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Equality and Human Rights Commission
BAME Women's Councillors Taskforce
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Home | EU and International Work | European Union |
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European Union |
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EU Presidencies and the European Union
The Women and Equality Unit actively participates in the European Advisory Committee (EAC) on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men; the Committee implementing the programme relating to the Community Framework Strategy on Gender Equality (2001-2006); and the EU High-level Group on Gender Mainstreaming, which meets twice a year to consider and advise how to mainstream gender within the EU.
The Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union brings together the Heads of States or Governments of the European Union and the President of the Commission. It defines the general political guidelines of the European Union.
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is held on a rotating basis. Each year a different Member State holds the Presidency for a period of six months, from January – June or July – December. During their Presidency a Member State is responsible for organising and chairing all meetings and working out compromises capable of resolving difficulties.
Slovenia EU Presidency (1 January- 30 June 2008)
Slovenia is the first new Member State to hold the Presidency of the European Union. Slovenia is one of the twelve new Member States that joined the EU in the 2004 and 2007 enlargements. Slovenia’s Presidency follows its Trio partners; German and Portugal. The next Trio Presidency consists of France, Czech Republic and Sweden.
The official website for Slovenia’s EU Presidency is www.eu2008.si/en. The website provides access to Presidency press releases and statements, meeting calendar and basic information on Slovenia’s Presidency.
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EU InitiativesThe following are some of the key EU initiatives that Ministers for Women are leading on:
The European Institute for Gender Equality
The European Commission brought forward the draft regulation for the establishment of the European Gender Institute in March 2005. The overall objectives of the Institute shall be to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality, including gender mainstreaming in all Community policies and the resulting national policies, and the fight against discrimination based on sex, and to raise EU citizens’ awareness of gender equality by providing technical assistance to the Community institutions, in particular the Commission, and the authorities of the Member States.
In meeting the objectives, the Institutes shall amongst other things, collect, analyse and disseminate relevant objective, comparable and reliable information as regards gender equality, including results from research and best practice communicated to it by Member States, Community institutions, research centres, national equality bodies, non-governmental organisations, social partners, relevant third countries and international organisations, and suggest areas for further research.
In accordance with the Regulation, the Management Board includes 18 Member States in the order of the rotating Presidencies for a period of 3 years. UK is not represented at the Management Board during the first 3 years. However UK will continue to support actively the Management Board as required during this period. We are presently working toward the selection of the UK representative at the Board in 2010.
To view the full text on the European Union website click here.
Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men 2006 – 2010
The European Commission published the Roadmap on 6 March 2006. The Roadmap builds on the experience of the Framework Strategy for equality between women and men 2001 –2005. It combines the launch of new actions and reinforcement of successful existing activities. It also re-affirms the Community’s preferred dual approach of gender equality based on gender mainstreaming and specific measures.
The Roadmap outlines six priority areas for EU action on gender equality for the period 2006 –2010. Within each priority area, it identified objectives and key actions. The Commission acknowledges that it cannot achieve these objectives alone and that in many of the areas, the responsibility for action lies with the Member States. Therefore the Roadmap reinforces the Commission’s commitment to progressing the gender equality agenda in partnership with Member States and other actors.
To view the full text on the European Union website click here.
Recast Directive
The EU Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (re-cast version) came into force on 15 August 2006. Member States are required to implement this Directive within their domestic legislation by 15 August 2008..
The objective of the proposal is to simplify, modernise and improve the Community law in relation to gender equality by putting relevant Directives into a single text. The text combines seven Directives about equal treatment of men and women.
They cover:
For additional information on GB and European Equality legislation see the GEO web page http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/legislation/archive.htm
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Updated June 2008 | © Crown copyright |
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Useful websites
UK Presidency Official Website
UK Presidency of the Council of the European Union - 2005
Luxembourg Presidency Gender Equality Programme
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