CELEX: 52000PC0335
Language: en
Date: 2000-06-07
Title: Proposal for a Council Decision on the Programme relating to the Community framework strategy on gender equality (2001-2005)

C 337 E/196           EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                    28.11.2000
               Proposal for a Council Decision on the Programme relating to the Community framework strategy
                                                   on gender equality (2001-2005)
                                                           (2000/C 337 E/31)
                                                        (Text with EEA relevance)
                                              COM(2000) 335 final  2000/0143(CNS)
                                             (Submitted by the Commission on 7 July 2000)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,                                            coherence and complementarity of actions implemented
                                                                              in the framework of this Decision and other relevant
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                         Community policies, instruments and actions, in
Community, and in particular Article 13 thereof,                              particular those under Articles 125 to 130 of the Treaty
                                                                              concerning a coordinated strategy for employment, and
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                            under the European Social Fund.
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
                                                                          (8) It is necessary for the success of any Community action
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social                       for the results to be monitored and evaluated against the
Committee,                                                                    aims.
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,             (9) In accordance with Article 2 of Council Decision
                                                                              1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
Whereas:
                                                                              procedures for the exercise of implementing powers
  (1) The principle of equal treatment for women and men is a                 conferred on the Commission (3); measures for the
      fundamental principle of Community law and the                          implementation of this Decision should be adopted by
      Directives and other acts adopted in keeping with it                    use of the advisory procedure provided for in Article 3
      have played a major part in improving the situation of                  of that Decision.
      women.
                                                                        (10) Provision should be made to open up this Programme to
  (2) Experience of action at Community level has shown that                  the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in
      promoting gender equality in practice calls for a combi-                accordance with the conditions established in the Europe
      nation of measures and, in particular, of legislation and               Agreements, in their additional protocols and in the
      practical action designed to reinforce each other.                      decisions of the respective Association Councils, to
                                                                              Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, funded by additional appro-
  (3) The persistence of gender inequality justifies the                      priations in accordance with the procedures to be
      continuation and strengthening of Community action in                   agreed with those countries.
      the field.
  (4) The European Parliament, in its resolution on the interim         (11) In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and
      report on the implementation of the medium-term                         proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the
      Community action programme on equal opportunities                       objective of the proposed action by the Community,
      for men and women (1996-2000) (1), has called on the                    namely to promote gender equality, cannot be sufficiently
      Commission to submit a proposal for a fifth action                      achieved by the Member States by reason of, inter alia, the
      programme.                                                              need for multilateral partnerships, transnational exchange
                                                                              of information and Community-wide dissemination of
  (5) The Council, in its conclusions of 22 October 1999 has                  good practice, and can therefore, by reason of the scale
      stressed the importance of a new action programme to                    and effects of the action, be better achieved by the
      promote equality for women and men.                                     Community. This Decision confines itself to the
                                                                              minimum required in order to achieve that objective
  (6) The new Community strategy for gender equality (2) is                   and does not go beyond what is necessary for that
      embodied in a framework strategy that embraces all                      purpose,
      Community policies in its efforts to achieving gender
      equality and in this Programme, that will provide the
      structure for the horizontal and coordinating activities          HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
      necessary to ensure coherence and to develop synergies
      with regard to the gender-related activities of all                                             Article 1
      Community policies.
                                                                                        Establishment of a Programme
  (7) In order to reinforce the added value of Community
      action, the Commission, in cooperation with the                   This Decision establishes a Programme to promote gender
      Member States, should ensure, at all levels, the                  equality, hereinafter referred to as ?the Programme@, for the
                                                                        period from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005.
(1) A4-0194/99-PE 230 041/DEF, OJ C 279, 1.10.1999, p. 88.
