action in the services sector;

(c) chambers of commerce, banks, administrative bodies and local authorities:

- should cooperate to pinpoint needs and the possibilities on offer for guidance and retraining so that women who wish to create or recover a business are able to do so, particularly in the framework of new job-creation measures in regions where development has lagged behind,

- should take account of the fact that many women set up businesses gradually (for instance, beginning as a side-line);

II

1. INVITE THE MEMBER STATES to:

(a) develop policies for reconciling the obligations of family and work, including measures to encourage and facilitate greater involvement by men in domestic life;

(b) recognize that, apart from the general aim of a high level of employment, measures aimed at promoting the flexibility of working hours, encouraging voluntary part-time work and improving the skills level and their support for the creation or recovery of businesses, as outlined by the Commission in its White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment, must for the sake of equal treatment, be of benefit to women as well as men;

(c) make use of the discussions held on the implementation of the said White Paper to increase the integration of policies to help women into the economic, financial, social and labour-market policies of the Union and its Member States while at the same time developing new actions thanks to specific programmes aimed at women and giving effective support to interdisciplinary strategies;

(d) support the Commission in its preparation of the fourth programme of Community medium-term action for equal opportunities for women and men from 1996 to 2000;

(e) take full account of the responsibilities and powers of both sides of industry in this area;

2. INVITE THE TWO SIDES OF INDUSTRY to:

(a) hold collective bargaining on the subject of equal opportunities and equal treatment by endeavouring in particular to ensure that, in undertakings and in the various occupational sectors, the introduction and organization of flexible working hours and voluntary part-time work and the return to work are facilitated;

(b) ensure that women are adequately represented on in-service training courses in undertakings;

(c) continue and step up the social dialogue on how work and family responsibilities are to be reconciled as well as on the problem of protecting the dignity of men and women at the work place;

(d) press during collective bargaining for equal pay and the abolition of discrimination based on sex - where it exists - in pay or job-classification scales;

(e) take all necessary steps to increase the representation of women on decision-making bodies;

3. INVITE THE COMMISSION:

(a) in preparation for the fourth action programme on equal opportunities for women and men (1996 to 2000):

- to take a fresh, closer look at the objective of equality between men and women with an eye to an employment-intensive economic growth strategy,

- to develop initiatives designed to improve flexibility, promote part-time work and the acquisition of new skills or qualifications and encourage the creation or recovery of businesses;

(b) when drawing up and implementing the policies and action programmes in the employment field, to ensure that the goals of equality of opportunity and equal treatment continue to take priority, and pursue with greater intensity the action already initiated.

(1) OJ No L 45, 19. 2. 1975, p. 19.

(2) OJ No L 39, 14. 2. 1976, p. 40.

(3) OJ No L 6, 10. 1. 1979, p. 24.

(4) OJ No L 359, 19. 12. 1986, p. 56.