Directorate-General for Internal Policies Directorate C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality The secretariat

05/12/2011

SUMMARY NOTE OF THE FEMM COMMITTEE DELEGATION VISIT TO , (24 NOVEMBER-25 NOVEMBER 2011)

COMPOSITION

Mikael GUSTAFSSON (GUE/NGL, Sweden), Chair of the FEMM Committee Marc TARABELLA (S&D, Belgium)

Members were accompanied by Sabina Magnano and Carolina Falk of the FEMM Committee secretariat and Valborg Linden-Jonsten advisor of the S&D group.

PURPOSE

The main purpose of the delegation visit was to learn about the actions, initiatives and legislation on gender quality in Denmark in the context of the coming Danish presidency of the EU.

MEETINGS (See full programme in enclosed Annex I)

1. Danish Minister for Social Gender Equality

Minister met with the delegation and presented his three priorities in the area of gender equality during the coming presidency;  women on executive boards  women and climate change  boys dropping out of education

- 1 - The Gender Equality Minister has the role of coordinating all government policy on equality in addition to his responsibility for the gender equality law. All public authorities must report to the minister on their progress in the issue of equality. The law states that this should be done every two years. In early 2012 the new figures will be available. Mainstreaming is also part of this law.

In advance of the meeting with the minister, senior staff of the ministry had presented to the EP delegation an overview of the Danish gender equality legislation and also their policies on domestic violence and trafficking. They also mentioned key figures for Denmark which show that it has one of the highest employment rates for women in the European Union and also that it is one of the few Member States to have met the Barcelona targets on the provision of childcare. In spite of this progress the issues of violence against women and gender segregation of the labour market persist. The staff of the ministry also emphasised that gender equality includes looking at all areas of gender imbalance and noted that two out of three victims of suicide are men and eight out of ten homeless people are men.

Minister Sareen then hosted a lunch for the delegation at the Royal Library.

2. Meeting with Danish minister of Employment

Minister Mette Fredriksen met with the delegation and outlined the importance of employment issues for the coming presidency. She explained her interest to make progress on the maternity leave legislation and also highlighted the issue of the gender pay gap as an area of concern.

3. Folketinget (Denmark's Parliament), Standing Committee on Gender Equality , Vice Chair of the Committee, chaired the meeting and briefly explained the competence and the role of the Committee which has recently been established. An exchange of views between the Danish and European Parliamentarians took place. In addition to the Vice Chair the following Members of the Committee were present: , , , Özlem Sara Cekic and Fatma Øktem.

4. Municipality of Copenhagen

The delegation met with Ms. Ninna Thomsen, Mayor of Copenhagen responsible for health and care and her staff (Sundheds- og Omsorgsborgmester, Københavns Kommune). The city of Copenhagen has 500 000 residents and employs 45 000 people. The city is run by a Lordmayor and six mayors. The gender equality policy of the city is advanced and includes extensive data collection and analysis of wages. Ms. Thomsen pointed to the gender segregation which is still a reality and gave the example of cleaning where women are employed by the city mainly to clean indoors and men mainly to clean outdoors. Besides the quantative data which is gathered there is also an awareness of how work with common features can be organised differently. Ms. Thomsen chose the example of a person who cares for the elderly which involves lifting and other physical work and made the comparison with a fireman who also has physical tasks but his work is organised differently and during his working day he has

- 2 - time set aside for physical training. A gender equality assessment tool is available on the intranet for all employees.

5. Meeting with civil society The organisations present to meet with the delegation were  The Association for Gender Research ("Foreningen for kønsforskning”).  Women's Council  The Society of Danish Women (“Dansk Kvindsamfund”)  The Board of Equal Treatment (“Ligebehandlingsnævnet”)  National Organisation of Women's Shelters ("LOKK")  Coordination for Gender Research ("Koordination for kønsforskning") The main issues discussed were maternity leave and parental leave, gender mainstreaming, equal pay, Daphne programme, violence against women and wage transparency.

6. Meeting with Danish Equality Body Ms. Susanne Nour, Director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights, explained that the institute was designated as the Danish Equality Body and has received increased funding. EU law requires Member States to designate a body for the promotion, analysis, monitoring and support of equal treatment of all persons on grounds of sex at work (Directive 2006/54/EC) and outside employment (Directive 2004/113/EC). The institute covers discrimination based on gender, ethnicity and disability. The institute ensures assistance to victims of discrimination and launches independent studies and projects focusing on how society can effectively protect against discrimination and promote equal treatment.

- 3 - Directorate-General for Internal Policies Directorate C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality

DELEGATION TO COPENHAGEN, 23. - 25. NOVEMBER 2011

Draft programme

Wednesday, 23 November, 2011

Individual arrival in Copenhagen and transfer to Hotel Copenhagen Admiral hotel Address: Copenhagen Admiral Hotel afternoon/evening Toldbodgade 24-28 - DK-1253 København K - Danmark Tel. +45 33 74 14 14 Fax +45 33 74 14 16

Thursday, 25 November, 2011

EP Delegation departure from hotel reception 9:00 Venue: Copenhagen Admiral hotel, reception Meeting with the Ministry of Gender Equality Venue: Ministry for Gender Equality 9:30 - 11.00 Participants from DK: Permanent Deputy director Mr Jakob Jensen, Senior Advisor Ms Kira Appel and Head of Section Mr Theis B. Jensen. Meeting with the Minister for Gender Equality Mr Manu Sareen 11:00 – 12:00 Venue: The Minister’s office (http://uk.lige.dk/Default.asp?Id=143)

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch hosted by the Minister for Gender Equality

13.00-14.00 Break Meeting with the Minister for Employment Ms (on the directive on pregnant workers and equal pay) 14.00-15.00 Venue: The Minister’s office, Ved Stranden 8, 1061 Copenhagen K. (http://uk.bm.dk/TheMinistry/The%20minister.aspx)

- 4 - Meeting with the Parliament’s Committee for Gender Equality 15:15 – 16:15 Venue: The Danish Parliament, Christiansborg Palace, 1240 Copenhagen K. Meeting with the Municipality of Copenhagen 17:00 - 18:00 Venue: City Hall, 1599 Copenhagen V.

Friday, 25 November, 2011

EP Delegation departure from hotel reception 9:00 Venue: Copenhagen Admiral hotel, reception Meeting with civil society 9:30 - 11:30 Venue: The Ministry of Gender Equality. Meeting with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (the Danish Equality Body), 11:30 - 12.30 Venue: The Department of Gender Equality. Participants: Department director Ms Susanne Nour (http://www.humanrights.dk/) 12:30 End of programme and individual transfer to Copenhagen airport

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