European Parliament resolution on Women's networks: fishing, farming and diversification (2004/2263(INI))
Date: 2005-12-15
Institutions: Committee on Fisheries, European Parliament
Subjects: female work, fishing industry, information network, participation of women, position of women

23.11.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 286 E/519

Thursday 15 December 2005

26.
Expresses its disappointment over the continued delay in the adoption of the law on minorities;
expresses disquiet that discriminatory measures are still contained in the electoral laws and repeated in the
draft law on minorities; wishes to see the law on minorities approved as soon as possible, respecting the
political criteria;

27.
Reiterates that additional measures need to be taken to ensure the protection of the Hungarian
minority in accordance with the principles of subsidiary and cultural autonomy; calls on the Romanian
authorities to fully sustain higher education for the Hungarian minority by providing the financial means
needed;

28.
Calls on the Commission to continue to monitor the preparations for accession with rigour and
objectivity and to help the Romanian authorities fulfil their commitments, while taking care to follow devel-
opments, not only in terms of commitments given but also in terms of their implementation at local level,
in the areas where changes have been requested in its previous reports;

Repeats its demand to be regularly informed by the Commission of its monitoring work and to be

29.
fully involved in the final decision on any use of the safeguard clauses;

Approves the Commission's approach, whereby the decision on whether to postpone the date of

30.
accession will be taken on the basis of the results obtained by Romania by the spring of 2006;

Reaffirms its wish, supported by a strong political will, to see Romania join the Union on 1 January
31.
2007, but points out that fulfilment of this aim depends first on the Romanian authorities' ability to fulfil
the commitments made in the Accession Treaty, failing which the safeguard clauses will be activated;

Calls on the Romanian authorities to make good in a satisfactory manner the shortcomings identi-

32.
fied, so as to enable Romania to accede in accordance with the intended timetable;

Calls on those Member States of the Union that have not yet done so to ratify as soon as possible

33.
the Treaty of Accession of Romania to the European Union;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the govern-

34.
ments and parliaments of the Member States and of Romania.

P6_TA(2005)0532

Women's networks

European Parliament resolution on Women's networks:

fishing,

farming and diversification

(2004/2263(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provi-

sions on the Structural Funds (1),

— having regard to the innovative actions financed within the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance

(FIFG) on the basis of Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down the
detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector (2),

— having regard to the conference on the role of women in the fisheries sector organised by the Com-

mission on 23-24 January 2003 in Brussels,

(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 10.

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— having regard to its resolution of 3 July 2003 on women in rural areas of the European Union in the

light of the mid-term review of the common agricultural policy (1),

— having regard to the Commission proposal for a Council regulation for a European Fisheries Fund

(COM(2004)0497),

— having regard to its position of 6 July 2005 on the proposal for a Council Regulation on the European

Fisheries Fund (2),

— having regard to Articles 13, 32, 137, 141 and 158 of the Treaty establishing the European Community,

— having regard to the extent of development of women's networks in fisheries-dependent communities,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries and the opinion of the Committee on

Women's Rights and Gender Equality (A6-0341/2005),

A. whereas the role of women in fisheries-dependent communities has traditionally been a largely invisible

one,

B. whereas, although women form only a small proportion of those engaged in capture fishery, they are in
journalism, management,
fact active in harvesting and aquaculture, processing, marketing, research,
business, training, including safety at sea, and representation, as well as in providing other forms of
support for those engaged in the fishing industry,

C. whereas, despite their clear economic value and the benefits they bring to the sector in general, many of
these activities are undertaken on a voluntary basis or are poorly paid, with a consequent lack of
adequate social protection; whereas, likewise, this work is often carried out with a high level of risk
or with serious effects on health,

D. whereas there are many parallels in these regards with women in farming communities,

E. whereas women are particularly well placed to provide information on the socio-economic impact of
implementing the Common Fisheries Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy and on the impact of
restructuring on the industries concerned,

F. whereas although the role of women in fisheries-dependent communities has gained greater recognition
since the aforementioned conference on the role of women in the fisheries sector and the extent of
networking between women has increased,
there seems to be insufficient information about the
numbers and nature of existing networks,

G. whereas women's networks not only provide mutual support but can make a major contribution to the

economic and social development of fisheries-dependent communities,

H. whereas the networks still appear to be confined to local and regional levels and developed unevenly

across the European Union, with a particularly low profile in the newer Member States,

I. whereas the North Sea Women's Network has a place on the North Sea Regional Advisory Council,

J. whereas there are still too many legal and social barriers to the full participation of women in the
fisheries sector in representative activities, which may even extend to them being barred from deci-
sion-making bodies in some communities or associations,

(1) OJ C 74 E, 24.3.2004, p. 882.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0282.

