No C 25/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 1. 85 
Opinion on the draft Council recommendation on the promotion 
of positive action for women (') 
(85/C 25/12) 
On 8 May 1984 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Articles 100 and 235 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Com­
munity, on the draft Council recommendation on the promotion of positive action for 
women. 
The Section for Social Questions, which was responsible for preparing the Commit­
tee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 8 November 1984 in the light of the 
report by Mrs Weber. 
At its 221st plenary session (meeting of 21 November 1984) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following opinion by 77 votes to 27, with six abstentions: 
1. Introduction 
1.1. At Community level rights to equal treatment 
for men and women workers are based on three 
Council Directives concerning equal pay (Directive 
75/117/EEC), access to employment, vocational 
training and promotion, and working conditions 
(Directive 76/207/EEC) and matters of social secur­
ity (Directive 79/7/EEC). The framework esta­
blished by these three Directives was extended by 
the Council resolution of 12 July 1982 concerning a 
Community action programme on the promotion of 
equal opportunities for women. In this context the 
Commission has proposed three further Directives 
concerning (1) equal treatment under occupational 
social security schemes, (2) equal treatment as re­
gards self-employed activities and (3) parental leave 
and leave for family reasons, as well as a resolution 
on female unemployment. 
1.2. Past experience has shown that legal provi­
sions on equal treatment and equal opportunities are 
generally not enough to eliminate the de facto ine­
qualities that women come up against in working 
life. That is why in its action programme two years 
ago the Commission called for positive measures to 
promote equal opportunities for women. Experience 
with this concept, as recorded in an interim report 
on the implementation of the action programme for 
the promotion of equal opportunities, indicates that 
although there is increasing acceptance of the idea 
of positive action, the Member States on the whole 
have done very little in this area. The Member States 
have failed so far to develop systematic programmes 
of positve action in either the public or the private 
sector. Thus not only do most Member States have 
(') OJ No C 143, 30. 5. 1984, p. 3. no overall strategy for positive action but there are 
also even legal impediment in many cases to the 
implementation of positive action. 
1.3. Under these circumstances the Commission 
considers that the Member States should introduce 
framework legislation on positive action at national 
level. To this end a strategy, or rather a programme, 
for positive action to assist women in working life is 
recommended. 
1.4. The Committee agrees with the Commission 
that in the light of the experience with the 1982 
action programme a programme of positive meas­
ures should be proposed to the Member States. The 
Committee considers, though, that a Directive rather 
than a recommendation would be more appropriate 
for furthering the Commission's aims, since this is 
the only way to induce the Member States to take 
action swiftly and on a more extensive scale. At the 
present stage, however, binding legislation would 
not in its view be appropriate for implementing the 
positive action proposed. 
2. General comments 
2.1. The Committee notes that unemployment 
among women is very high in the Community (and 
in most Member States even higher than among 
men) and that women are at present under-repre­
sented in many occupations and sectors of working 
life, particularly at certain levels of responsibility. It 
is true that numerous measures have already been 
taken to promote equal treatment and equal oppor­
tunities for women in working life, but these have 
not always been successful. In an economic reces­
sion there is also a danger that the access women 
have secured to the labour market and their greater 
participation in occupations traditionally carried on 
28. 1. 85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 25/29 
by men will be eroded, that discrimination against 
women will build up again and that the traditional 
division of roles in society between men and women 
will remain unchanged. The Commitee argees with 
the Commission that in such an economic phase it is 
particularly important to continue and even inten­
sify action undertaken to promote the equal treat­
ment of women. It is of course also necessary to ini­
tiate new measures. 
2.2. Since it is evident that the legal provisions on 
equal treatment are not sufficient by themselves to 
remove de facto inequalities, all the parties con­
cerned — governments, employers, workers, etc. — 
must take measures to counter discrimination 
against women workers and women seeking employ­
ment or a training place and to promote their parti­
cipation in all occcupations and sectors of working 
life, at all levels of responsibility. 
3. Specific comments 
Point B 1 (a) 
The Committee proposes that point B 1 (a) be re­
worded to read as follows: 
'(a) to counteract or compensate for the prejudi­
cial effects on women in employment or 
seeking employment or a training place 
which arise from existing attitudes, behaviour 
and structures based on a perceived division 
of roles in society between men and women' 
Point B 1 (b) 
In the coming years technological change will lead 
to a considerable shake-up in the structure of the 
labour market. Account should be taken of this fact 
now. The Committee therefore proposes that present 
positive action should also promote the participa­
tion of women in all occupations and sectors of 
working life holding out promise for the future. 
Point B 4 (a): 
The Committee proposes that point B 4 (a) be re­
worded to read: 
'action to inform and increase the awareness of 
the general public of the need to promote equal 
opportunities for women in working life; action 
to inform in particular young women and unem­
ployed women about skilled occupations in the 
new technology sector and "typical male occupa­tions" in order to encourage them to seek jobs in 
these areas; action to enhance the appreciation of 
women as employees through information cam­
paigns in the media and at the workplace and to 
ensure that, as far as possible, there is a male and 
a female title for each occupation'. 
Point B 4 (c): 
The Committee would further recommend that ac­
count be taken of the fact that the range of voca­
tional choice for women can also be broadened by, 
for example, giving financial assistance to firms that 
train or recruit women for craft and technical occu­
pations that have hitherto been exercised predomi­
nantly by men. 
Point B 4 (d): 
The Committee considers that specific training or 
pre-training schemes should be implemented only if 
they do not entail any discrimination against women 
and are actually instrumental in helping them. 
Point B 4 (e): 
The Committee suggest that one should aim for pro­
portionate participation of women in training in 
both the private and the public sector on the basis of 
a proposal from the two sides of industry. 
The measures indicated should at all events be im­
plemented in the public sector. 
Point B 4 (f): 
The Committee thinks that the division of occupa­
tional and familiy responsibilities is likely to change 
only if there is not just greater flexiblity but also a 
reduction in individual working time, particularly 
daily working time, for men and women. 
Point B 4 (g): 
The action to ensure participation of women in 
decision-making in bodies representing workers, 
employers or the self-employed could in the Com­
mittee's view consist in recommending a balanced 
apportionment of posts between men and women to 
the bodies in question. 
Annex: 
The Committee is aware that the programme of 
positive action in undertakings proposed in the 
No C 25/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 1. 85 
Annex, page 1, phase 2: 
In connection with the collection and analysis of 
statistical information, the Commitee would observe 
that account should be taken of data protection 
requirements. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR 
APPENDIX 
to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee 
Rejected Amendment 
The following proposal for an amendment submitted in accordance with the Rules of Procedure 
was rejected in the course of the discussions: 
Page 6, point B 4 (e): 
Delete and substitute the following: 
'The Section, while not opposing special measures, where appropriate, to encourage a higher 
proportion of women to train for jobs and enter professions where historically they may have 
been underrepresented, is opposed to any quota system which lays down beforehand propor­
tions of males and females to be employed in any category or in the total complement of 
workers. Consequently it would regard the "example" given to "fixing indicative targets for 
recruitment" as inappropriate.' 
Reasons 
(a) Quotas militate against equality of opportunity. 
(b) There would be considerable problems for the social partners in deciding on the principle 
under which the quota would be set. 
Voting: Annex will cost money. It considers, however, that 
the costs in question will be rapaid in the medium to 
long term and moreover should be accepted for the 
sake of assisting women. 
Done at Brussels, 21 November 1984. 
For : 41. Against : 60. Abstentions : 4.