When considering the importance of employment and that of gender mainstreaming, we cannot leave out the significance of the current reform of the Structural Funds. Like the Employment strategy, the ESF Regulation adopts a dual approach to equality of opportunity between women and men. It has incorporated the mainstreaming factor but it has also established a specific policy field for positive action in favour of women. Indeed, we want Member States to give particular emphasis to specific action for women in their ESF programming. If I have dwelt a little on employment and the new Structural Funds it is because, first of all, I firmly believe that these are major issues for Europe and for women and, secondly, because these two major Community policies are vividly demonstrating how the dual strategy, and particularly mainstreaming, can operate in practice and can bear real and positive fruits.
Women lack equal access to qualified jobs and career paths.
And they take on a much greater share of responsibilities for family and household tasks than do men. I am of the opinion that the new Treaty offers potential instruments to meet these challenges. As I said earlier, the new Treaty essentially institutionalises the dual approach - mainstreaming and specific action. First of all, lets take mainstreaming. In Article 2 of the Treaty, equality between women and men is placed among the explicit objectives of the Community and Article 3 paragraph 2 obliges the Community, in all its tasks, to aim to eliminate inequalities and promote equality between women and men.