The Tide is Turning

Apathetic Britain? / Handan Wieshmann / Who Do I Call When I Want to Call Europe? / Maja Sojref / Assessing Gender Inequality in the EU / Ana Catarina Silva / Rugby in French Sporting Culture / Markus Findlay

Who Do I Call When I Want To Call Europe? / Maja Sojref / Stuck in the Sand / Omar El-Nahry / The Tide Is Turning / Ana Catarina Silva / An Independent Catalonia? / Henry Clarke / The European Citizens‘ Initiative / Christina Hastesko / Keeping Bosnia‘s EU Accession On Track / Tim Stone / A Discredited Union? / Elliot Nichols / Brain Drain / Andreana Panayi / Soap Opera Politics / Christine Seifert / When the Value of Oil Obscures the Power of Reason / Michol Chillè

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when its the appropriateness of the measures taken comes under close scrutiny and, often enough, heavy criticism.

Furthermore, very strong ties exist between Israel and the EU. Javier Solana has even gone so far as to call Israel an “EU-member in all but name”. This, at least in theory, puts the European countries and the EU in a unique position, which is equivalent, if not superior to the American position. They possess significant leverage on both sides, in financial, political and moral terms. It is one little key aspect that could lift the importnace of European brokerage to even higher levels: Most European countries are not perceived to be as biased as the United States, which are often accused to be acting on behalf of Israel. True or not, the Europeans, especially the French, could use this perception to facilitate negotiations. At the same time, and this is another unique European strength, the influence of countries like Germany, could calm Israeli fears of an overly pro-Arab bias.

Obviously, the creation of such a position would be difficult and require great skill and determination. It

would mean that the European Union would have to stop playing the “second fiddle” behind the United States and take on a responsible position in negotiations. And it would mean that Catherine Ashton would have to take part in the talks instead of claiming that EU participation would have “no substantial influence on the talks” as they are “strictly between two parties”, statements that seem contradictory to the EU’s official standpoint on the Middle East Peace Process, which is called a “strategic priority for Europe”. Keeping in mind that we live in constant fears of terrorism, and the Arab-Israeli conflict being a major recruiting aspect for a fight against the “Zionists” and the West, it is hard to imagine how this should be different.

This round of talks has come to a standstill, and might have already failed, Europe will have to wait for its next chance to make an impact on the peace process.

But when the next chance arises, the EU should play a role that is appropriate to its importance as a diplomatic power.

The Tide Is Turning: Assessing Gender Inequality in the EU

With social situation deteriorating in the EU due to the economic crisis, it feels like the time to call on the European society to make sure gender equality issues are not forgotten.

by Ana Catarina Silva As the “European Year for combating Poverty and Social Exclusion” approaches its end, it seems like the right moment to try to assess the developments in the field of gender equality within the European Union and take a look at the general scenario.

According to the results of the Eurobarometer on “Gender Equality in the EU in 2009”, it is widely acknowledged by the European citizens that decisions in this field should be made jointly within the EU, which immediately seems to point to the fact that these are issues pertaining to cross-national patterns, which do not necessarily correspond to specific national structures or systems.

However, it is undeniable that some member states do better than others when it comes to the effective implementation of equality policies. Such is the case of the Nordic countries – Sweden and Finland – who are among the “top 5” in the 2010 Global Gender Gap Index

of the World Economic Forum. Notwithstanding this reality, the ultimate goal should be to try to reduce differences between countries within the EU, in order to have a bigger homogeneity that allows for the Union as a whole to become even more of a reference in the field of gender equality.

Despite the evidence that gender inequality in the EU is nowadays considerably lower then it was ten years ago thanks largely to the work of the European institutions, there are still some 62% Europeans who believe that gender inequality is widespread, while only 34% think it is a rare phenomenon.

What is perhaps most interesting is the fact that “nearly two-fifths of Europeans believe the economic and financial crisis will increase inequality”. This perspective is shared by Portuguese MEP Ilda Figueiredo, a member of the parliamentary committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. Mrs Figueiredo has recently stated

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that “the economic and social crisis is seriously affecting women”, as a result of rising unemployment, precarious work (to which women are far more subjected than men) or the poor wages and incomes (including pensions), and the difficulty to access quality public services at a low or no cost.

The MEP called for particular attention to be paid to the socio-economic situation of women throughout the elaboration of community policies, and mentioned the need for a study on the social impact of the new community strategies, in order to avoid that discriminations and inequalities are further increased, to ensure equality in the social progress and to protect the social function of maternity and paternity.

In this context, it is well worth mentioning the Resolution approved last month by the European Parliament, which determines the increase of maternity leave provisions from fourteen to twenty fully paid weeks, among other things. The President of European Women’s Lobby called this a very important victory since the costs of maternity will for the first time shift “from individual women to society as a whole”.

In September the European Commission adopted the Strategy for equality between women and men for

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the next five years (2010-2015), which combines specific initiatives with principles of so-called “gender mainstreaming”, setting out five main priority areas that include economy and labour market, equal pay, equality in senior positions, tackling gender violence and the promotion of equality beyond the EU. This last topic in particular clearly shows the need for the EU to keep working towards a more equal society, should it want to be taken as an example of “good practices” elsewhere, so as to be able to promote equality beyond its borders.

For the time being, European women are still earning on average 17% less than men, a figure that seems to remain stable, and to raise awareness to this fact the new strategy includes plans to institute a “European Equal Pay Day”. What is more, women’s employment rates are still lower than men’s, despite the fact that women account for the majority of students and university graduates.