EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
1999
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2004
Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities
10 January 2000
DRAFT OPINION
of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities
for the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism
on the communication from the Commission to the Member States laying down
guidelines for a Community Initiative concerning economic and social
regeneration of cities and of neighbourhoods in crisis in order to promote
sustainable urban development (URBAN)
(COM(1999) 477 – C5-0242/1999 – 1999/2177(COS))
Draftsman: Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou
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PROCEDURE
The Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities appointed Mrs KratsaTsagaropoulou draftsman at its meeting of 25 November 1999.
It considered the draft opinion at its meeting(s) of ....
At the latter/last meeting it adopted the conclusions below by ... votes to ..., with ...
abstention(s)/unanimously.
The following were present for the vote:
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GENERAL REMARKS
The Commission communication seeks to lay down implementation guidelines for the
URBAN Community Initiative in the years from 2000 to 2006, as provided for in Article 20 of
Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999, adopted by the Council on 26 June 1999. The aim is to bring
about the economic and social regeneration of cities and neighbourhoods in crisis. Given the
extensive problems of many cities in the EU and the modest scale of resources (just
EUR 700 m, albeit combined with national funding), the URBAN Initiative can be said most
accurately to constitute a model. However, if it is implemented successfully, similar measures
might be financed under national or regional budgets, thus enabling it to achieve its ultimate
goal.
Promoting economic and social progress while maintaining a high level of employment is one
of the EU's main priorities. The deteriorating living conditions in a great many cities or
neighbourhoods are clearly reflected in the economic and social problems which have been
confronting Member States for several years. The problems stem from a variety of causes.
When the necessary public funding has not been forthcoming, basic facilities have been left to
decay. Private investment has been lacking, and, conversely, property speculation has pushed
rents up. Broad sections of the population have been reduced to poverty as a result of
unemployment. Ghettos have arisen in some places because integration of asylum-seekers and
immigrants has not always proved a complete success. A further factor to take into account is
the radical social change exemplified by the very high number of single-person households
and new kinds of long-term relationships. Social changes will also arise once the Union has
enlarged to include the countries of Eastern Europe. This situation is undermining social
cohesion and, as is proving to be the case in 'tough' neighbourhoods, can lead to insecurity and
law and order problems. Recognising the seriousness of the difficulties, the EP endorsed an
initiative in 1994 to regenerate cities in crisis. It is essential to tackle the problems in question
on account of the historical and cultural role of cities and the fact that they trigger knock-on
effects extending into the surrounding regions.
If regeneration is to succeed, all citizens must commit themselves to and take part in the
attempt, especially the less motivated social strata to which women belong. Furthermore,
women are affected by the crisis in specific ways. They account for most of the work-force in
'casual' labour occupations and lose their jobs before men. They make up the bulk of the
unemployed but lack the full protection of a proper social safety net. In some cases they also
have to take responsibility for bringing up children and caring for others in need of help.
Poverty is consequently the fate of a great many women. In addition, women living in cities
who suffer social exclusion have special needs because their life expectancy is, on average,
considerably longer. This applies especially to female asylum-seekers and immigrants, who,
because they are not proficient in the local language and are socially isolated, lead particularly
solitary lives.
To ensure that the Initiative is implemented successfully to meet the aspirations of male and
female citizens, in accordance with the principles of equal opportunities, it is therefore
necessary to devise a strategy integrated in terms both of the fields to be covered and of the
forms of participation. It follows that women or their representative organisations must be
given a fair say in the process of studying the problems, laying down priorities, programming,
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and decisions on the share-out of resources. The same principles must likewise be observed
when funding is put to use. Specific steps should also be taken to facilitate and encourage
women's participation and foster their public-spiritedness.
This way of proceeding could entail significant political consequences for women, who need
to perceive the effects of European policy in their daily lives.
CONCLUSIONS
The Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities calls on the committee
responsible to incorporate the following amendments in its report:
1. The guidelines must be couched far more explicitly than the Commission has hitherto
proposed in order to take due account of the requirements implied in the principle of equal
treatment and hence comply with the principles of the Treaty of Amsterdam and Article 1
of the basic Regulation (EC) No 1260/99 on the Structural Funds;
2. In addition, targeted positive measures should be undertaken in order to deal with the
specific situation of women; resources should be allocated in such a way as to attain a
given critical mass so as to enable assistance operations to achieve a manifest degree of
effectiveness where women are concerned and serve as a model and example; women's
organisations considered suitable to play a role should become involved at an early stage
of planning; the Community Initiative should include training courses for women with
town planning and local government experience, focusing especially on the management
of projects (co-)financed by the Community;
3. Women or their interest groups must play an appropriate role at every stage of the
decision-making procedure, namely when socio-economic problems are examined and
programmes drawn up and in implementation, the distribution of resources, and
assessment; experience shows that women have an invaluable contribution to make where
socio-political and town planning issues are concerned (as regards solidarity and social
cohesion, the quality of life, the attractiveness of the living environment, and so forth); the
Commission should accordingly seek to ensure that they are properly represented on the
Monitoring Committees to be set up by Member States pursuant to Article 35;
4. Priority should be given to measures to preserve employment or create new jobs enabling
family and work needs to be reconciled; measures to improve women's job skills should
also be promoted;
5. The URBAN initiative must be made to generate value added and complement the main
Community programmes related to women's participation and observance of the equal
opportunities principle;
6. Measures must focus, in addition, on amenities of various kinds to make it easier for
women to carry on an occupation and, in particular, reconcile their family and professional
obligations; with that end in view, nursery schools, crèches, and meeting places for young
people should be set up, and opportunities created for active, fruitful participation;
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7. Aid should be provided to finance the construction and running of rest-homes or low-cost
housing to ensure that, when they need special care, the dependants of women or
economically disadvantaged citizens can live in keeping with their human dignity;
8. Public transport systems should be promoted to enable people to achieve the degree of
mobility appropriate to their needs (as regards their homes, work, shopping facilities,
leisure centres, access for the disabled, and so forth);
9. Steps should be taken as a matter of priority to maintain law and order, especially to
protect women, who are often the victims of attacks;
10. One focus of particular attention should be the measures to avert the social exclusion
affecting the elderly and the sick and, above all, female immigrants and asylum-seekers,
who cannot take part in collective cultural life or society; language courses should be
organised for persons in these categories and encouragement given to privately sponsored
activities to foster their social and cultural integration;
11. It must be ensured that funded projects are also assessed in the light of equal treatment
requirements and the factors applying specifically to women; experiences should be
exchanged, and successful projects disseminated so that the Community Initiative can,
wherever possible, serve as an example to emulate.
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