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Summary Note of the Work of the Ep Members In Directorate-General for Internal Policies Directorate C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality 12/07/2011 Report on the FEMM Committee delegation visit to Zagreb, Croatia, 16 - 17 June 2011 COMPOSITION Eva-Britt SVENSSON, (GUE/NGL, Sweden), Chair of the FEMM Committee Anna ZABORSKA (EPP, Slovakia) Siiri OVIIR (ALDE, Estonia) Marije CORNELISSEN (GREENS/EFA, The Netherlands) Members were accompanied by Sabina Magnano and Ina Sokolska from the committee secretariat, Valborg Linden-Jonsten (S&D group advisor) and Tom Feeley (ALDE group advisor). PURPOSE The delegation visited Croatia in order to learn about the gender equality legislation and women's’ rights policy as well as overall progress achieved in this policy area by Croatia in view of its accession to the EU. PRESS At the conclusion of the visit a press statement was issued by the Committee Chair. MEETINGS (See full programme in enclosed Annex I) 16 June 2011 1. Meeting with Mr. Paolo Berizzi, Head of Political, Economic, Trade and Press & Information Section of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Croatia. Mr. Paolo Berizzi briefed the FEMM Committee delegation members on the political situation in Croatia. He recalled that negotiations on Croatia's accession to the EU - 1 - have started in October 2005 and are going to be finalised in the coming weeks. 1 July 2013 is a target date for Croatia's accession to the EU. The Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Croatia is constantly monitoring the negotiation process according to the requirements defined by the EU. Croatia has implemented the reforms needed to meet accession requirements, but fight against corruption, overcoming the consequences of the civil war, restructuring of shipyards and information campaigns directed to change public opinion on EU accession remain further challenges for Croatian authorities. The briefing was followed by questions from the Members of the delegation about monitoring the situation on women´s employment and informing Croatian society about the role of the EU and EU human rights protection standards. 2. Meeting with Ms. Gordana Sobol, Chair of the Committee on Gender Equality of the Sabor (Croatian Parliament) and Members of the Committee (list of members of the Committee is enclosed in Annex II). Ms Gordana Sobol presented the work of the Committee on Gender Equality of the Sabor (Croatian Parliament). She informed the members of the delegation that the Committee was established on 1 March 2001 and is composed of a Chair, a Vice- Chair and 11 members. Ms Gordana Sobol emphasised the following responsibilities of the Committee : 1) determining and monitoring the policy implementation. The Committee is active in adoption of legislation and other relevant provisions in all areas related to gender equality principles in the Croatian legislation, and especially - encouraging the signing of international agreements on gender equality and monitoring the implementation of the provisions contained in these documents. The Committee on Gender Equality of the Croatian Parliament has actively participated in the adoption of 2003 Gender Equality Act and introduced many changes to it for the revision of this Act in 2008. Croatian Parliament has adopted extensive gender sensitive legislation such as an Antidiscrimination Act, an Act Against Family Violence, an Act on Same Sex Unions, gender related provisions in the Penal Code and Labour Code; 2) proposing programmes of measures for upgrading the gender equality rights and eradicating gender-based discrimination. Currently the Committee is involved in discussions related to the adoption of 5th National Strategy for Gender Equality; 3) promotion of equal representation of both genders in working groups and parliamentary delegations, 4) implementing measures for gender mainstreaming according to the standards of the EU legislation and programmes. The Committee took active part in the legislative work related to the establishment of the office of the Ombudsman for Gender Equality and the Government´s Office for Gender Equality, 5) introducing gender equality principles in education, health, public information, social policies, employment, entrepreneurship, decision-making processes, family relations, and other, 6) fostering cooperation between the Government Committee for Gender Equality, NGOs and other institutions. - 2 - Ms Gordana Sobol further noted that there are not enough funds available for implementation of legislation and programmes and this negatively affects programmes on promotion of women´s entrepreneurship, protection from domestic violence, antidiscrimination and others. The presentation was followed by an exchange of views between the Croatian and