2015/2111(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Citation 2

- having regard to Articles 16 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

Amendment 10 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas female entrepreneurship is a powerful source of economic independence that offers an opportunity for women ~~to combine labour and care tasks and helps them gain flexibility in their careers; whereas~~in their role as business leaders to influence important decisions which affect all women, directly or indirectly, to take on a role as bosses and thius ~~should be carefully distinguished from ‘bogus’ self- employment~~work to bring about a cultural change inside and outside their firms, and, further, to set an important example for girls and young women and encourage them to follow in their footsteps;

Amendment 100 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Underlines the importance of facilitating access for female entrepreneurs, including through grants, training courses on basic legal aspects of starting and running a company, such as laws on starting a business, intellectual property and data protection, tax rules, e- commerce, available public grants, etc., and of training in new information and communications technologies, social networks, online commerce, networking, etc.;

Amendment 101 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Highlights the importance of women role models, peer-to-peer support, and mentorship networks for promoting women entrepreneurship;

Amendment 102 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15b. Notes with concern that women often underrate their skills, probably as a result of stereotypes anchored in society, and are more likely than men to confess to a lack of entrepreneurial skills, self-confidence, assertiveness and risk-taking when starting a business, and that there is thus a need for motivational and psychological support programmes to boost the self- confidence of female entrepreneurs;

Amendment 103 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Calls on the Commission and Member States to conduct research that seeks to explain women’s greater entrepreneurial activity in social entrepreneurship and its possible multiplier effect on traditional entrepreneurship;deleted

Amendment 104 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

Amendment 105 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Calls on the Commission and Member States to support the development of financial instruments that value companies in correlation with their contribution to society and the development of trustmarks for social and environmental entrepreneurship; recommends the inclusion of gender equality and women's empowerment as measures of social impact which, in turn, would encourage more social entrepreneurs to consider their enterprise from a gender perspective;

Amendment 106 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17a. Highlights that alternative business models such as cooperatives and mutuals play an important role at promoting gender equality, and advancing sustainable and inclusive development and growth; Calls on the Commission and Member States to facilitate and promote these alternative models;

Amendment 11 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas female entrepreneurship is a powerful source of economic independence that offers an opportunity for women to ~~combine labour and care tasks and helps them gain flexibility in their careers~~join the world of work; whereas this should be carefully distinguished from ‘bogus’ self- employment;

Amendment 12 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas women have huge entrepreneurial potential and female entrepreneurship is about economic growth, creation of jobs and empowerment of women;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas the decision to become self- employed is an act of self-realisation, but one which calls for a high level of commitment; whereas the high level of personal responsibility leads to exceptionally long working hours, so that self-employment should not be seen simply as an additional source of income; whereas women entrepreneurs can only reconcile family life and work if external circumstances permit, that is to say if appropriate child care is available and fathers play an active role in providing care and running the household;

Amendment 14 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas the availability, quality and affordability of childcare facilities and care facilities for the elderly and people with disabilities remain to be a key driver to enhance female labour force participation;

Amendment 15 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)

Eb. whereas the sharing of family responsibilities between men and women also impacts on the female labour force participation; whereas a quarter of Member States do not provide paternity leave;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas administrative burdens continue to have a negative effect on the entrepreneurial spirit of both women and men, therefore effective regulation and legislation is needed to economically empower women, and for a stable economy with sustainable, smart, and inclusive growth;

Amendment 17 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas women tend to self-assess the level of innovation of their businesses lower than men and only a small percentage of patents from the European Patent Office (EPO) are awarded to women1; __________________ 1Commission (2008), Report on ‘Evaluation on policy: promotion of women innovators and entrepreneurship’.deleted

Amendment 18 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

Ga. whereas in many cases the problems encountered by women in entrepreneurship are due to diffuse cultural factors and prejudices which exist in various Member States;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

Ga. whereas choices made by women during their education, and horizontal and vertical gender segregation in employment, mean that fewer women than men would be able to set up a business in the science and technology field or turn an invention into a profitable item; whereas science and technology, innovation and invention are also concepts that are associated for the most part with men, which renders these fields less attractive to women and results in innovations and inventions by women being recognised and appreciated less;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 2

- having regard to Articles 16, 21 and 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

Amendment 20 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas new Green technologies and ecological entrepreneurship is a sector that offers enormous potential for developing and promoting parity entrepreneurship, both in terms of equal access to funding, as well as in equal numbers of participating women and men entrepreneurs;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas self-employment in one- woman firms, the arrangement many women find themselves in, does not usually generate substantial profits, so that the women in question are particularly at risk of poverty during their working lives and in old age;

