A3-0198/93

Resolution on the situation of women in Central and Eastern Europe

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Rule 121 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the conclusions of the seminar of the Committee on Women's Rights on the future role of women in Eastern and Western Europe held on 28 and 29 November 1990 (PE 146.256),

-having regard to its decisions and its opinion of 21 November 1990 on transitional measures applicable in the context of German reunification,

-having regard to its resolution of 14 May 1992 on a European Democracy Fund,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights (A3-0198/93),

A.noting that this resolution tackles the problem of the situation of women on the basis of documents from Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, Romania and Germany (including the former German Democratic Republic),

B.noting that statistics concerning both the role of women under Communist regimes at recent data and statistics are still incomplete as regards both their availability and their reliability,

C.noting that the 'feminization' of sectors and areas of activity generally accompanied by lower wage levels - often castigated as a feature of Western European societies - also existed in Central and Eastern Europe,

D.noting also that although the state officially espoused the emancipation of women as an ideological principle, the same type of discrimination existed as in the West both as regards wage levels and as regards access to decision-making positions,

E.noting that the Socialist state planning system embraced not only the labour market but also political life, education and the social and cultural domain,

F.noting that, in the course of this transition, the economic and social position of women has deteriorated dramatically, since they have been particularly hard-hit by job losses and have few prospects of re-employment and many are thus deprived of their former modest economic independence within the family,

G.recognizing, however, that women often assume the role of breadwinner in the family, especially in industrialized regions threatened by mass unemployment, and that in rural areas older women in particular are falling victim to unemployment and social hardship,

H.noting that the economic difficulties these countries are currently facing are an obstacle to the social and political involvement of women,

I.whereas in some Eastern European countries women are only poorly represented in official positions and elected posts in politics and society (especially in parliaments, trade unions and parties) and are consequently playing too small a role in determining and carrying through the reform process, which threatens to perpetuate specific forms of discrimination,

J.hoping that political parties, trade unions and associations will understand that only if women are appropriately represented on decision-making bodies will it be possible to overcome the current difficulties and strengthen the grass-roots commitment of all women to completing the reform process, which is urgently needed in a democracy,

K.noting that the transition to a democratic system involves political, economic, social and cultural life and that this process is still under way, with women no longer playing a major role and with equality of rights as a social value having largely vanished,

L.noting, however, the appearance in certain countries of women in leading positions - notably Mrs Suchoka, Prime Minister of Poland - and as presidents or vice-presidents of parliaments,

M.noting that the European Community must contribute to the development of democratic and legitimate state structures based on the maintenance of equal rights for men and women and a social market economy,

I.In this connection:

1.Notes that the transition from a centrally-planned socialist economy to a market economy and the process of adjustment to the role of partner of the Single European Market represent a two-fold challenge for women in Central and Eastern Europe;

2.Notes that the family is still an important factor in social life in these countries and most women wish to combine family responsibilities and paid work;

3.Notes that the high level of unemployment which currently affects both men and women must not lead to measures which restrict women's freedom to choose between the family and/or paid work or force women to return to their traditional, purely domestic role;

4.Notes, however, that many women need their wages as an essential contribution to their families' incomes, particularly where, - as in a large number of cases - they are bringing up children alone;

5.Notes that rising unemployment - mainly affecting the female workforce - is partly due to the gap between supply and demand in respect of certain jobs; the lack of retraining and reintegration programmes and the failure adequately to dovetail training, qualifications and professional life are further factors which hamper the reintegration of women in the labour market;

6.Notes that the restructuring of childcare facilities which were formerly closely linked to the organization of working life coupled with a shortage of public funds may bring about unacceptable cutbacks in these childcare facilities, impose a heavy burden on the social security network and limit the opportunities for women on the labour market;

7.Notes that the present catastrophic housing conditions are only gradually improving and this is exacerbating the difficulties of everyday life still further;

II.For these reasons, addressing itself to the governments of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe:

8.Calls on the governments to take all possible measures in the political arena to ensure the full participation of women in political and social life and to involve them in all decision-making processes by creating mechanisms to promote a quality of opportunity, e.g. the appointment of equal opportunities officers at all levels and by reports by parties and trade unions on womens' participation;

9.Calls on the governments to take all possible measures at work to use womens' high professional qualifications and expertise to the best advantage and ensure that they have access to all professions:

