Council Resolution of 27 November 2003 on equal access to and participation of women and men in the knowledge society for growth and innovation
Date: 2003-11-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: equal treatment, gender equality, information society, new technology, participation of women

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18. ACKNOWLEDGES the Commission's proposed preparatory
action on security research and TAKES NOTE of
the
ongoing work leading to the planned creation of an inter-
governmental agency in the field of defence capabilities,
development, research, acquisition and armaments.

In response to the foregoing considerations:

19.

INVITES the Member States and the Commission, within
their respective competences, to:

Agreement and the Action Plan for implementing the
European Space Policy (1);

— pursue the ongoing efforts in relation to the European
Aviation Safety Agency becoming fully operational;

— take the necessary steps, as appropriate, to continue to
back the implementation of the agency in the field of
defence capabilities development, research, acquisition
and armaments, including continuing the efforts of the
Member States in liaison with the Commission towards
the creation of an internationally competitive EU
defence market, as appropriate.

— continue, in cooperation with ESA, the ongoing efforts
to develop a coherent European space policy, taking
into account the provisions of the EC-ESA Framework

(1) See doc. 14886/03 RECH 211 COMPET 62 IND 164 TRANS 293

POLARM 36.

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 27 November 2003

on equal access to and participation of women and men in the knowledge society for growth and
innovation

(2003/C 317/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

1. RECALLING:

linked with ICTs and in particular groups such as unem-
ployed women; and

that one of the objectives of the European Union is to
eliminate inequalities and to promote equality between
men and women in all its activities;

the Lisbon Strategy, which drew attention to the importance
of equipping all citizens with the skills needed to live and
work in the knowledge-based society, and to the need to
raise the present employment rate of women;

the European Councils in Brussels (March 2003), Seville,
Barcelona and Nice, which in turn:

— WELCOMED the strengthening of

the implementation,
coordination and follow-up of gender equality and
gender mainstreaming in the European Union and
requested that employment guidelines should address
inter alia entrepreneurship and gender equality;

— ENDORSED the objectives of the Commission's Action
Plan for eEurope 2005 — an information society for
the
all,
workforce with the key
the
knowledge-based society;

addressing the need to provide
required for
skills

thereby

— UNDERLINED that the European Social model

includes
the fight against all
that
gender equality at work must underpin the trans-
formation to the knowledge-based economy and that
more and better jobs are the key to social inclusion;

forms of discrimination,

the Council Resolution of June 2001 on Science and Society
and on Women in Science (1), which invited
the
to
Commission to continue
promote the role of women in science and technology,
and in particular within the sixth framework programme;

and intensify its

effort

the Council Conclusions of March 2003 on the Promotion
of Entrepreneurship and small firms (2), which stressed the
need to encourage women entrepreneurs in order to create
more new innovative and competitive firms;

the Council Conclusions of May 2003 on Adapting
e-Business Policies in a Changing Environment (3), which
underlined the need to narrow and close e-skills gaps and
the need for inclusiveness of the entire available potential
labour pool addressing in particular the severe under-repre-
sentation of women in the ICT workforce;

— CALLED UPON the Council to ensure that all citizens are
well equipped with basic qualifications, especially those

(1) OJ C 199, 14.7.2001, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 64, 18.3.2003, p. 6-8.
(3) OJ C 149, 26.6.2003, p. 7-9 and Doc. 9857/03.

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the Council Resolution of July 2003 on Social and Human
Capital (1), which stressed the need to address the current
gender gap in access to ICT-related education, jobs and the
ICT, and to encourage more women to pursue
use of
the
in subjects
higher-education
information society;

studies

related

to

the conclusions of 14th March 2003 of the UN Commission
on the Status of Women which noted that a focus on the
gender dimensions of ICTs is essential for preventing an
adverse impact of the digital revolution on gender equality.

2. RECOGNISING:

the important role that gender equality can play in the
the Lisbon strategy for contributing to the
context of
European Union becoming the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable
of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs
and greater social cohesion and the key role that the social
partners and NGOs can play in reducing gender inequalities
and the digital divide.

