Tea For Two

Until 1988, policies for equality of opportunities in the European Union, were limited to the Mid-term Action Programmes for Equal Opportunities and to the funding of schemes for vocational training and employment for women, as part of its overall policy.

The 1988 Regulation provided a specific measure for the promotion of equal opportunities between men and women on the labour market in the framework of Objective 3 of only one Structural Fund, namely the European Social Fund. The first attempt at community legislation for gender equality and Structural Funds commenced in 1994 with the adoption of Council Resolution of 22 June 1994 on the “promotion of equal opportunities for men and women through action by the European Structural Funds”.

The Resolution was the outcome of an initiative of the Hellenic Government and was adopted under the Hellenic Presidency.This Resolution, which concerned the promotion of the principle of equality on the labour market through action by the European Structural Funds and especially of the European Social Fund, invited the member states “to contribute towards adopting specific and appropriate financed measures with the aim of improving the position of women”, without setting specific goals for the optimisation of equality between men and women concerning their participation in the labour market.

Two-fold Strategy: Combination of the Gender Mainstreaming Policies and of Positive Actions for Women.In 1996, official reference is for the first time made to the incorporation of gender mainstreaming in all community policies and objectives, in the Commission Communication on “incorporating equal opportunities for women and men into all Community policies and activities”.

Following this Communication, in 1996 the European Commission’s guidelines for the readjustment of the Operational Programmes for the period 1997-1999 make specific reference to equal opportunities as a “horizontal priority” initially for the areas of Objective 2, which provides support in the development of industrial and urban areas. Afterwards, the principle of equal opportunities as a horizontal priority was incorporated in the guidelines for Objectives 1, 5b and 6.

Equality in the Regulations of the Structural Funds for the period 2000-2006. The promotion of equal opportunities is a fundamental priority for the period 2000-2006, and it must condition all policies and interventions that are co-financed by the European Structural Funds.

 Such promotion must be endeavoured in two manners (two-fold strategy): with the incorporation of the gender dimension (gender mainstreaming) in every measure and action, as well as with the development and enforcement of positive actions in favour of women.

The following contributed to the change in the Structural Funds policy:

1.      Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty on the European Union, as amended by the Amsterdam Treaty, which constitute the legal basis for the adoption of action aiming at the incorporation of the gender dimension in all policies.
These articles confirm the E.U.’s commitment and allow the establishment of equality as a duty and horizontal objective influencing all sectors. The incorporation of equal opportunities in all policies constitutes an obligation for both member states and Community institutions.

2.      The European Strategy for Employment, launched by the Extraordinary European Summit in Luxembourg (November 1997), aimed at examining employment issues in particular.
The Luxembourg European Summit underlined the significance attributed by the E.U. to the issue of Employment and to the fight against Unemployment with the use of every means. It was the first Summit to entirely deal with Employment and to establish the coordination of the employment polices of all member states in terms of the objectives and the means, namely the “guidelines”.

The “guidelines” are structured on four basic axes (pylons) – improvement of employability (professional integration ability), development of entrepreneurial spirit, encouragement of businesses’ adaptability, reinforcement of the equality of opportunities between men and women – and set specific objectives, the accomplishment of which is regularly monitored through a common procedure for results evaluation. Within this context equal opportunities constitute an integral dimension of the European Strategy for Employment.

The Resolutions of the Luxembourg Extraordinary Summit were complemented and reinforced with the Resolution of the Extraordinary Lisbon European Summit of 23 and 24 March 2000, according to which a new strategic objective was set for the current decade: the improvement of competitiveness and of the dynamics of a knowledge-based economy, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.

At the same time, the Lisbon Council set the objective of raising the employment rate from an average of 60% at the time to 70% in 2010 and increasing employed women from an average of 51% at the time to 60% in 2010, calling on member states, depending on their different staring point, to consider setting national targets for an increased employment rate.

 At the Barcelona European Summit objectives were agreed upon for the provision of child care for at least 90% of children aged between three and the mandatory school age, and for at least 33% of children under three, thus facilitating the combination of professional and family life. 

THE NATIONAL EQUALITY POLICIES

In the 1980s Greece witnessed the start of the creation of a legal framework that addresses equality between men and women.  

From the 1975 Constitution milestone, which established the equality principle, a series of significant laws were passed that created the framework for equality policies in Greece, on the following areas:

A large part of said legislative regulations was accomplished due to the adaptation of the Hellenic legislation to international agreements and community directives. However, many were passed following the workings and pressure of women’s movement in Greece.

In the recent Constitution revision (2001) the new wording of Article 116 paragraph 2: “the adoption of positive measures for the promotion of equality between men and women does not constitute gender discrimination. The State is responsible for the elimination of existing inequalities, especially if they are against women” constitutes a highly significant legal basis for the reinforcement of equality policies.

In 1985 the General Secretariat for Gender Equality was established (initially at the Ministry of the Presidency of Government and subsequently at the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation) as the competent institution for the promotion and realisation of legal and substantial equality between men and women in all sectors (political, economic, cultural). Parallel to the centralised equality mechanism, regional organisations were also set up: Prefectural Committees for Gender Equality established by the representatives of national and local bodies and by women’s organisations in each Prefecture, as well as Prefectural Offices for Gender Equality for the purpose of better citizen information at a regional level.

The operation of these two institutions, initially based on a circular of the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior, was enacted in 1989 by a Presidential Decree and, since 1994, by laws concerning the “Foundation and Operation of the Prefectural Local Government”; the Prefectural Offices for Gender Equality are integrated within the independent Authorities of each Prefecture, and the Prefectural Committees for Gender Equality are set up under the exclusive competence of the Prefect.

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