Amendment 22 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)

Ja. whereas female entrepreneurs are more reluctant to assume a position of debt compared to men and to expand their business. This is down largely to lower levels of self-confidence in their business;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

~~K. whereas the greater difficulty for female entrepreneurs in accessing financing could in part be related to a difficulty in building sufficient credit history and managerial experience;~~deleted

Amendment 24 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas the ~~greater~~ difficulty for female entrepreneurs in accessing financing could in part be related to a difficulty in building sufficient credit history and managerial experience;

Amendment 25 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)

Ka. whereas the greater difficulty that women face in comparison with men in obtaining credit from financial institutions in order to launch their own businesses is often due to the fact that their reliability is called into question by prejudices regarding their training and their way of conducting business, because it has been statistically demonstrated that, in comparison with men in similar positions, women entrepreneurs have less propensity to take risks and are less concerned with business expansion and growth, which is seen as incompatible with the requirements of private life, which influence women enormously in their business decisions;

Amendment 26 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)

Kb. whereas very often women who request access to credit are ‘fronts’ and not the real owners of the undertaking, for the sole purpose of securing financial concessions and advantageous conditions from credit institutions and European, national and regional public administrations;

Amendment 27 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

L. ~~whereas stereotypes on women’s and men’s abilities in the area of entrepreneurship may influence stakeholders’ judgements about new businesses;~~ whereas the mere perception of being discriminated against when trying to access financing could have an impact on women’s decisions to start companies or to do so with smaller loans;

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

L. whereas stereotypes on women’s and men’s abilities in the area of entrepreneurship may influence stakeholders’ judgements about new businesses; whereas the ~~mere perception~~high probability of being discriminated against when trying to access financing could have an impact on women’s decisions to start companies or to do so with smaller loans;

Amendment 29 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital N

N. whereas EU Directive 2004/113/EC prohibits gender discrimination in access to goods and services, which includes banks and financial services and services associated with setting up businesses; whereas it is difficult to prove indirect discrimination in this context and Member States ~~hardly ever report~~do not have data and precise information on cases of discrimination in terms of access to finance;

Amendment 3 #

Constance LE GRIP

Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)

- having regard to its resolution of 9 September 2015 on women’s careers in science and universities, and glass ceilings encountered1a, __________________ 1a P8_TA(2015)0311.

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital O

O. whereas data show that women, despite beliefs that female investors are better risk managers5 , are likely to have a greater risk aversion tendency and a greater lack of confidence; whereas this may lead to a lesser ability to generate confidence from external parties and could subsequently influence their financing possibilities; __________________ 5KPMG (2015), Report on ‘Women in Alternative Investments’.deleted

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital P

P. whereas female social entrepreneurs contribute significantly to the reduction of social exclusion and ~~whereas~~ the creation of new development opportunities, and whereas taking up social entrepreneurship ~~is an empowering experience for women that possibly leads to increased participation in traditional entrepreneurship~~seems a less daunting step and the experience gained makes it easier to take up self- employment in other areas;

Amendment 32 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital P

P. whereas female ~~social~~ entrepreneurs contribute significantly to the reduction of social exclusion and strengthen social cohesion, whereas the creation of new development opportunities and ~~social~~ entrepreneurship i~~s an empowering experience for women that possibly leads~~n other fields empowers women and enables them to progress on equal terms, leading possibly to increased participation in traditional entrepreneurship;

Amendment 33 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)

Pa. whereas in most cases women entrepreneurs operate in sectors which are secondary from the point of view of economic returns and competitiveness on the market;

Amendment 34 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)

Qa. whereas the need to reconcile working time with family needs is one of the needs most commonly felt by women entrepreneurs, to say nothing of the difficulties of access to continuing training and assistance services;

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)

Qa. whereas failure to promote policies designed to achieve a work-life balance is creating significant obstacles to women’s economic independence and to the equal sharing of family and household responsibilities;

Amendment 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)

Qa. whereas entrepreneurship education, both formal and informal, is key for encouraging more women and girls into the field;

Amendment 37 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Encourages Member States to recognise the value of female entrepreneurship for their economies and the hurdles that need to be overcome; calls on Member States and regions to put forward concrete strategies to ~~fully exploit women’s potential as entrepreneur~~promote a culture of female entrepreneurship bearing in mind work being done on needs, motives and conditions to eradicate gender stereotypes and promote different management and leadership styles, as well as new ways of organising and managing companies;

Amendment 38 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Calls on the Commission to ensure the full mainstreaming of gender into all future policy in the area of entrepreneurship;

Amendment 39 #

Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Barbara MATERA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on Member States to adopt programmes to help, support and advise female entrepreneurs in order to start value and wealth-generating pioneering companies with socially responsible principles;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)

- having regard to its resolution of 8 September 2015 on promoting youth entrepreneurship through education and training1 a, __________________ 1a Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0292.