(2) COM(2000) 335 final.                                                (3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
 ---pagebreak--- 28.11.2000             EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                     C 337 E/197
                              Article 2                                  (b) Analysis and evaluation
                             Principles
                                                                             Analysis of factors and policies relating to gender equality,
1.    The Programme is related to the Community’s overall                    including the collection of statistics, studies, gender impact
strategy on gender equality, which embraces all Community                    assessment, tools and mechanisms, development of
policies geared to achieving gender equality, including gender               indicators and benchmarks and effective dissemination of
mainstreaming policies and specific actions targeted at women.               results. This will also include monitoring of the implemen-
                                                                             tation and application of Community equality law by
                                                                             evaluating legislation and practice in order to assess their
2.    The Programme shall coordinate, support and finance                    impact and effectiveness.
horizontal and coordinating activities under the fields of inter-
vention of the Community strategy on gender equality. These
are economic life, equal participation and representation, social        (c) Capacity building
rights, civil life, gender roles and stereotypes. Gender equality
in the enlargement of the Community as well as the gender
dimension of the Community’s external relations and devel-                   Transnational cooperation between key players through the
opment cooperation policies are horizontal issues which will                 promotion of networking and exchange of experiences at
permeate all areas of intervention of the framework strategy.                Community level between national authorities, social
                                                                             partners and non-governmental organisations.
                              Article 3                                  2.    Arrangements for the implementation of the actions
                                                                         described in paragraph 1 are set out in the Annex.
                            Objectives
The Programme shall have the following objectives:
                                                                                                       Article 5
                                                                         Implementation of the Programme and cooperation with
(a) To promote and disseminate the values and practices
                                                                                                   Member States
    underlying gender equality;
                                                                         1.    The Commission shall:
(b) To improve the understanding of issues related to direct and
    indirect gender discrimination by determining where it               (a) ensure the implementation of the Community actions
    exists and to what extent and by evaluating the effectiveness            covered by this Programme in accordance with the Annex;
    of policies and practice;
                                                                         (b) regularly exchange views with the Members of the
(c) To develop the capacity of key players (independent bodies               Committee referred to in Article 6, with representatives
    responsible for the promotion of gender equality, social                 of social partners at Community level and non-govern-
    partners and non-governmental organisations, especially at               mental organisations on the implementation and
    national, regional and local levels) to promote gender                   follow-up of the Programme and on related policy orien-
    equality effectively, in particular through support for the              tations.
    exchange of information and good practice and networking
    at Community level.
                                                                         (c) promote active partnership and dialogue between all the
                                                                             partners involved in the Programme, inter alia to
                                                                             encourage an integrated and coordinated approach to
                                                                             promote gender equality.
                              Article 4
                        Community actions
                                                                         2.    The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States,
1.    With a view to achieving the objectives set out in Article         shall take the necessary steps to:
3, the following actions will be implemented within a trans-
national framework:
                                                                         (a) promote the involvement in the Programme of all the
                                                                             parties concerned;
(a) Awareness-raising
                                                                         (b) ensure the dissemination of the results of the actions
                                                                             undertaken within this Programme;
    Primarily by emphasising the Community dimension of the
    promotion of gender equality and by publicising the results
    of the Programme, in particular through publications,                (c) provide appropriate information, publicity and follow-up
    campaigns and events.                                                    with regard to actions supported by this Programme.
 ---pagebreak--- C 337 E/198          EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                    28.11.2000
                             Article 6                                  3.     The Member States shall make all possible efforts to
                                                                        ensure consistency and complementarity between activities
                           Committee                                    under this Programme and those carried out at national,
                                                                        regional and local levels.
1.    The Commission shall be assisted by a committee
composed of representatives of the Member States and
chaired by the representative of the Commission (hereinafter
referred to as ?the Committee@).                                                                     Article 8
                                                                        Participation of EFTA/EEA countries, the associated
2.     Where reference is made to this paragraph, the advisory          countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Cyprus, Malta
procedure laid down in Article 3 of Decision 1999/468/EC                                           and Turkey
shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 7 thereof.
                                                                        This Programme shall be open to the participation of:
3.     The representative of the Commission shall in particular
consult the Committee on:                                               (a) the EFTA/EEA countries in accordance with the conditions
                                                                            established in the EEA Agreement;
(a) the general guidelines for the implementation of the                (b) the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe
    Programme;                                                              (CEECs) in accordance with the conditions established in
                                                                            the European Agreements, in their additional protocols
(b) the annual budgets and the distribution of funding between              and in the decisions of the respective Association Councils;
    measures;
                                                                        (c) Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, funded by additional appro-
(c) the annual plan of work for the implementation of the                   priations in accordance with procedures to be agreed
    Programme’s actions.                                                    with those countries.
