European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission entitled: ‘Women and science’ - Mobilising women to enrich European research (COM(1999) 76 — C5-0103/1999 — 1999/2106(COS))
Date: 2000-02-03
Institutions: Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, European Parliament
Subjects: participation of women, scientific profession, scientific research, woman

27.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 309/57

Thursday 3 February 2000

2. Women and science

A5-0082/1999

European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission entitled:
‘Women
and science’ " Mobilising women to enrich European research (COM(1999) 76 " C5-0103/1999
" 1999/2106(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission communication (COM(1999) 76 (cid:1) C5-0103/1999),

(cid:1) having regard to its opinions of 18 December 1997 on the proposal and amended proposal for a
European Parliament and Council decision concerning the Fifth Framework Programme of the Euro-
pean Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (1) and of
15 December 1998 on the proposals for Council decisions adopting specific programmes for research,
technological development and demonstration (2),

(cid:1) having regard to the Council Resolution of 20 May 1999 on Women and Science (3),

(cid:1) having regard to the results of the conference on ‘Women and Science’ organised jointly by the Euro-

pean Parliament and the Commission in April 1998,

(cid:1) having regard to STOA project 99/19/01 entitled: ‘Women professionals in the media in the context

of new technological developments’,

(cid:1) having regard to Article 157(1) and (2) of the EC Treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to Articles 2 and 3(2) of the EC Treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities and the

opinion of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (A5-0082/1999),

A. whereas research and development account for a significant proportion of Community activities and

of budgetary allocations,

B. whereas the work of women scientists is still too often unrecognised,

C. whereas EU competitiveness depends upon innovation, including research and development and tech-

nology transfer,

D. whereas European research could be much enriched by a greater contribution from women scientists,

E. whereas all Member States are experiencing difficulties in recruiting scientists and engineers,

F. whereas the Fifth Framework Programme, now under way, is specifically committed to incorporating

the equal opportunities policy of the EU,

G. whereas, in its annual review and mid-term evaluation of the Fifth Framework Programme, the Com-
mission must assess the development of women’s participation in the specific programmes and report
back to Parliament on that issue,

1. Welcomes the Commission proposal to increase the involvement of women in programmes orga-
nised by the EU;

Calls on Member States to increase the number of fellowships available to women in the fields of

2.
science and technology;

(1) OJ C 14, 19.1.1998, p. 128.
(2) OJ C 98, 9.4.1999, p. 39.
(3) OJ C 201, 16.7.1999, p. 1.

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3. Welcomes the broad definition of ‘science’ adopted by the Commission, one which includes all scien-
tific disciplines which generate knowledge;

4.

Supports the strategy of research by, for and on women as being comprehensive and constructive;

5.
Calls for gender-impact studies on the implementation of the Fifth Framework Programme to be
taken into account when the Sixth Framework Programme is being drawn up so as to ensure that research
topics of special interest to women are given due priority;

6.
Approves the aim of collating a more comprehensive set of statistics on the involvement of women
in different fields of science and research; believes that another aim should be to establish at European
level a database of female experts which would serve to enhance perception of the potential of female
expertise and, in so doing, widely publicise it;

7. Welcomes the willingness of the Commission to support studies and research into male-female rela-
tionships as social and political relationships;

Calls on the Commission to facilitate the publication and circulation of works concerning male-

8.
female relationships;

9.

Supports the aim of cooperating with Member States in order to achieve those objectives;

Supports the idea of mobilising the numerous existing networks of women scientists and of secur-

10.
ing their help in the formulation of European Union research policy;

Calls for the appointment of a large percentage of women to serve on committees that set policies,

11.
select and evaluate projects and control funds at both EU and Member State levels;

Notes that the Commission has undertaken to make substantial efforts to increase the participation
12.
of women in Community research programmes and that it considers it essential that a minimum of 40 %
participation by women should be the target at all
levels in the implementation and management of
research programmes;

13.

Calls for greater transparency regarding the membership of these panels;

14.
Calls on Member States to cooperate with the Commission in the compilation of better statistics, in
policy review work, in attending the planned conferences in 2000 and 2001 and in pursuing the objective
of gender balance in scientific research at national level;

Calls for the adoption of appropriate measures to enable women to combine family life and profes-

15.
sional life;

Expresses disappointment that only 9 % of the delegates proposed by Member States for advisory

16.
groups are women;

Calls on Member States to improve the balance between men and women when they nominate

17.
such national experts and committee members;

Calls on the Commission to investigate the reasons for the discrepancy between the number of
18.
women graduating in scientific disciplines and the number who are successful in obtaining professional
posts;

Calls for the creation of programmes designed to inform young girls, as soon as they reach school