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1.
Recognises the role that the Commission has played in hosting the aforementioned conference on the
role of women in the fisheries sector and in funding a number of innovative actions, and welcomes its
intention to host another Conference in the near future; believes, nonetheless, that insufficient progress
has been made;

2.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to launch the necessary actions to secure greater legal
and social recognition of, promote and raise the profile of the work of women in the fisheries sector, to
support their efforts to obtain better living conditions for their families and communities and to guarantee
social and economic rights, including wage equality, unemployment benefit in case of interruption of work
(temporary or definitive), the right to obtain a pension, the reconciliation of work and family life and access
to parental leave, access to social security and a free health service, and the protection of safety and health at
work;

3.
Calls on the Commission to produce a report as soon as possible identifying the nature, extent, objec-
tives and activities of women's networks in fisheries throughout the European Union, paying particular
attention to the situation in the newer Member States;

4.
Underlines the fact that women's active participation in fisheries-related activities helps to preserve
cultural traditions and specific practices and aids the survival of their communities, thereby ensuring the
protection of cultural diversity in these regions;

5.
Recognising that these networks have emerged above all from local or regional initiatives, calls on the
Commission to look into specific measures to provide active support for both the development of existing
women's networks, particularly where they are less consolidated, and their creation where no such networks
exist;

6.
Calls on the Commission also to consider what measures it might take to assist in the development of
a women's network at pan-European Union level, paying particular attention to the need to eliminate lin-
guistic barriers;

7.
Calls on the Commission to establish appropriate channels to increase and disseminate information on
the situation of women in the various areas which make up and are linked to the fisheries sector, and to
promote sociological research on fishing communities; calls on the Commission to provide active support
for existing women's networks and the creation of new networks, at national, regional and local level, and
to foster the exchange of information and good practices; underlines, in this context, the need for close
cooperation with the future European Institute for Gender Equality with a view to improved effectiveness as
regards identifying and combating discrimination against women in these communities;

8.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to give a commitment to take the necessary
measures to eliminate the administrative and social barriers hampering women's full participation and pro-
gress in all areas of the fisheries sector through specific actions for the sector, and to ensure the full
in
application of the principle of equal treatment and opportunities for women and men in all fields,
particular training, and access to funding and loans, including micro-credits, etc. to encourage entrepreneur-
ship;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote more vocational training and education
9.
specially geared to the activities of women working in the fisheries sector and to set up mechanisms to
improve the provision of information about training opportunities and the funding available to make use of
them;

10. Welcomes the provisions in the proposed European Fisheries Fund that oblige Member States to
ensure that operations to enhance the role of women in the fisheries sector are promoted and calls on the
Council to adopt Parliament's Amendment 24 in its aforementioned position on the European Fisheries
Fund which emphasised that efforts on a trans-national level should also be promoted; nevertheless urges
the Commission to support specific projects which have as their objective the recognition, promotion and
diversification of women's role in fisheries-related areas;

Urges the Commission, likewise, to draw up a specific pilot project to address the particular situation

11.
of shellfish gatherers;

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12.
Believes that the provisions of the European Fisheries Fund should afford an opportunity to support
activities that have hitherto been undertaken on a voluntary basis and calls on the Commission to consider
what other sources of funding might be made available to women's networks in the fisheries sector, includ-
ing sources of micro-credit;

13.
Believes further that an important use of fisheries-related European funding would be the involve-
ment of women's networks in projects researching the impact of restructuring on the fishing and farming
industries;

Calls on the Commission to maintain the Femmes programme and include networks of women

14.
working in fisheries-related occupations;

15.
Believes also that women's networks have an important role to play in the development of Coastal
Action Groups and that there should be sufficient flexibility in the use of the Structural Funds to allow the
integration of the activities of women in fisheries-dependent communities and of women in farming com-
munities in coastal areas;

16.
Stresses the need to strengthen women's effective participation in representative, decision-making and
advisory fisheries bodies at European, national and regional level, and believes that a Commission recom-
mendation to the competent bodies to take action in this regard would make a positive contribution;

17.
Believes that women's networks can contribute to improving safety at sea and to improving the
sustainability of fisheries, in particular by promoting consumption of fish from sustainable stocks and dis-
couraging consumption of fish from unsustainable stocks;

18.
Calls on the Commission to report regularly to Parliament on the development of women's networks
in the fisheries sector and on the basis on which their activities are being funded; calls on the Commission
to keep Parliament periodically informed of developments in the situation of women in the fisheries sector;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to review the situation of women in fishing and
19.
farming communities at European, national and regional level and to address any issues relating to the
adequacy of their health and other social protection and to remove any barriers to their participation in
representative activities; proposes, as an initial measure, that the Commission make a recommendation to
the competent bodies that they take action in this regard;

20.
Shares the concern of women working in the sector at the scant presence of young people in fishing
activities, and calls on the Commission to launch measures to encourage young people to work in the sector
in order to ensure its continuity;

21.
Calls on all those engaged in the formation of Regional Advisory Councils to ensure the participation
of representative delegates from women's networks in their activities, particularly with regard to work on
the socio-economic impact of fisheries policy; considers that, in this connection, consideration should be
given to the extent to which women's networks can be compensated for the costs they incur;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, the governments of

22.
the Member States and the Regional Advisory Councils.