Amendment 40 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

Amendment 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on Member States to collect at regional level gender-disaggregated data, including on ~~soci~~various female entrepreneurship, fields, to acknowledge their contribution in the social field and to report regularly on the number of female entrepreneurs; recommends that data are collected and consolidated at a European level with the support of the European Institute for Gender Equality and Eurostat;

Amendment 42 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on Member States to collect gender-disaggregated data, including on social entrepreneurship, and to report regularly on the number of female entrepreneurs; recommends that data are collected and consolidated at a European level with the support of the European Institute for Gender Equality and Eurostat; recommends that gender should be mainstreamed into the methodology of any research undertaken on entrepreneurship, social economy and social enterprise by a qualified gender expert and that particular attention should be paid to the experiences of women with multiple marginalised identities;

Amendment 43 #

Constance LE GRIP

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on the Commission to incorporate the issue of women’s entrepreneurship into its post-2015 strategy on equality between women and men;

Amendment 44 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls for an holistic approach to women entrepreneurship aimed at encouraging and supporting women to build a career in entrepreneurship, facilitating access to finance and business opportunity but also creating an environment that would enable women to reach their potential and become successful entrepreneurs by ensuring, inter alia, the reconciliation of professional and personal life , access to child-care facilities and tailored made trainings;

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on the institutions, Member States and regional and local authorities to step up their work to combat stereotypes that still persist concerning women in male-dominated sectors such as science and technology, innovation and invention, in which decision-makers, investors, the financial sector and the market see women as being less credible or less professional, as a result of which potential customers, suppliers, partners, banks and investors sometimes regard female entrepreneurs with scepticism, with the latter needing to be far more persistent in proving their knowledge, skills and abilities, and being able to obtain the funding they need;

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls on Member States to put in place measures aimed at combatting stereotypical beliefs about men's and women's traits and abilities, in particular the unconscious gender bias and cultural conception regarding competences of female entrepreneurs and the investment- worthiness of their enterprises;

Amendment 47 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Commission and Member States to ~~recognise the value of entrepreneurship for~~ adopt a strong coherent framework of measures to help enable a decent-work- life balance and to expand overall support for female labour market participation; ~~looks forward~~strongly encourage, in the aftermath of the decision to withdraw the proposal to amend the Maternity leave Directive, to a constructive dialogue amongst institutions to see how best to support these work-life balance policies;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Commission and Member States to recognise the value of entrepreneurship for the work-life balance ~~and to expand overall support for~~of men and women and to eliminate the barriers which hinder or even prevent female labour market participation as self- employed persons; looks forward, in the aftermath of the decision to withdraw the proposal to amend the Maternity leave Directive, to a constructive dialogue amongst institutions to see how best to implement and support these work-life balance policies; through the provision of paternity and parental leave for fathers;

Amendment 49 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Commission and Member States to recognise the value of entrepreneurship for work-life balance and to expand overall support for female labour market participation; ~~looks forward, in the aftermath of the decision to withdraw the proposal to amend the Maternity leave Directive, to~~withdrawing the proposal to amend the Maternity leave Directive slows down progress on equality policies at EU level, with a constructive dialogue amongst institutions needed to see how best to support these policies on a work-life balance ~~policies~~for men and women;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)

- having regard to the Commission communication of 25 October 2011 entitled 'Creating a favourable climate for social enterprises, key stakeholders in the social economy and innovation' (COM(2011) 682),

Amendment 50 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Commission and Member States to recognise the value of entrepreneurship for work-life balance by carrying out awareness campaigns at the workplace and in the media, highlighting the role of men in promoting equality, the equal distribution of family responsibilities and achieving a work-life balance, and to expand overall support for female labour market participation; looks forward, in the aftermath of the decision to withdraw the proposal to amend the Maternity leave Directive, to a constructive dialogue amongst institutions to see how best to support these work-life balance policies;