19.
age, about scientific research and openings and possible careers in that field;

20.
Calls on all DGs in the Commission to consider setting up a properly resourced group similar to the
Women and Science sector in the DG for Research, with responsibility for monitoring the effectiveness of
mainstreaming in the work of each DG and for addressing the underrepresentation of women;

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21.
Calls on the Commission to increase the number of women involved in peer review exercises, since
this will familiarise women with Union procedures and programmes and encourage direct applications
from them;

22.
Calls on the Commission to incorporate the results of the gender-impact studies into plans for the
Sixth Framework Programme and, more specifically, for implementing measures and positive action to
combat the underrepresentation of women in science;

23.
Supports the Commission’s efforts to produce comparable data; calls on the Commission to publish
statistics both on the percentage of EU fellowships granted to women and to men scientists, broken down
by sector, and on the participation of women in the Fifth Framework Programme;

Calls on the Member States, when granting aid, to ensure that the award criteria are clear and that

24.
grants are made in conditions of the greatest possible transparency;

Calls on the Commission to promote the need for greater levels of numeracy, statistical and
25.
IT training amongst women, in consultation with national civil servants, women scientists and all inter-
ested parties;

Calls for EU preparatory assistance programmes for the applicant countries to encourage the pro-

26.
motion of scientific and technical skills in women;

Requests that the role of women in scientific research in the countries with which the European

27.
Union is carrying out joint programmes (cid:1) especially developing countries (cid:1) should not be ignored;

Calls for the common agricultural policy and the Structural Funds to be reviewed in order to ascer-

28.
tain whether women are adequately represented in scientific and technical work;

Calls for engineering and science skills for girls and women to be targeted alongside literacy pro-

29.
grammes in EU projects for developing countries;

Calls on the Commission to coordinate benchmarking exercises in order to assess the effectiveness
30.
of gender-segregated classes for science subjects alongside other measures such as teacher training to avoid
discrimination in mixed classes and assertiveness training for girls and women; furthermore, calls on the
Commission to maximise and optimise instruments and techniques which provide support for girls in
science classes;

31.
Calls on the Commission to avoid where possible, and to combat where necessary, the unjustified
positive discrimination in favour of boys in educational and scientific policy with regard to both the world
of work and higher education;

Calls on the Member States to take measures which support the dissociation of attitudes to course

32.
selection from traditional gender-specific role models;

33.

Calls on the Commission to facilitate mentoring systems within networks of women scientists;

Calls on the networks of women scientists to mobilise and become better involved in decision-

34.
making and policy-making processes, at both EU and Member State level;

Calls on the Commission to observe the ‘International Women’s University of Technology and

35.
Culture’, to be held as part of the Hanover Expo 2000, and to take note of its experiences;

36.
Calls on the Commission to create Europe-wide ‘Consensus’ conferences as part of the Sixth Frame-
work Programme, with at least 50 % women participants, from all walks of life; believes that these confer-
ences should provide non-scientist citizens with the opportunity to explore complex scientific issues, with
appropriate help and information;

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37.
Further to Commissioner Kinnock’s proposals for internal Commission reform, calls on the Com-
mission to investigate and report on the percentage of women directors in the DG for Research and in the
Commission as a whole;

38.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and Council.

3. Altener 1998-2002 ***III

A5-0011/2000

European Parliament legislative resolution on the joint text approved by the Conciliation Commit-
tee for a European Parliament and Council decision adopting a multiannual programme for the
promotion of renewable energy sources in the Community (Altener) (1998-2002) (C5-0333/1999
" 1997/0370(COD))

(Codecision procedure: third reading)

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee and the relevant Council,

Commission and Parliament statement (C5-0333/1999),

(cid:1) having regard to its position at first reading (1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the

Council (COM(1997) 550),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission’s amended proposal (COM(1999) 212 (cid:1) C4-0245/1999),

(cid:1) having regard to its position at second reading on the Council common position (2),

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission’s opinion on Parliament’s amendments to the common position

(COM(1999) 560 (cid:1) C5-0248/1999),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 251(5) of the EC Treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 83 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of its delegation to the Conciliation Committee (A5-0011/2000),

1.

Approves the joint text, and confirms the statement thereon;

Instructs its President to sign the act with the President of the Council pursuant to Article 254(1) of

2.
the EC Treaty;

Instructs its Secretary-General duly to sign the act and, in agreement with the Secretary-General of

3.
the Council, to have it published in the Official Journal of the European Communities;

4.

Instructs its President to forward this legislative resolution to the Council and Commission.

(1) OJ C 175, 21.6.1999, p. 262.
(2) Texts adopted of 6.10.1999, Item 11.