European & International News

International news globe All the latest news from the European Union, its member states, and beyond.

European & International News
EU and Council of Europe launch media programme to tackle discrimination in sport

Posted on 27 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 27 April 2012] The EWL is pleased to see the EU and the Council of Europe launch a new programme designed to tackle the fact that ‘sport media coverage does not reflect social and cultural diversity and does not ensure equity for all.’ As the EWL noted in its 2010 report Beijing to Brussels: An Unfinished Journey, women athletes only secure between 2 and 9% of television airtime devoted to sports. According to the Media Diversity Institute’s presentation of the MARS - Media against (...) Read more
European & International News
Unsafe abortion remains a problem in the European Union

Posted on 26 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 26 April 2012] A debate on unsafe abortion in Europe organised in the European Parliament this week raised political awareness on the issue and gave the opportunity to MEPs to issue a written question to the European Commission on its policies related to unsafe abortion in the EU.
The debate was organised by MEP Sophie In’t Veld, Chair of the EP Working Group on Reproductive Health, HIV/Aids and Development who had invited decision-makers, NGOs and health professionals to discuss (...) Read more
European & International News
Ireland: Campaign to end prostitution succeeds in putting criminalisation on the political agenda

Posted on 26 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 26 April 2012] The Irish Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter outlined on 18 April a one year timeline to review the ’outdated’ law on prostitution. A public consultation will be launched before the end of May, and a possible bill sent to the Parliament by the end of the year. The Irish campaign Turn Off the Red Light: End Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in Ireland takes pride with this progress and welcomes the Minister’s commitment.
Six months of campaigning
The Irish (...) Read more
European & International News
Cohesion Policy: Member states scrap crucial provision on gender equality

Posted on 26 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 26 April 2012] The ongoing negotiations on the EU cohesion poliy 2014-2020 took an alerting turn, when EU member states decided to remove a crucial provision on gender equality from the legislative text proposed by the Commission.
The provision on so-called ’general conditionality’ on gender equality would require that all member states have a strategy to promote gender equality in all EU funding programmes part of cohesion policy and establish mechanisms to ensure its effective (...) Read more
European & International News
MEPs call on Commission to introduce more effective sanctions to reduce gender pay gap

Posted on 24 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 24 April 2012] A Europe-wide strategy is still necessary to tackle gender pay gap, says a resolution adopted unanimously by the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights on Tuesday 24 April. As in some Member States the gender pay gap has widened, MEPs urge the Commission to better enforce the existing legislation by imposing more effective sanctions.
"The pay gap starts to be visible after a woman’s return to work from her first maternity leave, and grows with age and at an (...) Read more
European & International News
Employment Package - Potential or Pitfall?

Posted on 20 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 20 April 2012] The European Commission’s so called “Employment Package” presented on 18 April in Strasbourg aims to assist Member States design labour market reforms to boost job creation particularly in key sectors with growth potential, namely “green jobs”, ICT’s and the so called “white jobs”.
Among the positive things is a focus on job creation in growth sectors that not only include the male dominated ICT and green (technical) jobs but also the health and care sector’s “white (...) Read more
European & International News
Equality between women and men in the EU in 2011: Setbacks and small steps forward

Posted on 17 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 17 April 2012] While some progress has been made in increasing the number of women in top jobs in business and in narrowing the gender pay gap, major challenges remain and women’s situation in the labour market has worsened, reveals the European Commission’s latest annual report on gender equality. The report concludes that improving equality between women and men is essential to the EU’s response to the current economic crisis.
The report looks at progress over the past year in (...) Read more
European & International News
New partnership between EU and UN Women to enhance gender equality worldwide

Posted on 16 April 2012 |

[European Commission, Brussels, 16 April 2012] A new partnership between the EU and UN Women set up to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations on their work on empowering women and gender equality, was today signed by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, with Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet.
The new Memorandum (...) Read more
European & International News
Fundamental rights - a reality for European citizens?

Posted on 16 April 2012 |

[European Commission, Brussels, 16 April 2012] The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – now in force and legally binding for more than two years – has guided EU law-making from the very first draft all the way through to the statute book. The Charter sets out fundamental rights – such as freedom of expression and the protection of personal data – that reflect Europe’s common values and its constitutional heritage. The European Commission’s second annual report on the Charter finds that fundamental (...) Read more
European & International News
European Institute for Gender Equality presents its work in the field of ’gender-based violence’

Posted on 12 April 2012 |

[Brussels, 12 April 2012] In the end of March 2012, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) presented its work on ’gender-based violence’ to a network of stakeholders working on statistics. European Women’s Lobby was invited to take part, together with a few other NGOs.
Two EIGE studies on gender-based violence were presented: the study of sexual violence, conducted by the EWL in 2011, and the study on female genital mutilation, which should be finalised soon. In addition, there are (...) Read more