4.     The representative of the Commission shall also consult                                       Article 9
the Committee on other appropriate matters concerning the
implementation of this Programme.                                                         Monitoring and evaluation
                                                                        1.    The Commission shall regularly monitor this Programme
5.     To ensure the consistency and complementarity of this            in cooperation with the committee referred to in Article 6.
Programme with other measures referred to in Article 7, the
Commission shall keep the Committee regularly informed
about other Community action contributing to promote                    2.     The Programme shall be evaluated by the Commission at
gender equality. Where appropriate, the Commission shall                its mid-term and at the end of the Programme with the
establish regular and structured cooperation between this               assistance of independent experts. The evaluation will assess
Committee and the monitoring committees established for                 the relevance and effectiveness of actions implemented with
other relevant policies, instruments and actions.                       regard to the objectives referred to in Article 2. It will also
                                                                        examine the impact of the Programme as a whole. The
                                                                        evaluation will also examine the complementarity between
                                                                        action under this Programme and that pursued under other
                             Article 7                                  relevant Community policies, instruments and actions.
              Consistency and complementarity
                                                                        3.     The Commission shall submit an interim evaluation
1.    The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member              report by 31 December 2003 at the latest to the European
States, ensure overall consistency with other Union and                 Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee
Community policies, instruments and actions, in particular by           and the Committee of Regions.
establishing appropriate mechanisms to coordinate the
activities of this Programme with relevant activities in
particular relating to research, employment, non-discrimi-              4.     The Commission shall submit a final evaluation report on
nation, social inclusion, education, training and youth policy,         the Framework Strategy and the Programme to the European
justice and home affairs and in the field of enlargement and of         Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee
the Community’s external relations.                                     and the Committee of the Regions by 31 December 2006 at
                                                                        the latest.
2.     The Commission and the Member States shall ensure
consistency and complementarity between action undertaken                                           Article 10
under this Programme and other relevant Union and
Community actions, in particular under the Structural Funds,                                       Addressees
the Community Initiative EQUAL and the Community action
programme to combat discrimination (2001-2006).                         This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- 28.11.2000           EN                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                           C 337 E/199
                                                                       ANNEX
            I. AREAS OF ACTION
               The Programme may operate in one or more of the following fields of intervention:
               1. Economic life
                   The area relates to the remaining gender gaps in the labour market and the ways to tackle them. The aims are to
                   increase the employment rate of women, to reduce the unemployment rates among women, the gender segre-
                   gation of the labour market and the gender pay gap.
               2. Equal participation and representation
                   The area addresses the lack of women’s participation in decision-making bodies. The actions deal with strategies
                   to promote women in political, economic and social decision-making, including activities in external relations and
                   development cooperation.
               3. Social rights
                   Effective gender mainstreaming needs to be applied to all policy areas which have an impact on women’s daily
                   life such as transport, public health and the fight against discrimination on other grounds. The actions will aim at
                   improving the application of Community legislation, in particular on social protection and in the areas of
                   parental leave, maternity protection and working time.
               4. Civil life
                   The area addresses the enforcement of the human rights of women. The actions will promote the recognition of
                   human rights of women, enforce equal opportunity rights and strengthen the fight against gender-related violence
                   and trafficking in women.
               5. Gender roles and stereotypes
                   The area addresses the stereotyped images of women and men and the need to change behaviour, attitudes,
                   norms and values which define and influence gender roles in the society. The actions cover gender main-
                   streaming, in particular in education, training, culture, science, media and sport policies.
           II. TYPES OF ACTION
               The following measures may be supported by the Programme, in a transnational framework:
               Strand 1  Awareness raising
               1. The organisation of conferences, seminars and events at European level;
               2. The organisation of a European Equality week at Community level and in each Member State at the same time
                   under the same topic coordinated by the Commission and conducted by the responsible authority in each
                   individual Member State;
               3. The organisation of European media campaigns and events to support the transnational exchange of information
                   and the identification and dissemination of good practice, including the award of an annual prize to companies
                   successful in promoting gender equality and with a view to strengthen the visibility of gender issues;
               4. The publication of materials to disseminate the results of the Programme, including the construction of an
                   Internet site providing examples of good practice, a forum for the exchange of ideas and a database of
                   potential partners for transnational exchange actions as well as e-links to the existing relevant websites in the
                   Member States;
               5. The implementation of transnational initiatives such as meetings, seminars, campaigns, etc., on particular topics
                   approved annually, after discussion with the Committee of the Programme. The aim of these activities is to
                   support and improve the synergy among national policies on gender equality and to develop a Community added
                   value;
