The EU Parliament highlights once again the urgency of promoting a real equality of rights between men and women. As they spoke today about the communication of the Commission about the "schedule" for equality between men and women for the period 2006-2010, the MEPs, gathered in Strasbourg, ask that "more efforts must be done in guaranteeing gender equality" and "zero tolerance" for the abuse of women, including genital mutilation, polygamy and the imposition of the veil. According to the report submitted to the floor today, gender equality is "a right and a fundamental principle of the Union", but, despite the progress made so far, "many inequalities remain between men and women". For these reasons, Parliament also asks for measures to "promote access to work, bridge the wages gap between men and women, and promote female entrepreneurship". Importance has been attached to the need to "find a balance between private life and professional life", and they suggest that the national welfare systems should introduce "paternity leave, the cost of which should be borne by the community". The reports state the principle of "equal wages for equal jobs" and ask for support for the integration of immigrant women in European society.