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Calls on the Commission and Member States to recognise the value of entrepreneurship for work-life balance and to expand overall support for female labour market participation; looks forward, in the aftermath of the decision to withdraw the proposal to amend the Maternity leave Directive, to a constructive dialogue amongst institutions to see how best to support these work-life balance policies; calls upon the Commission to present, until the end of 2016, concrete steps, including legislative proposals, for increasing participation of women in the labour market by improving work- life balance;

Amendment 52 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls the importance of achieving the Barcelona targets to make work-life balance a reality for all, ~~as well as of us~~calls for the implementation of existing legislation and considering of new legislation as established ing the ~~appropriate European funds to guarantee affordable care for children and elderly dependents~~recently published EC roadmap. Calls for establishing appropriate and quality affordable care for children and elderly dependents, notably by taking full advantage of support options under European Social Fund, European Regional Development Fund and European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. RCalls on the Commission and Member States to recalls the importance of achieving the Barcelona targets to make work-life balance a reality ~~for all~~, as well as of using the appropriate tools and incentives, including European funds, to guarantee affordable care for children and elderly dependents;

Amendment 54 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls the importance of achieving the Barcelona targets to make work-life balance a reality for all, as well as of using the appropriate European funds to guarantee affordable care for children ~~and~~, elderly dependents and family members with disabilities taking into consideration the flexible working hours of parents and carers;

Amendment 55 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

Amendment 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls the importance of achieving the Barcelona targets to make work-life balance a reality for all, as well as of using the appropriate European funds to guarantee that the supply of good quality affordable care for children ~~and~~, the elderly and dependent family members is adequate and compatible with full-time working hours;

Amendment 57 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Recalls the importance of achieving the Barcelona targets to make work-life balance a reality for all, as well as of using the appropriate European funds to guarantee affordable care for children and elderly dependents; reminds of the importance full social rights protection has for the specific circumstances of the self-employed, without which innovative and inclusive entrepreneurship is not possible;

Amendment 58 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Calls on the European Union to invest in the creation of support structures for women entrepreneurs to provide child care and care of elderly relatives and the family, improving and facilitating access to basic services (such as crèches) and various work opportunities (such as flexible working hours);

Amendment 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Stresses the importance of rational and flexible working hours to enable a balance to be struck between work and family life;

Amendment 6 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas Article 16 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union explicitly refers to the freedom to conduct a business for all EU citizens and as such empowers and encourages entrepreneurship, including female entrepreneurship;

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Reiterates that paternity leave can have a positive impact on the female labour force participation and encourages Member States, if they have not yet done so, to consider the introduction of paid paternity leave;

Amendment 61 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)

5b. Emphasises the need to change the way that gender roles have traditionally been assigned in society, the workplace and the family, by encouraging men to become more involved in housework and caring for dependent relatives, by means of, for example, mandatory paternity leave, non-transferable parental leave and public policies enabling effective reconciliation of family- and work-related responsibilities, particularly for women and especially in highly competitive and mobile sectors, where long and flexible working hours are the norm, as well as lifelong learning to keep up with the latest technological developments and market opportunities;

Amendment 62 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Underlines the importance of looking beyond the start-up phase to help ~~women~~those women who have considered the path of entrepreneurship consolidate and expand their businesses and to s~~witch to~~uggest more innovative, sustainable and profitable sectors, without undermining the conditions for a healthy general wellbeing;

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Underlines the importance of looking beyond the start-up phase to help women consolidate and expand their businesses and of networking and sharing best practices in order to switch to more innovative, sustainable and profitable sectors;

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Underlines the huge potential of women innovators and entrepreneurs and the important role they can play in the digital transformation of the economy; calls on the Commission and Member States to invest in women and girls digital potential, and to fully support and promote a digital entrepreneurial culture for women and women´s integration and participation in information society;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Emphasises the great importance of public spaces to help develop projects (providing visibility and acting as incubators for companies) and provide financial and tax-related support, relevant and up-to-date information and advice on starting up a business, in particular for new female entrepreneurs; stresses, likewise, the importance of funds for business consolidation, a greater presence in social forums, of work-life balance policies and of recognition from the authorities of the importance of this group – both new and long-established entrepreneurs – to society;

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Welcomes the creation of the various European networks for female entrepreneurs; urges the Commission to communicate more actively on the achievements of female entrepreneurs and to recognise these potential role models explicitly through the Enterprise Promotion awards and the European Social Innovation Competition, always explaining deeply the origin and the path of each success case, helping the women to understand the possibilities of entrepreneurship whilst protecting them against the failure frustration traditionally suffered due to unachievable myths;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Considers that European networks of women entrepreneurs should create a European and national network to facilitate and assist women in seeking financing and in advice services for ease of access;