               6. Organisation of seminars in support of the implementation of Community law in the field of gender equality.
 ---pagebreak--- C 337 E/200            EN                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                            28.11.2000
                 Strand 2  Analysis and evaluation
                 1. The development and dissemination of comparable statistics, broken down by sex, statistical series on women and
                     men’s situation in different policy areas;
                 2. The development and dissemination of methodologies and indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of gender
                     equality policies and practice (benchmarking);
                 3. The analysis of women’s situation in the labour market, implementation of equality legislation in the Member
                     States, influence and impact of social protection and taxation on women and mens and advancement of women
                     in decision-making levels will be carried out and the results and lessons learned will be disseminated;
                 4. The collection and evaluation of updated information and experience on successful initiatives, methods and
                     techniques related with women and the media, including overcoming gender stereotypes and promoting
                     positive portrayals of women and men in the media;
                 5. The publication of an Annual Report on Gender Equality in the European Union, including the progress towards
                     reaching the benchmarks and the evaluation of the results achieved;
                 6. The realisation of thematic studies on the target areas comparing and contrasting approaches within and across
                     Member States and applicant countries.
                 In implementing this strand the Commission will, in particular, ensure consistency and complementarity with the
                 activities conducted by other Commission services or by European agencies; in particular, the European Foundation
                 for the Improvement of working and living conditions and the Community RTD Framework programme.
                 Strand 3  Strengthening capacity
                 The following measures may be supported in order to improve the capacity and effectiveness of key players involved
                 in promoting gender equality:
                 D Transnational exchange actions, involving a wide range of players, to transfer information, lessons learned and
                      good practice. These activities may be conducted by NGOs or social partners at European level and transnational
                      networks of regional or local authorities and of organisations which aim to promote gender equality.
                 D These activities may include comparison of the effectiveness of processes, methods and tools related to the
                      chosen themes, mutual transfer and application of good practice, exchanges of personnel, joint development of
                      products, processes, strategy and methodology, adaptation to different contexts of methods, tools and processes
                      identified as good practice, and/or dissemination of results, profile-raising materials and events.
            III. METHOD OF PRESENTING APPLICATIONS FOR SUPPORT
                 Strand 1: Actions (2), (3) and (4) of this strand will be implemented in response to open calls for tenders. Actions (5)
                 and (6), to be implemented by the Member State authorities in charge of gender equality or by equality bodies, may
                 be subsidised in response to restricted calls for proposals addressed to the Member States.
                 Strand 2: Actions under this strand will be implemented via the Commission, normally in response to calls for
                 tenders. Action (1) will be implemented following the relevant Eurostat procedures.
                 Strand 3: Strand 3 will be implemented in response to open calls for proposals organised by the Commission, which
                 will vet the proposals. The actions may be implemented by NGOs or social partners at European level, transnational
                 networks of regional or local authorities or by transnational networks of organisations, which aim to promote
                 gender equality
 ---pagebreak--- 28.11.2000          EN                        Official Journal of the European Communities                                         C 337 E/201
           IV. CARRYING OUT THE ACTIONS
               1. The actions to be taken may be funded by service contracts following calls for tender or by subsidies for joint
                  financing with other sources. In the latter case, the level of financial assistance by the Commission may not
                  exceed, as a general rule, 80 % of the expenditure actually incurred by the recipient.
               2. In carrying out the Programme, the Commission may require additional resources, including recourse to experts.
                  These requirements will be decided in the context of the Commission’s ongoing assessment of resource allocation.
               3. In carrying out the Programme, the Commission may have recourse to technical and/or administrative assistance,
                  to the mutual benefit of the Commission and of the beneficiaries, related to identification, preparation,
                  management, monitoring, audit and control.
               4. The Commission may also undertake information, publication and dissemination actions. It may also undertake
                  evaluation studies and organise seminars, colloquia or other meetings of experts.
               5. The Commission will prepare annual work plans setting out the priorities and actions to be undertaken.
                  Moreover, it will also specify the arrangements and criteria to be applied in selecting and financing actions
                  under this Programme. In so doing, it will seek the opinion of the Committee mentioned in Article 6.
               6. Actions undertaken will fully respect the principles of data protection.