No C 65/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 6.3.84 
Draft Council resolution concerning action to combat unemployment amongst women 
(COM(84) 74 final) 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 22 February 1984) 
(84/C 65/10) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaties establishing the 
European Communities, 
Having regard to the draft resolution submitted by 
the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas various actions have been taken at 
Community level to promote equal opportunities for 
women, and in particular the adoption by the Council 
of Directives 75/117/EEC ('), 76/207/EEC (2) and 
79/7/EEC (3) concerning equal treatment as between 
men and women; 
Whereas the Council resolution of 12 July 1982 on 
the promotion of equal opportunities for women (4) 
emphasizes in particular the need, in a period of 
economic crisis, to intensify action undertaken at 
Community and national level, by the implementation 
of positive measures in order to achieve equality of 
opportunity in practice; 
Whereas the Council resolutions of 11 July 1983 (5) 
on vocational training in the 1980s, of 2 June 1983 (6) 
on vocational training and new technology, and of 
23 January 1984 (7) on the promotion of youth 
employment provide for specific measures in favour 
of women; 
Whereas the European Parliament has on many 
occasions stressed the need to develop Community 
measures to combat women's unemployment; 
(») OJNoL45, 19.2. 1975, p. 19. 
(2) OJ No L 39, 14. 2. 1976, p. 40. 
(3) OJN0L6, 10. 1. 1979, p. 24. 
(4) OJ No C 186, 21. 7. 1982, p. 3. 
O OJ No C 193, 20. 7. 1983, p. 2. 
(•) OJ No C 166, 25. 6. 1983, p. 1. 
O OJ No C 29, 4. 2. 1984, p. 1. Whereas unemployment amongst women in the 
Community, which is noticeably higher than male 
unemployment, is a source of growing concern and 
requires the adoption of appropriate measures to 
reduce the level of this unemployment and to improve 
the situation of unemployed women; 
Whereas the progressive reduction of the rate of 
female unemployment must form part of a general 
reduction of unemployment; 
Whereas female unemployment also has special 
characteristics requiring appropriate measures, 
HEREBY ADOPTS THIS RESOLUTION: 
1. Notes the Commission's communication (8) on 
unemployment amongst women in the 
Community, and undertakes to implement the 
measures it sets forward; 
2. Emphasizes the principles which must underlie 
the measures to be promoted, namely: 
— the equal right of men and women to work 
and to seek economic independence, 
regardless of the economic situation; 
— the extension of equal opportunities between 
men and women in the context of measures 
to stimulate economic recovery and to 
promote employment growth; 
— the development of positive measures to 
correct de facto inequalities and thereby 
improve female employment prospects and 
promote the desegregation of employment; 
3. Considers that the following guidelines for 
action should be implemented to help combat 
female unemployment: 
3.1. In respect of job creation and recruitment: 
— measures aimed at encouraging the recruit­
ment of additional labour, especially of 
(8) COM(83) 653 final. 
6.3.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 65/9 
young people, must comprise positive action 
to benefit young women, in particular to faci­
litate their access to non-traditional jobs; 
recruitment premiums should be selective and 
focussed on people who are in greatest need 
of work, many of whom are women; strengthening the efforts made to respond to 
the needs of female workers particularly 
affected by industrial restructuring and 
innovation, of unemployed women and 
women seeking to return to work, with a 
view to providing them with more marketable 
qualifications; 
adequate measures must be adopted to 
promote a more balanced proportion of 
women in the industries of the future, 
especially the high technology industries; ensuring that there is a better balance of men 
and women in the major training 
programmes, especially those connected with 
new technologies. 
the public sector must make a special effort 
to promote equality of opportunity as regards 
its own employees and thus set an example (') 
notably in those fields where new infor­
mation technologies are being developed; 
all initiatives aimed at the reduction and a 
reorganization of working time (2) should 
make a positive contribution to the 
promotion of equal opportunities in the area 
of employment, especially by enabling greater 
flexibility in working hours; 
the development of voluntary part-time 
work (3) should avoid accentuating segre­
gation in the labour market; 3.3. Measures should be taken to ensure that 
placement, guidance and counselling services are 
staffed with skilled personnel in adequate 
numbers in order to provide a more personal 
service and greater expertise in the special 
problems of unemployed women, in particular 
through the presence in the relevant services of 
persons playing a specific promotional and 
monitoring role in this area. 
3.4. The collecting of data on the situation of women 
on the labour market must be considerably 
improved in order to be able to monitor progress 
in the desegregation of employment and identify 
female unemployment trends more accurately. 
measures to promote and encourage the 
development of local employment 
initiatives (J), which offer interesting 
employment prospects for women and which 
contribute to the improvement of their 
working conditions, should guarantee them 
equal access to financial and other facilities 
available for the creation of businesses. 
3.2. Measures should be further developed in the 
field of education, initial and continuing 
vocational training and guidance with a view to: 
— taking systematic action to give women a 
wider choice of jobs in particular to enable 
them to participate more equitably in the 
future growth sectors; 
(') In accordance with the Council resolution of 12 July 
1982 on the promotion of equal opportunities for 
women. 
O COM(83) 543 final. 
(5) COM(81) 775 amended by COM(82) 830 of 17. 12. 
1982. 
(4) COM(83) 662. 4. The Council stresses the value it sets on the 
positive contribution of the European Social 
Fund to the implementation of these guidelines 
for action. 
The Council considers that the principles and 
guidelines set out above should be incorporated 
into action undertaken at every level by public 
authorities as well as by both sides of industry. 
The Council stresses the importance of 
accompanying measures, especially regarding 
social infrastructure and all measures to 
encourage greater sharing of family and parental 
responsibilities; it invites Member States to adopt 
the measures and develop the action necessary in 
this respect. 
7. The Council asks the Member States to rapidly 
develop information campaigns aimed at 
encouraging the change in attitudes needed to 
improve equality of opportunity in employment. 
No C 65/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 6.3.84 
8. The Council emphasizes the importance it 
attaches to the swift adoption of the proposal for 
a Directive submitted by the Commission under 
the new Action Programme on equal oppor­
tunities which concerns parental leave and leave 
for family reasons. 
9. The Council asks the Member States to send to 
the Commission by 1 January of each year all relevant information on the implementation of 
the actions and measures provided for in this 
resolution. 
It asks the Commission to report to it at regular 
intervals on the basis of such data with a view to 
making an assessment on progress accomplished 
not later than three years following the adoption 
of this resolution.