WHAT IS THE UNION EXPERIENCING?

MIROSŁAW PIOTROWSKI

While the chief of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker is announcing his willingness to build the common European army, with the support of key German politicians and the opposition of Great Britain, Denmark and Poland recently, in the European Parliament in Strasburg, more time is devoted to more controversial issues. The key thing was even a report ‘on progress in aiming at the equality of women and men in the European Union’. The year 2013 became the subject of investigation. In the breakthrough text we read among the others, that ‘girls and women in a lesser extent than boys, participate in physical classes’, and as it was proved by a reporter ‘sport strengthens personality and serves to development, being also a carrier of citizenship and solidarity’(point of Ad preamble). Just in the spirit of solidarity in the paragraph 15, the European Parliament called ‘the Commission and Member Countries to realize pro-active strategies for the sake of popularizing education of women in science subjects’. Nor did he forget about entrepreneurs, calling the mentioned bodies ‘to investigate possibilities of including clauses concerning sexes to tenders for public orders’ (§ 21). He also emphasized that ‘equality of sexes is the basis for building peace’ (§ 36). The parliament also demands that the Council and the Commission should guarantee that in social media ‘women and men will be presented in a varied way, going beyond canons of beauty and sexist stereotypes of roles in various spheres of life’ (§ 42). In the final articles there are also demands about an easy access to contraceptives and unlimited abortion. Moreover, the Commission was called to promote all these revealing threads in outer relations of EU. There is nothing to do but only expect when the EU decision-makers will present them, for example, to the president of Russia Wladimir Putin. He might be amused by it more than by the announcement of building the common European army.

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„Niedziela” 12/2015

Editor: Tygodnik Katolicki "Niedziela", ul. 3 Maja 12, 42-200 Czestochowa, Polska
Editor-in-chief: Fr Jaroslaw Grabowski • E-mail: redakcja@niedziela.pl