Amendment 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Calls on the Commission to emphasise the use of forums in its upcoming European e-Platform for Women Entrepreneurship and to include a step-by- step plan for accessing European funding possibilities, whilst also making the e- Platform attractive for potential investors and for Member States’ government services in an attempt to cut red tape for female entrepreneurs by clarifying administrative procedures, getting a Women Entrepreneurship e-Platform that might become a future reference in the sector;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Calls on the Commission to establish a European Business centre for Women, a focal point aimed at promoting the Commission initiatives for women entrepreneurs, creating and boosting existing networks, monitoring and gender mainstreaming the business initiatives and programs financed with the EU budget;

Amendment 7 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas women only accounted for 31% of entrepreneurs (10.3 million) in the EU- 28 in 20127 and only 34.4% of the self- employed in the EU are women; __________________ 7 Commission (2014), Report on ‘Statistical data on Women entrepreneurs in Europe’.

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Calls on the Commission to support the creation of a European Office of female entrepreneurs, in close cooperation with the Member States and companies from the private sector, in order to provide management and technical assistance as well as comprehensive training on practical topics to grow their businesses;

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to facilitate the access of women entrepreneurs, such as by offering free training courses, to the most relevant, technical, scientific and business networks, since such access is essential for developing business concepts, meeting potential customers, suppliers and partners, understanding the market with its trends, opportunities and weaknesses and obtaining strategic information, cooperation and support;

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Calls on Member States’ equality bodies to raise awareness levels among financiers regarding their obligation to ensure equality and to explore possibilities of introducing gender equality into investment mandates;deleted

Amendment 73 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Calls on Member States’ ~~equality bodies to raise awareness levels among financiers regarding their obligation to ensure equality and to explore possibilities of introducing gender equality into investment mandates~~governments, authorities and equality bodies (where available) to reach agreements with financial sectors to ensure equality between men and women and to explore possibilities of introducing gender equality into staff structures and into financial products and the advertising thereof;

Amendment 74 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Calls on Member States’ equality bodies to raise awareness levels among financiers regarding their obligation to ensure equality ~~and to explore possibilities of introducing gender equality into investment mandate~~in access to capital for free- lancers and SMEs;

Amendment 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Calls on Member States’' equality bodies to raise awareness levels among financiers regarding their obligation to ensure equality ~~and~~; invites them to explore possibilities with financiers of introducing gender equality into investment mandates, of publishing gender-disaggregated information on the attribution of loans and of tailoring risk profiles used to both women and men;

Amendment 76 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Calls on the Member States to draw up aid maps setting out measures to support entrepreneurship among women and competitiveness and entrepreneurship in business, ranging from the fostering of an entrepreneurial culture to the adoption of new technologies or funding for RDI;

Amendment 77 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Calls on the Commission to diligently monitor the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the allocation of EU funds in relation to entrepreneurship; suggests to the Commission to introduce gender quotas in every targeted support provided to underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, in order to ensure progress towards achieving parity entrepreneurship;

Amendment 78 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Calls on the Commission and Member States to promote the visibility of financing entrepreneurial activity through microfinance under the European Progress Microfinance Facility and to look into collaboration with the private sector for investment in ‘female’ sectors, such as government loan guarantees;deleted

Amendment 79 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Calls on the Commission and Member States to better promote the ~~visi~~availability of financing entrepreneurial activity through microfinance under the European Progress Microfinance Facility and to look into collaboration with the private sector for investment in ‘female’ sectors, such as government loan guaranteesunding under the European Progress Microfinance Facility;

Amendment 8 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas women are often only the officially registered owners of firms, which in reality are run by men, so that women bear the business risk, whilst men exercise decision-making power;

Amendment 80 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Calls on the Commission and Member States to promote the visibility of financing entrepreneurial activity ~~through microfinance~~by drawing up aid maps for microfinance, among other measures, under the European Progress Microfinance Facility and to look into collaboration with the private sector for investment in ‘female’ sectors, such as government loan guarantees;

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10a. Stresses the importance of using all possible financial streams and especially the Structural Funds within the next programing period 2014.-2020;

Amendment 82 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10a. Urges the Member States to promote measures and actions to assist and advise women who decide to become entrepreneurs, to encourage business enterprise by women, facilitating and simplifying access to funding and other support, and to cut down bureaucratic and other obstacles to women's start-up enterprises;

Amendment 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)

