European & International News

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

European & International News
European Disability Forum launches ’Freedom Guide’

Posted on 1 March 2012 |

[Brussels, 01 March 2012] On 29 February, MEP Ádám Kósa welcomed European Disability Forum in the European Parliament for a successful launch of the Freedom Guide. The Freedom Guide aims at revealing, through concrete cases, the benefits that could be brought by a strong and binding European Accessibility Act. It gathers contributions from the disability movement, experts from NGOs, from the industry and academics.
Ana Peláez, member of the EDF Executive Committee, presented EDF’s new tool, (...) Read more
European & International News
56th Commission on the Status of Women kicks off - EWL participates

Posted on 1 March 2012 |

[Brussels, 01 February 2012] The fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) started on Monday 27 February 2012 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The annual meeting of the principal global policy-making body dedicated to gender equality and advancement of women will continue until the 09 March.
Like every year, the CSW gathers thousands of women’s organisations, activists and representatives of Member States to discuss women’s rights in an international (...) Read more
European & International News
Still much to do to redress gender inequality in the EU, says EP Committee

Posted on 29 February 2012 |

[Brussels, 29 February 2012] Women’s representation in political, administrative and business bodies and reducing the pay gap between women and men to respond to the current crisis are among the many proposals approved on Tuesday by the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights.
The resolution, drafted by Sophia in’T Veld (ALDE, NL) presents the annual report on the state of gender equality in the EU for 2011 and puts forward suggestions to improve it.
For a European equal pay target (...) Read more
European & International News
High level meeting on European economic governance with a hint of gender politics

Posted on 29 February 2012 |

[Brussels, 29 February 2012] In the past week, the European Parliament hosted an interparliamentary meeting which brought together representatives from the European Commission as well as national and European Parliamentarians for a two day debate on strategies for the European economy – the so called European Semester for Economic Policy Coordination.
The high profile introductions by the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and president of the European Commission José (...) Read more
European & International News
France: ’Mademoiselle’ status to be dropped from official documents

Posted on 23 February 2012 |

[The Guardian, London, 23 February 2012] French Government says honorific ’Mademoiselle’ is an unjustified and unnecessary reference to women’s marital status. After a campaign by feminist groups, the French prime minister’s office has issued a circular saying the Mademoiselle option should be removed from all administrative documents in the vast state bureaucracy.
Until now, women were required to identify themselves as married (Madame) or unmarried (Mademoiselle) on everything from tax forms (...) Read more
European & International News
EU Member States debate women on company boards – What comes next?

Posted on 17 February 2012 |

[Brussels, 17 February 2012] The EWL welcomes the first ever ministerial-level debate on women on boards in the EU that took place in the context of the EPSCO Council meeting of 17 February. The debate revealed that there is still a long way to go, and that member states have have different policy ideas. While some member states favor binding legislation and other prefer a more voluntary approach, the EWL believes that improvements will depend on the urgent introduction of binding measures (...) Read more
European & International News
European Parliament to discuss equal pay on the International Women’s Day

Posted on 17 February 2012 |

[European Parliament, Brussels, 17 February 2012] Every year the European Parliament celebrates the International Women’s Day with an event that brings together European and national MPs from parliamentary committees for equal opportunities. In 2012 the event will focus on the theme "Equal pay for work of equal value". President Martin Schulz will open the debate.
During the event three discussion panels are foreseen, focusing on the following topics: Segregation of the labour market as a (...) Read more
European & International News
Working time in the EU: Women still bear the ’double burden’

Posted on 17 February 2012 |

[Brussels, 17 February 2012] On average, around three times as many women work part time as do men, mainly to facilitate the domestic and care responsibilities which still fall mainly on women. When their unpaid work in the home is factored in, however, women working part time work nearly as many hours per week (55) as do men working full time (56). Women who work full time have a total working week of 66 hours, in average.
The extent to which the ’double burden’ still impacts the lives of (...) Read more
European & International News
Ireland: Purchase of sex to become illegal?

Posted on 10 February 2012 |

[Brussels, 09 February 2012] The Irish Prime Minister Mr Enda Kenny announced on 08 February that Justice Minister Alan Shatter is considering new legislation to criminalise the purchase of sex in Ireland. The announcement takes place after a long debate and efficient advocacy from EWL partner Turn Off the Red Light.
The EWL is delighted to see that the Swedish and Norwegian legislative models tackling prostitution have gained attention in Ireland. The EWL hopes that progressive (...) Read more
European & International News
EC unveils the new composition of the EU Group of Experts on Trafficking in Human Beings

Posted on 10 February 2012 |

[Brussels, 09 February 2012] The EU Group of Experts on Trafficking in Human Beings was set up by the European Commission in 2003. The third group of experts, nominated for 2011-201%, is composed of 15 members representing a wide range of expertise in all the aspects of anti-trafficking policies. The expert group is representative and balanced in terms of institutional background and geographic regions. The aim of the group is to provide the European Commission with expertise in the shape (...) Read more