European Parliamentarians. During the exchange of views EP Members stressed that Croatia is facing the same challenges in adoption and implementation of gender sensitive policies as the EU member states. The discussion also covered the issues of governance, domestic violence, employment policies, education, LGBT rights, participation of women in political life. 3. Meeting with Mr. Luka Bebić, Speaker of the Sabor Mr. Luka Bebić stressed the commitment of the Croatian Parliament to increase women's participation in decision-making. He believed that the introduction in the Croatian legislation of a 40 % party quota for women represented on the electoral lists will increase to 30% the number of women Members of the Croatian Parliament after next parliamentary elections. He also emphasised the strong commitment of the Croatian authorities to accession to the EU and explained the consequences of the judicial reform implemented to meet the EU accession requirements. After the presentation, Members discussed with Mr. Bebić the possibilities of cooperation between the European Parliament and the Croatian Parliament on protection of women´s rights and gender equality. 4. Meeting with Ms. Gordana Lukač-Koritnik, Ombudsperson for Gender Equality Ms. Gordana Lukač-Koritnik recalled that the Office of the Ombudsperson for Gender Equality was established in Croatia according to the EU legislation requirements. It deals with cases in which public authority has violated citizens` equality rights. Ms. Gordana Lukač-Koritnik noted that in 2010, out of 319 000 unemployed in Croatia 172 000 were women. In 2008 80 % of newly employed workers were hired with fixed term (temporary) contracts. In 2009 this figure rose to 85 % and in 2010 to 89%. The majority of these workers are women. Such employment policies are discriminatory for women: afraid of loosing their jobs women refuse to seek legal protection. As a result, case law on discrimination on gender grounds is practically absent in Croatia. The official figure for gender pay gap in Croatia is 11 %, but the real gender pay gap is much higher. Ms. Lukač-Koritnik also expressed her concern regarding the initiative of the Croatian authorities to merge three Ombudspersons (on gender equality, on children rights and on disability) in one office because in her opinion such reorganization may negatively affect the independent functioning of every ombudsperson. After the presentation Members asked questions and exchanged opinions on the role of state authorities in securing protection from discrimination and enjoyment of citizens` rights. - 3 - 5. Meeting with Ms. Vesna Pusić, Chairwoman of the National Committee on the supervision of the accession negotiations Ms. Vesna Pusić briefed Members of the delegation about the functions and responsibilities of the National Committee on the supervision of the accession negotiations and the main challenges that need to be overcome to make Croatia´s accession to the EU a success. She noted that while all political parties in Croatia are in favour of accession, not enough work is done in order to gain support from the public opinion. Support of the public has declined by 20 % after the verdict in the case against two Croatian wartime generals was announced by International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in April 2011. Currently the support is rising again and it can be estimated that about 60 % of Croatian population is in favour of accession to the EU. Following the presentation Members posed questions on promotion of women in decision-making, further actions of the Committee to empower civil society and better inform about accession to the EU. In particular Members of the delegations asked Ms. Pusić how she informs the Croatian society about the advantages of the accession to the EU. Answering this question, the Chairwoman presented the example of her own family where each generation of women was born in the same city but in a different country. Therefore, according to Ms. Vesna Pusić, it is important to emphasize stability as one of important advantages of accession for Croatian society. 6. Lunch in honour of the Delegation hosted by the Chairwoman of the Committee on Gender Equality, Ms. Gordana Sobol Ms Gordana Sobol, Chairwoman of the Committee on Gender Equality of the Sabor hosted a working lunch for the Members of the delegation. The lunch was an opportunity for an informal exchange of views with the Members of the Committee and the Ombudsperson for Gender Equality about the experiences on protection of women´s rights in the EU and in Croatia. 7. Meeting with Mr. Stjepan Adanić, State Secretary of Family, Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity In the afternoon the delegation visited the Ministry of Family, Veterans
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