<Entpe>EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT</Entpe> s3

<EntPE>EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT</EntPE>

1999 / / 2004

Session document

RefStatusFINAL</RefStatus

<NoDocSe>A5-0279/2003</NoDocSe>

RefVer</RefVer

<TitreType>REPORT</TitreType>

<Titre>on Women in the New Information Society</Titre>

<Commission>{FEMM}Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities</Commission>

Rapporteur: <Depute>Anna Karamanou

</Depute>

<PgIndex>CONTENTS

Page

PROCEDURAL PAGE 4

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION 5

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT 12

</PgIndex>
<PgReglementaire>PROCEDURAL PAGE

At the sitting of {15/05/2003}15 May 2003 the President of Parliament announced that the {FEMM}Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities had been authorised to draw up an own-initiative report, pursuant to Rule 163 of the Rules of Procedure, on women in the new information society and the Committees on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy and on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport had been asked for their opinions.

The {FEMM}Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities had appointed Anna Karamanou rapporteur at its meeting of {26/11/2002}26 November 2002.

It considered the draft report at its meetings of 20 May, 10 June and 10 July 2003.

At the latter meeting it adopted the motion for a resolution by 12 votes to 6 , with 0 abstention.

The following were present for the vote: Jillian Evans, acting chairman; Anna Karamanou, rapporteur; Ulla Maija Aaltonen, María Antonia Avilés Perea, Regina Bastos, Véronique De Keyser (for Joke Swiebel), Fiorella Ghilardotti, Lissy Gröner, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Astrid Lulling, Thomas Mann, Maria Martens, Emilia Franziska Müller, Christa Prets, Miet Smet, Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, Arie M. Oostlander (for Amalia Sartori pursuant to Rule 153(2)), Bartho Pronk (for Marielle de Sarnez pursuant to Rule 153 (2)) and Ursula Schleicher (for Christa Klaß pursuant to Rule 153 (2)).

The Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport decided on 22 April 2003 not to deliver an opinion and the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy decided on 22 May 2003 not to deliver an opinion.

The report was tabled on 15 July 2003.</PgReglementaire>

<PgPartieA>MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

<SubPage> on women in the new information society (2003/2047(INI))

The European Parliament,

<Visa>– having regard to Articles 2, 3(2), 141(4) of the EC Treaty,

– having regard to Lisbon Strategy and the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000 on the objective of building a "learning society" in Europe[1],

– having regard to the conclusions of the Stockholm European Council of 23 and 24 March 2001[2],

– having regard to the conclusions of the Barcelona European Council of 15 and 16 March 2002[3],

– having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2836/98 of 22 December 1998 on integrating of gender issues in development cooperation[4],

– having regard to Council Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euroatom) No 781/98 of 7 April 1998 amending the Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities in respect of equal treatment[5],

– having regard to the Directive N° 2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions[6],

– having regard to Council Decision N° 2001/63/EC of 19 January 2001 on Guidelines for Member States' employment policies for the year 2001[7],

– having regard to Commission Decision N° 2000/407/EC of 19 June 2000 relating to gender balance within the committees and expert groups established by it[8],

– having regard to its resolution of 3 July 2001 on the Commission communication to the Council and the European Parliament: "Framework Strategy on Gender Equality - Work Programme for 2001"[9],

– having regard to Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 3 February 2003 : Framework Strategy on Gender Equality - Work Programme for 2003[10],

– having regard to its resolution of 3 February 2000 on the Communication from the Commission on "Women and science - Mobilising women to enrich European research"[11],

– having regard to Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 17 December 1999 on the employment and social dimensions of the information society[12],

– having regard to Council Resolution of 20 May 1999 on women and science[13],

– having regard to its resolution of 16 September 1997 on the Commission Communication - Incorporating equal opportunities for women and men into all Community policies and activities - "gender mainstreaming"[14],

– having regard to Community Framework Strategy on Gender Equality (2001-2005)[15],

– having regard to Annual Report on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union 2002 from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 5 March 2003[16],

– having regard to the Commission Communication "Making a European Area of lifelong Learning a Reality"[17],

– having regard to its resolution of 27 April 2001 on the Commission communications on the initiative and the action plan for 2001-2004 entitled "e-Learning - Designing tomorrow's education"[18],

– having regard to its resolution of 17 October 2000 on the report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Designing tomorrow's education: promoting innovation with new technologies[19],

– having regard to the Commission Report on "Concrete future objectives of education systems"[20],

– having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: eEurope 2005 - an Information Society for all, an action plan for the Sevilla European Council 2002[21],

– taking into account the Communication from the Commission to the Member States of 14 April 2000 establishing guidelines for the community initiative EQUAL and more precisely Pillar 4 of the programme aiming to "reconcile family and working life" and "to reduce the gender pay gap and combat job segregation"[22],

– having regard to the conclusions of the 47th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March 2003 on participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women[23],

– having regard to the ongoing preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society to be held in December 2003 and in 2005 and for the World Conference on Women Beijing+10[24],

– having regard to the documentation of the International Conference "ITech Women" held in Vienna in October 2001[25],

– having regard to the Report "E-Commerce and Development" of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva 2002[26],

– having regard to the documentation of the Expert Group Meeting, organised by the UN ICT Task Force in November 2002, on the advancement and empowerment of women[27],

– having regard to the publication "The life of women and men in Europe – A statistical portrait"[28],

– having regard to statistics on women and science available online[29],

– having regard to the political guidelines laid down by the Nice European Council and commitments to improve access to lifelong education and training, particularly in the new technology sector[30],

– having regard to the conclusions of the Athens informal ministerial meeting on "Gender and Information Society" on 6 May 2003[31],

– having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities (A5-0279/2003),

A. whereas globalisation and information and communication technologies (ICT) have dramatically changed all areas of European working and social life and are making constant progress,

</Amend>

B. whereas the current policy framework for the development of new ICT has largely been focused on economic aspects and the control of the ICT is primarily left to private sector, without any social impact assessment or proper incentives policies for equal rights of women and men, in order to acquire the necessary skills for the "knowledge society". This approach leads to the inappropriate perception of open participation to all.

