Activities of Frances FITZGERALD related to 2021/2020(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Equality between women and men in the European Union in 2018-2020 (debate)
Amendments (24)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation -1 (new)
Citation -1 (new)
-1 having regard to Articles 2and 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union, and Articles 6, 8, 153and 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation -1 a (new)
Citation -1 a (new)
-1 a having regard to Article 23of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
— having regard to the EU directives from 1975 onwards on various aspects of equal treatment for women and men (Council Directives 79/7/EEC(1), 86/613/EEC(2), 92/85/EEC(3) and 2004/113/EC(4), Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(5), Council Directive2010/18/EU(6) and Directive2010/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council(7))
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas gender equality in the EU has not yet been achieved and progress in this direction has recently been slowing downremains slow, stagnating or even regressing in certain regions and countries; whereas the struggle for gender equality and the promotion and protection of women’s rights is a truly collective responsibility;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, although female employment rates have risen, gender inequality on the labour market remains a fact of life; whereas the gender employment gap isequals 11.7% for the EU27 and particularly high in the case of some specific categories such as single mothers, female caregivers, women with disabilities, women from ethnic minorities, migrant and refugee women, LBTIQ+ women and young and elderly women;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected women’s lives and exacerbated existing gender inequalities in almost every walk of lifeaspect;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas violence against women may be of differing appearance, intensity and form and is a violation of human rights and a an extreme form of discrimination against women; whereas a society free of violence against women must be acknowledged as an absolute prerequisite for gender equality;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas women in the EU are more severely affected by poverty or social exclusion than men, being systematically placed at a disadvantage by structural and culturaldisproportionally more affected and at risk of poverty or social exclusion than men, as at the heart of intersecting inequalities due to various factors;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the EU gender pay gap is 16%, with variations between the Member States; whereas this gender pay gap has a number of implications, not least a 37% difference in corresponding pension entitlements, leading to a gender pension gap placing older women at greater risk of poverty and social exclusion; whereas the right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value is not always guaranteed and remains one of the biggest challenges to be met in efforts to combat pay discrimination;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas their role as primary caregivers within the family or in general the allocation of care responsibilities imposes a disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work on women, who play a vital role in this respect;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas EU neoliberal policies are, in the long term, contributing to gender inequality, with women being disproportionately affected by rising unemployment, deregulthrough its policies and programs and its relations with the Member States, in close cooperation ofor the labour market and of working hours, increased precariousness and low pay, not to mention multiple forms of inequality and discrimination resulting from cuts to public services, particularly health, education and welfare benefits;National recovery funds, should carefully assess that Member States take into account the gender dimension of the COVID crisis.
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that respect for the right to work is an essential precondition if women are effectively to enjoy equal rights, economic independence and career fulfilment, and therefore insists that precarious employment should be eradicated through mandatory compliance with the principle that evs called by the EU Pillar of Social rights in its article 2 (equality of treatment and opportunities in the labour market, terms and conditions of employment, careery permanent job must entail an effective employment relationship with recognition and enhancement of rights at the workplace;rogression and equal pay) and therefore reminds that women are overrepresented amongst low wage and minimum wage earners, in part- time work and in precarious working conditions ,
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Member States to take practical measures to ensure that women have equal access to work with rights and decent pay; stresses the need to promote collective bargaining as a determining factor in reversing and overcoming inequalitylabour market, employment and working conditions ; with a strong accent on collective bargaining and its effects and tackling discrimination against women and calls for de jure and de facto compliance with the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. UrgesStresses the importance for Member States to impose firm measures, including sanctions, where businesses fail to comply withand when foreseen sanctions, in the implementation of labour legislation and whin ordere they actually encourageo fight gender discrimination;
Amendment 150 #
4. Calls on the EU and its Member States to further underpin maternity and paternity entitlements, for example by increasing periods of full leave with no loss of pay, taking into accountimplement the ‘work life balance’ directive, noting as well the World Health Organization recommendation that children be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives; calls for the right to a reduction in working hours following maternity leave to be guarant therefore to further work on the promotion of breast feed in practice, enabling mothers to breastfeed their children until they are at least two years old, accompanied by investment in a public network of free childcare and education servicesg;, accompanied by the facilitation of the creation of modern,high-quality, and local infrastructure, services and caregivers for quality early childhood education and childcare;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for measures to achieve work, employee and pay enhancement, effectively combat joblessness and promote full employment; calls for the creation and promotion of employment with rights, the defence of collective bargaining, the revitalisation of public sector employment and an end to job insecurity; calls in addition for a reduction in working hours without loss of pay;gender mainstreaming in the labour market to counter gender inequalities, eliminate the gaps in pay and employment, effectively combat joblessness and promote full employment; calls for the promotion of the existing national systems with a strong accent on social dialogue, collective bargaining and its binding effect; calls in addition for the EU and the Member States to encourage employers to adopt family friendly measures, such as the possibility to use teleworking for parents and to temporarily reduce their working hours without significant pay reduction, and job mobility in order to guarantee their children's care and education
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the urgent need to counter the exploitation of women at work and combat the inequalities, discrimination and violence affecting themaddress , through preventing and combatting , violence against women , domestic violence as well as other types of gender based violence;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for women who sufferthe Member States to implement effective policies and measures to tackle domestic violence to be affordeand proper protection, and support of women suffering from it ,ensuring the deployment of increasedadequate resources and more effective responses by the Stateeans;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Applauds the unambiguous defence of all freedoms anywhere in the world, while condemning measures that undermine rights, freedoms and guarantees and deprecating all forms of prejudice, including discrimination on theall grounds of sexual orientation;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that any strategy designed to achieve gender equality must get to grips with all forms of violence against women, including the erosion of healthcare entitlements and sexual and reproductive rights acquired by women and infringements thereof;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses the need for Member States to adopt apromote policyies placing special emphasis on improved public health and the prevention of diseasesystems and subsequent services and the prevention of disease for instance in their gender specific aspects by guaranteeing free, universalaccessible and high-quality healthcare and ensuring the availability of the necessary resources to combat the main public health problems, as the case in the current pandemic crisis;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the need to create a public crèche and pre-school education network; points out that the provision of a universal public service that is genuinely accessible to all children and families wishing to avail themselves of it is an overarching social responsibilitych the Barcelona targets and welcomes their upcoming review; points out that the provision of an accessible service of early childhood education and care for all children and families has an overarching role in helping women’s participation in the labour market, especially now after the experience of the COVID pandemic;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Urges the Member States to take specific measures to prevent and combat the risk of poverty in old age and retirefor elderly woment , increasing pensions and boosting social benefitsfollowing the population ageing, and the proportion of older women in disadvantaged or vulnerable situation;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recognises that it is essential to ensure a broad set of effective, appropriate and targeted economic and social measures to combat discriminatory attitudes and practices and enabling women to exercise their civic and political rights on an equal basishelp progress gender equality and empower women, with a special focus on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, promoting as well the exchange of best practices in fighting discrimination, enabling women to fully participate in all aspects of our society;