3. UNDERLINING:

initiatives, and to
e-Government
implementation of
ensure early and full participation of women therein,
and, in this context, to take into account the needs of
vulnerable groups;

in the area of skills for the knowledge society to:

— evaluate

the need for

increasing efforts

regarding
existing policies and initiatives addressing the current
under-representation of women in ICT-related education,
inter alia by adapting ICT education at all levels to take
into account the needs of female students and support
research into women's use of ICT,
in particular their
information needs and interests;

campaigns

— consider the usefulness of reinforcing initiatives, such as
courses,
awareness
starting from the early stages of education, aimed at
shaping attitudes and combating negative stereotypes
and paying specific attention to women belonging to
disadvantaged groups and areas;

and digital

literacy

the need to foster equal participation of men and women in
the knowledge society paying particular attention to:

in the area of employment, research, innovation and entre-
preneurship to:

— skills for the knowledge society;

— employment, research, innovation and entrepreneurship;

— social and regional inclusion.

4.

INVITES Member States:

in general to:

— enhance the possibilities for achieving gender equality
and for the economic, political and social empowerment
of women in the context of a more widespread use of
ICTs including infrastructures and, while recognising
ICTs
that women are large consumers and users of
and multimedia, to further promote their participation
in and influence on all levels of production, research and
innovation;

— further develop, inter alia by using the Structural Funds,
initiatives aimed at training women in ICT, in particular
for entry, re-entry and re-skilling in the labour market,
also exploiting the added-value resulting from public-
private partnerships and from the involvement of local
communities and digital networks;

— promote suitable work organisation arrangements and
new ways of reconciling work and family life for both
men and women in order to combat low representation
and retention rates of women in the ICT sector as well
as in research and technological development;

— foster greater participation of women in research-based
activities and businesses, as a tool for enhancing inno-
vation;

— integrate gender perspectives in national policy making
concerning the ICT sector, inter alia in the design and

(1) OJ C 175, 24.7.2003, p. 3.

— encourage,

in particular through awareness campaigns
and support of start-ups,
the creation and ongoing
development of enterprises by women, especially in
knowledge-intensive sectors, as well as the equal partici-
pation of men and women in policy and decision
making in the ICT and media sectors;

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in the area of social and regional inclusion to:

— pay specific attention to women belonging to all groups
in order to increase their
in the

at risk of digital exclusion,
participation in social
knowledge society;

and working

life

— exploit the possibilities offered by new technologies for
the inclusion and economic development of disad-
vantaged regions,
inter alia by improving the oppor-
tunities to reconcile work and family life for both men
and women, for example through telework;

— recognise the importance of establishing appropriate
infrastructures,
including broadband connections, and
of providing facilities for equal access of women and
men, adequate basic training and e-learning, in particular
for the development of remote and sparsely populated
areas;

5. NOTES the commitments already undertaken by the social
partners and RECOMMENDS them to pay specific attention
to:

— improving training of women and men for

the
knowledge society, as well as providing equal access to
it;

— increasing cooperation with the educational system in
to ease the transition to work and promote

order
lifelong learning;

— developing family-friendly work organisational forms so
that men and women can reconcile work and family life,
thus facilitating women's participation and retention in
the ICT sector;

— addressing gender equality in the knowledge society

through corporate social responsibility.

6.

INVITES the Commission to:

— pay special attention in its ongoing policies and
initiatives to the three areas and to the specific aspects
identified above;

— monitor,

in cooperation with the Member States,
progress in this field and continue the analysis of the
different factors underlying current gaps and possible
solutions, including the collection and dissemination of
information on good practices;

— foster the development of partnerships among relevant
stakeholders,
to facilitate the
including civil society,
participation of women in the knowledge society;

— in collaboration with Member States and without
creating unnecessary bureaucratic burdens, develop,
collect and publish gender-disaggregated statistics, as
well as statistics related to gender equality, on different
aspects of the knowledge society;

— to report on progress of

Research (WIR)
development, innovation and entrepreneurship.

the Women in Industrial
initiative in the context of research,