HC Deb 08 June 1998 vol 313 cc473-4W
35. Caroline Flint

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will make a statement on the priorities of the Ministers for Women during the UK presidency of the European Union. [42963]

Ms Harman

The theme of the UK Presidency is employability. We have been clear from the outset that this means the employability of women as well as men. The importance of child care and family friendly employment policies—two of the priorities of the Ministers for Women—are key to this.

On 5–6 May we called a meeting of the EU Ministers for Women to discuss women's employability—at this highly successful conference.

  • a consensus was reached on the importance of affordable, accessible and high quality child care and family friendly working policies;
  • it was agreed that the Ministers for Women would meet at least once a year in the future to exchange ideas and best practice in these areas; and
  • the need to include women's concerns through all employment policies, both at a national and EU level, has been firmly placed on the EU agenda.

Ms Kingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting in Belfast on the EU Presidency Conclusions on Women and Employability. [42927]

Ms Harman

The theme of the UK Presidency is employability. We have been clear from the outset that this means the employability of women as well as men. That is why we called the meeting of EU Ministers for Women which we held in Belfast on 5–6 May.

The meeting focused in particular on the importance of child care and family friendly employment policies, and provided a valuable opportunity to share best practice with our EU partners. The meeting reached a consensus on the following key points.

  • Affordable, accessible, and high-quality child care, parental and other leave schemes, and family-friendly working policies are essential for women and men to combine work and family responsibilities.
  • Equality between women and men must be included in all employment polices, both at national and EU level; so that measures to improve employability and support the unemployed take the rights and needs of women and men fully in account.
  • Meetings of Ministers for Women and for Equality provide useful opportunities for the exchange of ideas and best practice and developing strategies. They intend to meet at least once a year in future.

Member states expressed their commitment to drive forward these initiatives and will use proposed future meetings to do so.