(Tuesday 14 May) Getting alternative proposals for Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) in the European Semester. The 2013 European Semester is currently in full swing, especially according to the European Commission.

Member States are currently submitting their national reform programmes and their stability or convergence programmes and the Commission receives and then assesses them. The national documents were uploaded here as they arrived. The results of the Commission assessment will be presented very soon, on the 29 May together with proposals for country specific recommendations, CSRs to be endorsed by the European Council.

However - civil society NGO groups, like the European Women’s Lobby - have grave concerns about the CSRs that will be proposed by the European Commission, and believe that as we enter our fifth year of austerity measures, that there is another way. Together, the coalition advocates for policy improvement in employment, poverty, education, tax, (...)

[Brussels, 2 May 2013] EWL President stresses that gender equality is transversal and must be at the core of economic policies, including in employment policies and economic governance.

Speaking at the final panel at the Irish Presidency conference on Women’s economic engagement and the Europe 2020 Agenda (29-30 April) EWL President Viviane Teitelbaum, stressed the urgency of including a headline target on gender equality in the European 2020 Strategy as equality between women and men cuts across all policies, including economic policies.

Currently, implicit reference to gender equality is included in the headline target which aims to achieve a 75% employment rate of women and men by 2020. This will not be achievable if the broader spectrum of women’s lives is not taken into consideration as women and men are not at the same starting point on the labour-market. More robust policies will be required to ensure that women have an equal access to economic processes and (...)

[Brussels, 25 April 2013] As the European Semester enters the third year, the EWL members have compiled country-specific-recommendations (CSRs) for the European Commission who will be issuing recommendations to the Member States in the coming weeks. Economic governance is putting pressure on Member States to reduce public deficits with consequences on service provision, social benefits, wages and overall gender equality policies, all of which is happening in the absence of a gender equality framework! While the EWL members concentrate on their respective countries there is, nevertheless, a common thread weaving a shared vision of what the European Commission should be recommending to ensure that gender equality doesn’t get ‘lost in translation’ in the complex web of processes that encompass the European semester, the ‘signpost’ to the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The main messages:

Gender equality is a transversal issue, enshrined in European (...)

[Brussels, 19 April 2013] After the successful event to launch the Turkish Connections Platform and raise funds to support the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), we are grateful and pleased to announce that over 1,800€ was raised to help secure and promote women’s rights and gender equality across Europe. The funds raised will go towards supporting the very first European Political Mentoring Network, supporting migrant and ethnic minority women to run for the European Parliamentary elections.

The Turkish Connections Platform is an independent, non-profit civil society initiative in Belgium that aims to increase cooperation and dialogue among professionals interested in Turkey. http://turkish-connections.eu/

The EWL would like to thank the Turkish Connections Platform for their on-going support and look forward to working with them again in the future!

Do you share EWL’s vision of a sustainable and more equal society? Do you want to support the achievement of equality between women and (...)

[New York, 11 March 2013] A new draft of the conclusions on the elimination and prevention of violence against women and girls has been put forward yesterday by the facilitator of the official negotiations between national delegations at the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). European and North American NGOs gathered again in New York as a caucus and delivered their common position on this new state of play of the draft conclusions, while sharing concerns and highlighting progress. Here is their position, where they highlighted the main key issues that are crucial for women’s rights and should be addressed in the conclusions, based on the agreed international language. You can also download the position here.

Position of the Europe and North America NGO Caucus of 11 March 2013

CSW draft Agreed Conclusions version 10 March 2013 rev3

1. The Caucus asks all Member States to strongly reaffirm and strengthen their commitment to all existing international and (...)

[New York, 08 March 2013] From 04 to 15 March 2013, representatives from Member States all over the world will gather in the United Nations building in New York to discuss the conclusions of the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The 2013 conclusions will be on the elimination and prevention of violence against women and girls. Representatives of thousands of NGOs are in New York to work towards obtaining the best conclusions possible, through advocacy actions, side-events and networking activities. The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is proud to be part of this important event, working for strong conclusions that are more than ever needed at international level. Here is a summary of EWL’s activities at the 57th CSW to date.

Tuesday 05 March

EWL President Viviane Teitelbaum spoke at the EU side event on violence against women, and stressed the need for comprehensive policies to tackle VAW including at EU level. Using examples of experience and actions of EWL (...)

[New York, 07 March 2013] While the negotiations between Member States started today at the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), European and North American NGOs gathered as a caucus and delivered their common position on the current state of play of the draft conclusions. The conclusions of this 2013 CSW are on the elimination and prevention of violence against women and girls, and the Europe-North America NGO Caucus highlighted in its position the main key issues that are crucial for women’s rights and should be addressed in the conclusions, based on the agreed international language. You can download the position here.

Position of the Europe and North America NGO Caucus of 7 March 2013

CSW draft Agreed Conclusions version 4 March 2013 rev2

1. The Caucus asks all Member States to strongly reaffirm and strengthen their commitment to all existing international and regional instruments (including documents related to the Beijing process, the ICPD programme (...)

[Brussels, 7 March 2013] Yesterday, the European Women’s Lobby and the 50/50 Campaign Core Group of MEP’s, were joined by keynote speaker Olli Rehn, Vice President of the European Commission, and other high-level panellists for a full event to discuss gender parity in EU institutions, titled “Europe Back on Top with 50/50.”

The event - aimed to bring parliamentarians, advisers and activists together – was introduced by Campaign Core Group members Sirpa Pietikänen MEP and Franziska Brantner MEP, who reiterated the importance and value of women in political decision-making positions and the work still to be done before equal gender balance is achieved across European institutions. Pietikänen called for legislative support and stated that “men are not less competent, but they are not more competent”, also bringing attention to the fact that even when women are appointed high-level positions such as Vice-President, men are still appointed to President. Franziska Brantner reaffirmed the topic (...)

[Brussels, 1 March 2013] On Wednesday 6 March the 50/50 Campaign coalition will host an event, with key note speaker Olli Rehn - Vice-President of the European Commission - to discuss and highlight the need for gender parity within all EU institutions.

The theme for the discussion is, "Europe back on top with 50/50"

The event will provide an opportunity for MEP’s, Commissioners, NGO’s and party leaders to come together and hear practical experiences about the challenges, opportunities and importance of gender parity in decision making at all levels, including concrete examples of how people can get involved and support the campaign.

Olli Rehn, Vice-President of the European Commission will be keynote speaker, accompanied by panellists Anna-Maria Darmanin, Vice President of the EESC; Mercedes Bresso, Vice President of the Committee of the Regions(tbc); JoAnna Wagner Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the EU; Serap Altinisik, from the European Women’s Lobby (...)

[Brussels, 27 February 2013] Equal representation of women and men in public decision-making is a fundamental right. The under-representation of women constitutes a serious democratic deficit, which undermines the legitimacy of the contemporary democratic ideal and the European Union. A modern and genuine democracy requires gender equality.

The 50/50 Coalition aims to achieve gender balance in all European institutions for the 2014 European Elections. Therefore, the European Women’s Lobby together with a core group with representatives of the five political groups in the European Parliament have initiated the 50/50 Coalition. The core group members are Anneli Jäätteenmäki /ALDE, Franziska Brantner /Greens/EFA, Kartika Liotard/GUE-NGL, Sirpa Pietikäinen/EPP and Zita Gurmai/S&D.

The 50/50 Declaration was launched with great success at an official signing event in Strasbourg on 21 November where around 50 MEPs attended to sign the Declaration and show their support for the Coalition (...)