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Proceedings of conferences
International Conference
Better Business - Creating a Gender-Equal
Europe!
Preface "Incomprehensible: Economic potential of women in Europe neither recognized nor developed" This could be among the headlines, if it was up to many of the participants of the conference "Better Business - Creating a Gender-Equal Europe!" organised by the Women's Academy, Munich (FAM) from 29.-30.10.04. The year 2004 saw many reports aimed at describing economic conditions and developments. They ranged from shifting production to economically cheaper locations, through bankruptcies of large corporations to hard hitting cutbacks planned for the welfare state. The group of experts chaired by former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok advising the European Commission on economic and social policy noted in its report presented in November 2004 that the European economy's overall performance during the past four years has proved "disappointing". Seen in terms of increased productivity, growth of GDP or employment rates the member countries of the European Union lag far behind the United States. In order to achieve the goal formulated in 2000 at the EU summit in Lisbon of making the European Union the "most dynamic and most competitive knowledge-based economy of the world" by the year 2010, calls were raised for an ambitious reform programme. The details of such a reform programme and the modification of current plans for reform at EU and national level is once again up for debate. This is the case, despite the fact that the issue raises two quite fundamental questions: who can participate and decide matters in this debate and what is the basic understanding underlying content and aims of economic activity. It is a matter of the European Union's understanding of democracy and values, on which it bases its economic and social policy strategies. It is at the same time an analytical challenge and an economic and social necessity to examine these questions from a gender perspective. For the economic processes involved cannot be fully understood if their various male and female protagonists and thus gender relations are ignored. Because of their different situations, and also the differing roles they are given, economy policy decisions affect different groups of women and men in different ways. The different lives of women and men also play a role in determining economic behaviour. Although considerable differences in social risk do exist within gender groups, it can be said that unemployment and poverty pose a higher degree of risk for women as a group than for men, and that their rate of employment and incomes are lower. Significant discrepancies exist between the countries of Europe, if we compare Sweden and France with Germany and Poland for example. Seen in positive terms, women are amongst those participants in the economy whose potential has not (yet) achieved sufficient space to permit full development. Over the past 20 years, the European Union has proved itself a driving force and important reference point for equality policy. In the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam member states committed themselves to gender mainstreaming, i.e. to check all measures in the planning phase for their effects on women and men and orient them towards the goal of attaining gender equality. Whilst the linkage between the economy, gender and justice is conceptionally embedded in EU policy, its gender mainstreaming strategy contains little by way of detail and has so far hardly been implemented. This is the point which the Women's Academy Munich (FAM) conference "Better Business - Creating a Gender-Equal Europe!" sought to address. 120 women and men drawn from business, politics, academic life and civil society and from twelve European countries took part.
The timing of the conference could have hardly been meaning
more appropriate. It was held at the same time as the first common European constitution
was being signed in Rome. Constitutions arise from political processes of discussion
about what ought to be considered as permanent and not open to negotiation after
every new shift in political majority (See Berghahn, Sabine/Wilde, Gabriele, 2004:
"Einleitung: Verfassungen und Geschlechterpolitik". Another historical break was taking place at the same time. Originally it was intended that the new European Commission would begin work on November 1st. It became clear that the commission nominated by designated commission president Jose Manuel Barroso would not gain a majority in the European Parliament. Barroso's concession was a victory for democracy and also welcome from a gender democracy viewpoint, given the issue was not least that of the suitability of Rocco Buttiglione, proposed by Italy for the office of Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Justice, who had repeatedly described homosexuality as a sin and who held reactionary views on women and the family. It was these values which led the European Parliament to regard him as unsuited for office. These proceedings contain the contributions to the conference insofar as available to us and are intended to assist in further discussion and as a contribution towards feminist involvement in the current economic policy debate. With it we wish to make the information and suggestions presented at the conference available to a wider audience. We would like to express our thanks to all the speakers as well as to all those who contributed to the success of the conference. We would especially like to thank our cooperation partners whose financial, technical and organizational support made the conference possible: the Bavarian State Office for Political Education (Bayerische Landeszentrale für politische Bildungsarbeit); the Friedrich Ebert Foundation; the Hanns Seidel Foundation; the Heinrich Boell Foundation; the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria and the Petra Kelly Foundation. We would also like to express our thanks for the generous financial support of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung) and the European Social Fund. Organiser and further information:
The conference was held in co-operation with and with kind support from:
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