</NumAm>

C. whereas the information society and the access to ICT is widely considered as gender neutral ;

D. whereas the planned policies about information society do not address any gender issues and fail to recognise the uneven results for men and women, /Amend>E. whereas the emerging social exclusion danger emanating from the inability to use ICT - the digital illiteracy - concerns to a large extent women,

F. whereas studies and data show a persistent gender imbalance to the disadvantage of women in ICT related education and ICT related jobs,</Amend>

G. whereas the right to participate in the Information Society must enable women to fully take their role as actors in shaping the future society,</NumAm>

H. whereas educational and vocational systems in most European countries tend to sustain prejudices and stereotyped perceptions of the ICT professions and ICT industry with the disappointing figures of less than 20% female students in the ICT sector, and even fewer women setting up their own business and being in positions of responsibility and creativity in this sector,<Article</Article>

I. whereas 60% of new work opportunities during the five past years belong to the ICT sector;

</Article>

J. whereas private and public sectors are obliged to care about gender equality, promoting the participation of each gender,

K. whereas the under-representation of women in science and ICT sector prevents the achievement of the Lisbon objectives,

L. whereas Europe continues to face the under-representation of women in the science and ICT sector without making the most of its human resources and potential, and its lag in innovation and economic competitiveness towards the US can not be reduced,

M. whereas the rapid growth of ICT 's is being globally recognised as the most important factor in the development of any nation, the new technologies present a new opportunity that arise with globalisation, however women are often the least able to seize the opportunities,

N. whereas it is of utmost importance to pay adequate attention at to formulate parameters of women participating in the ICT world, not only within the actual Member states of the Union, but also in the New Member states, including Bulgaria and Romania,

Type in the amendment

</Amend>

1. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to devise policies intended to include women in all sectors of the new ICT ;</Amend>

2. </Amend>Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the full involvement of women in planning and decision-making on Information Society policies and control and management of the ICT and media sector;

3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to pay particular attention to women at risk of being excluded from the benefits of the Information Society, such as older women, unemployed and low-income women, migrant women, women belonging to ethnic minorities and women with disabilities, in order to prevent the emergence of a two-speed society and to give them the opportunity to participate in easily accessible ITC courses in their home localities;

4. Urges the Commission to collect systematic data on structural differences in the ICT sector broken down by gender in the sectors of education and the labour market (education level and type of education, type of jobs and level of seniority, grades and wages);</Amend>

5. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement gender equality policies, that aim especially to vocational training, life long learning, compatibility between professional and private life and the equal division of family responsibilities between men and women, which will facilitate women's participation in the Informatιon Society;

6. </Amend>Calls the Commission and the Member States to undertake the commitment - with the full use of Structural Funds and in particular the Social Fund - for training in ICT, particularly with regard to entry or return to the job market (unemployed women, initiatives for re-training, always in the context of the Lisbon objective for the employment participation rate),<Article</Article>

7. Calls on the Member States to encourage the inclusion of ITC into primary schooling from an early age, thus giving girls a more natural relationship to ITC, counteracting the gender-stereotypical attitude to ITC which may occur later in life; <Article</Article>

</Amend>

8. Calls for access to ICT to be affordable;

9. </Amend>Type in the amendmentCalls on the Council and the Commission to continue existing gender mainstreaming policies and initiatives for confronting the under-representation of women in education in the fields of ICT;

<Article</Article>

10. Calls the Commission and the Member States to undertake the commitment for:

a) integrate specific ICT training for women within a broader process of cooperation between all the parties concerned: the education authorities and organisations, school and vocational guidance, the private and public sector, the training organisations, the lenders of capital, the central and/or regional and/or local authorities, equal opportunities organisations, undertakings, women's groups or associations;
b) reorganise the school, university and vocational guidance services in such a way that they seek out rather than wait to be approached by the people concerned and encourage the participation of girls in higher education, particularly in technical and technological fields
c) encourage the participation of women and girls in specific ICT training courses by providing more decentralised and more widely distributed education and training facilities;
d) develop awareness and information measures so as to offer women and those around them images of women engaged in non-traditional activities, particularly those related to ICT activities

e) encourage greater participation by girls in the various initial vocational training systems outside the school education system, especially ITC apprenticeships and adapt or, where appropriate, abolish types of training for women which do not provide real occupational skills or lead girls into traditional female or overcrowded occupations;

11. Stresses the important role of the social partners for promoting gender equality and equal treatment in employment ;

12. </Amend>Calls on the Commission and the Council to submit practical strategy proposals and contribute to the incorporation of horizontal policies for gender equality in the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society scheduled to be held in Geneva in December 2003;

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