10b. Calls on the Commission to explore and develop proposals on ways of interesting women in business start-ups; stresses that women with the necessary business acumen should be made aware of support programmes and funding opportunities;

Amendment 84 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Calls on the Commission and Member States to start accumulating gender- disaggregated data on entrepreneurs’ access to finance and to further explore whether there is any hard evidence of direct or indirect discrimination against women in this context and, if so, how the external factors that influence investors’ assessments about the viability of female- led start-ups should be addressed;deleted

Amendment 85 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Calls on the Commission and Member States to start accumulating gender- disaggregated data on entrepreneurs’ access to finance in narrow collaboration with the European Institute for Gender Equality and to further explore and research whether there is any hard evidence of direct or indirect discrimination against women in this context and, if so, how the external factors that influence investors’ assessments about the viability of female- led start-ups should be addressed;

Amendment 86 #

Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11a. Calls on the Commission to address the specific challenges of women entrepreneurs in the next review and update of Small Business Act, as well as the annual SBA reports. These challenges should be taken into consideration in all the programmes of SBA, and an additional Action Plan should be established to overcome the obstacles of women entrepreneurs;

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12a. Considers that easier access to financing should be provided for women entrepreneurs in innovative and sustainable sectors, with special reference to those in ICT, construction and transport, where men are in the majority; calls in this respect for greater monitoring to avoid phenomena whereby women are used by men as ‘fronts’ in order to secure financing on easier terms;

Amendment 88 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

Amendment 89 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Encourages Member States to promote an entrepreneurial culture in education and training curricula in coordination with labour rights; highlights the importance of financial, entrepreneurship and new business development courses in secondary education, e~~specially in subject areas mostly attended by girls, such as health care and other service~~ncouraging the implementation of labour rights;

Amendment 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas obstacles that hurdle female entrepreneurship, such as predomination of women in unemployment, the consistent gap in entrepreneurial activity and underrepresentation of women in management activities, are interwoven, difficult and ask for a complex requirements for their removal;

Amendment 90 #

Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Barbara MATERA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Encourages Member States to promote an entrepreneurial culture within education and training curricula; highlights the importance of education for financial, entrepreneurship and new business development ~~courses in secondary education, especially in subject areas mostly attended by girls, such as health care and other services~~both formal and informal, for girls and women at all levels, including life-long learning;

Amendment 91 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Encourages Member States to promote an entrepreneurial culture in education and entrepreneurship training curricula at all levels of education; highlights the importance of financial, ICT, entrepreneurship and new business development courses in secondary education, especially in subject areas mostly attended by girls, such as health care and other services;

Amendment 92 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Encourages Member States to promote an entrepreneurial culture in education and training curricula; highlights the importance of financial, entrepreneurship and new business development courses in secondary education, especially in subject areas mostly attended by girls, such as health care and other services; calls on the Commission and the Member States to make women more aware of the advantages of business training and ensure that they receive the same opportunities as men of making a career in this field;

Amendment 93 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Encourages Member States to promote an entrepreneurial culture in education and training curricula and calls on the Commission to provide incentives for Member States to ensure a more balanced representation of women and men in the business sector; highlights the importance of financial, entrepreneurship and new business development courses in secondary education, especially in subject areas mostly attended by girls, such as health care and other services;

Amendment 94 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

13. Encourages Member States to promote an entrepreneurial culture in education and training ~~curricula~~; highlights the importance of financial, entrepreneurship and new business development courses in secondary education, especially in subject areas mostly attended by girls, such as health care and other services;

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Calls on schools and universities to encourage girls and women to take up subjects that lead to careers in finance and high-growth sectors such as new technologyies, including green technology, ~~and IT~~digital environments, IT and RDI, areas in which processes of power are played out;

Amendment 96 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Calls on schools and universities to encourage girls and women to take up subjects that lead to careers in sectors in areas of science, technology, finance and high-growth sectors such as technology, including green technology, and ICT;

Amendment 97 #

Michaela ŠOJDROVÁ, Barbara MATERA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Calls on Member States to collaborate with the public sector, the private sector, NGOs ~~and~~, universities and schools to establish further apprenticeship programmes, including those in which students conduct development projects based on real business concepts from a young age onwards and business incubators that aim to empower young entrepreneurs, while learning, understanding and implementing the labour rights culture;

Amendment 98 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Calls on Member States to collaborate with the private sector, NGOs and universities to establish further apprenticeship and non-formal and informal learning programmes, including those in which students conduct development projects based on real business concepts from a young age onwards and business incubators that aim to empower young entrepreneurs;

Amendment 99 #