News from the European Women's Lobby

Priorities adopted by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality:

At its meeting on September 23, the European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality adopted the following priorities for the coming months: the role of women in Turkey in social, economic and political life; strategies to combat trafficking in women and children - vulnerable to sexual exploitation; women and poverty; gender discrimination and the healthcare system; mid-term evaluation of the Lisbon Strategy from a gender perspective and finally combating violence against women.

The other important point of the agenda was a presentation by the European Commission of a proposal for a directive on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast version).

According to the Commission, the objective of this proposal is to simplify, modernise and improve Community law in the area of equal treatment between men and women.

The European Parliament will now work (co-decision procedure) on a first reading of this recast directive.

Angelika Niebler (EPP, Germany) was nominated Rapporteur for the Women's Rights Committee.