Madam President, Commissioner, I would like to begin by thanking Mrs Fraisse. I also agree with her that – as with everything we do – it is up to us women ourselves to improve the situation of women in sport. We must be pro-active and take the initiative here. It is also up to us to point out that due to the small but significant difference, namely the physical difference, gross differences in salary, substantial differences in the level of support, differences in media reporting, and the different degree to which women are involved in decision-making are all realities. That means that equality must be demanded in sport as well. That also means, for example, that in order to underline the role of gender budgeting, which is currently being dealt with by the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities, we must review the resources available to clubs, associations and schools from an equality perspective for once. How are resources allocated between male and female competitions? How high is the expenditure on training for women and men, and what about the prize money or competition prizes? The gender aspect should be underlined in the training of trainers and teachers, and it is a must, it is absolutely essential, to demand leadership positions for women. We have already heard from our fellow Member that in international organisations in particular, virtually no progress has been made in terms of increasing women's role. I think, therefore, that the coming year – the European Year of Education through Sport – offers an opportunity to address these issues. We should raise awareness among project applicants to ensure that they also submit projects for women, and we should also urge the Commission to focus especially on these projects when making the selection, in order to send out a signal and set the right course. It is also necessary to promote new occupations, namely those that are still typically regarded as male professions, such as judges and officials, technical staff and medical staff – all these are areas where action is needed. I would also like to say something about sport in schools. I do not share the view that we should give precedence to subjects such as mathematics, geography and foreign languages rather than sport. This has already been happening for a long time. Whenever savings have to be made, sport is always the first thing to go. Sport and the arts are always dropped first. This is, in my view, a very bad thing. We are doing it again in Austria at present: we are currently cutting the school timetable by two hours, and sport is one of the things to go. This is unacceptable, for sport does not only have an educational and social value, it is also important for health, and we should not deprive our children and young people of this. I would like to finish by making one further point, if I may. I realise that I am over-running, but I would like to make this point to you. We have been talking about the media, and we cannot force them into reporting. That is true, but we do need to emphasise the importance of reporting in a serious-minded way. For example, when the City Marathon took place in January, Austrian Broadcasting (ORF) played ‘You Sexy Thing’ as the female winner approached the finishing line. The camera zoomed in on the relevant parts of the women's bodies. This is completely inappropriate in serious sports reporting. This type of discrimination against women still occurs, with the focus being not on their performance but merely on their gender and their bodies. This is something we need to protest about.

Political group: PSE