(a)by retraining and continuing education measures in the new economic and industrial processes and by guaranteeing a number of posts for women at universities, scientific and technical institutes and in scientific and technical research;

(b)by pilot projects and programmes to help women set up small and medium sized undertakings;

(c)in view of the important role played by women in agriculture, by adopting programmes to make it easier for women employed in agriculture or in related areas to have access to new forms and methods of agriculture;

10.Calls on the governments, in health and social policy, to guarantee support for all measures to help women meet their commitments in the family and in paid work without discrimination:

(a)by health education, where this is not already available, including the creation of facilities for prevention and follow-up care, family counselling and counselling on the upbringing of children and on protection at work,

(b)in the social security system, full security of employment, protection for pregnant women, and security of education and measures to eliminate the risk of unemployment;

11.Calls on the governments to take all measures which ensure the creation of organizations at social and professional level in which women can contribute their interests in accordance with requirements of a pluralistic, democratic society;

12.Notes that the economic problems and political uncertainty these countries are facing is increasing the pressure of migration on the EC, and whereas women are forming an ever-larger proportion of migratory flows, both legal and illegal;

13.Hopes that ever-closer cooperation between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the institutions of the EC will help create greater equality of living conditions;

14.Calls on the Commission to provide the European Parliament with a maximum of information and statistics on the current living and working conditions of women in Central and Eastern Europe;

15.Calls on the Commission also:

(a)to make information on all EC programmes more accessible than hitherto to women in Central and Eastern Europe;

(b)to inform women in Central and Eastern Europe of the situation of women in the Community countries and on relevant European equal rights legislation, notably through exchanges of information and the pooling of experience between women's associations and administrative bodies at local, regional, national and Community levels;

(c)to support existing women's organizations and networks (childcare networks, women in decision-taking centres, IRIS) so that women in Eastern Europe can become acquainted with these networks and with the new Community programmes (Foundation for Eastern Europe, TEMPUS, PHARE);

(d)to issue EC brochures or publish information in the local press - with Community aid - on training opportunities as part of EC programmes;

III.

16.Calls on the Commission and Member States to include in the Community programmes specific aid measures to promote and maintain women's jobs, notably by the following measures:

(a)introducing specific action programmes for branches and economic sectors in which women form the bulk of the workforce, and for agricultural sectors and SMUs;

(b)providing for women to be fairly represented in Community programmes (PHARE, TEMPUS, Foundation for Eastern Europe) and in the association agreements concluded between the Community and the countries of Eastern Europe by setting aside an adequate and perceptible budgetary endowment for this purpose;

(c)implementing programmes to combat female unemployment by retraining, further training and re-entry programmes;

(d)setting-up labour exchanges and job counselling centres;

(e)increasing the proportion of women taking part in all vocational training and retraining programmes;

(f)providing support at political and trade union level for the creation of networks of 'women and decision-taking centres' and supporting measures to promote equal rights;

(g)introducing the dimension of equal rights and 'mainstreaming' in further training and public awareness programmes, the Foundation for Democracy and the programmes for cooperation and technical support for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe;

(h)further training for those responsible for placement so that they are better equipped to coordinate the training and qualifications of the workforce in the light of labour market requirements;

(i)granting aid, in particular for health care and training, as part of programmes for immigrants and refugees and women to enable them to support themselves,

17.Calls on the Commission and Member States to set up information programmes on:

(a)health matters, the problem of violence in society, in particular against women and children and the problem of sexual harassment at the workplace;

(b)the rights and obligations of women seeking to immigrate into the European Community and the risks of illegal immigration;

(c)how to combat the trade in women based in Eastern Europe;

18.Calls on the Commission to ensure that the measures embodied in the Community programmes seek, as a matter of priority, to support local policy initiatives in respect of the family, the elderly, childcare and health and that these also include initiatives designed to promote self-reliance;

19.Intends to organize a conference with women representatives from Central and Eastern Europe to discuss the following matters:

-the political involvement of women,

-continuing training,

-an assessment of the impact of EC programmes on women in Central and Eastern Europe;

20.Calls on the Commission to report to the European Parliament every two years on the situation of women in Eastern and Central Europe and on the implementation of Community funds and programmes in the countries concerned;

21.Calls on the Commission to draw up the first report before the UN world conference of women due to be held in Beijing in mid-1995;

22.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of countries of Central and Eastern Europe.