WRITTEN QUESTION No. 67/98 by Hiltrud BREYER to the Commission. Fourth Action Programme to promote equal opportunities
17. 7. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 223/101 (98/C 223/127) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0067/98 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (29 January 1998) Subject: Fourth Action Programme to promote equal opportunities It is striking that specifically those projects receiving funding from the Fourth Action Programme to promote equal opportunities have been subject to particularly meticulous scrutiny, especially by comparison with other EU aid programmes. Does the EU have any reason to suppose that womenís projects are particularly suspect? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (11 March 1998) The Commission has no reason to suppose that womenís projects are particularly suspect. The careful auditing by the Commission of projects co-financed under the fourth action programme is not only in the interest of the European tax payer, but also in the interest of the Commission itself, because it obtains precious information thereon for its work and policies. The fourth action programme is at present the subject of an audit by the Court of auditors which acts independently and in accordance with its own rules. (98/C 223/128) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0068/98 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (30 January 1998) Subject: Unemployment among women in the EU Official EU statistics give details of unemployment among women and the percentage of the total unemployment figures which women represent. Unfortunately, those figures omit some data from the individual Member States and the EU as a whole which, we feel, are very significant. 1. What percentage of all women are unemployed? 2. What are the employment patterns of women in gainful employment? 3. How are women who are neither unemployed nor gainfully employed covered financially and in terms of social security? 4. How are unemployed women covered financially and in terms of social security in the individual Member States? 5. How are unemployed womenís allowances calculated, and what factors have an impact thereon (e. g. family circumstances, number of children, brothers and sisters, etc. )? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (2 April 1998) The percentage of unemployed women relative to the female working-age population in 1996 (latest year 1. for which complete labour force survey data is available) was: B DK D GR E F IRL I L N A P FI S UK E 15 6. 7 6. 3 6. 0 7. 2 13. 6 9. 0 5. 9 7. 1 2. 1 4. 9 3. 3 5. 1 11. 1 7. 1 4. 4 7. 2