Changes from plenary report to adopted text

AD. whereas rural women play a vital role in preserving and enriching classical and traditional clothing;

AE. whereas women in the EU currently receive only 1-2 % of venture capital funding, highlighting the need to strengthen gender-responsive financing instruments and to ensure equal access to investment opportunities;

AF. whereas gender-disaggregated data and stakeholder consultation are essential for developing rural entrepreneurship policies that effectively address the specific needs of women; whereas to address the specific challenges faced by women in agriculture, the Commission and the Member States must take better account of the impact of agricultural policies on women;

Empowerment of women entrepreneurs

1. Stresses that women entrepreneurs, including those from remote and outermost regions, are key drivers of innovation, cohesion and competitiveness in rural, island and outermost regions; calls for improved access to all funding, particularly innovation funding, tailored support programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and opportunities within the green and digital economies, ensuring that women entrepreneurs can participate fully in emerging markets; calls for the scaling up of access to private investment, and the promotion of free-market opportunities; stresses that women entrepreneurs must fully benefit from the EU’s ‘Competitiveness Compass’ strategic roadmap, which aims to restore Europe’s dynamism and turbocharge its economic growth by creating a supportive environment for young innovative start-ups, promoting industrial leadership in high-growth sectors based on breakthrough technologies, and encouraging the diffusion of technologies within established companies and SMEs; urges, to that end, a greater EU policy focus on adopting a cross-cutting and integrated approach to the reality and challenges of the outermost regions in all European public policies, where appropriate; insists that every person in Europe should have the right and opportunity to build a fulfilling life in their home region – namely the right to stay;

2. Stresses that gender equality is fundamental to achieving the EU’s economic competitiveness and prosperity agenda, as the full and equal participation of women in the labour market, entrepreneurship market and innovation system enhances productivity and fosters inclusive and sustainable growth, which overall strengthens the EU’s global competitiveness; underlines that the lack of accessible and affordable childcare services remains one of the main barriers to women’s full participation in entrepreneurship and employment in rural, remote and island areas; calls on the Member States to prioritise investment in early childhood education and care in programmes funded by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); urges the Commission and the Member States to strengthen support mechanisms for women’s entrepreneurship in rural areas, in particular by facilitating access to credit, innovation and appropriate financial instruments, thereby promoting women’s economic autonomy and the diversification of agricultural activities;

3. Calls for the development of programmes that ensure women have access to education in fields such as digitalisation, finance and business administration, including through market-driven initiatives and private sector partnerships; calls also for the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation through structured mentorship networks and peer-learning platforms, particularly in areas such as digitalisation, finance and administration; further emphasises the importance of awareness-raising initiatives to promote the availability and benefits of these networks and platforms among female farmers, thereby fostering greater participation and empowerment of women agricultural workers; highlights the potential value of results-oriented EU support to help establish locally driven initiatives such as, but not limited to, business networks that strengthen women’s entrepreneurship and community engagement in rural areas, while encouraging private sector cooperation for all rural citizens, including women; notes that running a business can create jobs and income and thus added value for business and society as a whole; notes the success of projects that promote mentorship and peer learning among women entrepreneurs; calls on the Commission to build on and learn from such successful initiatives when designing and expanding structured mentorship and peer-learning programmes across the EU, in order to ensure that women entrepreneurs can fully benefit from knowledge sharing and support structures; underlines the importance of acting from an early stage of education to tackle gender stereotypes that still limit women’s access to certain economic sectors and leadership positions, in order to ensure equal opportunities and strengthen women’s contribution to the economic and social dynamism of rural and island areas and mountainous and outermost regions;

4. Stresses the importance of equal support for women’s entrepreneurship with dedicated support and resources, whether it be in STEAM, ICT, the social economy, transport services, crafts and care-related enterprises and others; emphasises the importance of supporting young women in rural areas who are entering traditionally male-dominated vocational fields, recognising their growing success and the increasing openness of many enterprises to talent and innovation from women, while continuing to promote inclusive and supportive workplace cultures; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote mentoring and training programmes for female entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on mothers returning to the labour market after maternity or parental leave and parents of young children in rural areas, so as to make participation in these programmes possible while fulfilling care responsibilities and in order to reduce the disproportionate burdens faced by women;

5. Encourages the Commission and the Member States to develop programmes supporting women-led enterprises, including entrepreneurship and management training, local business networks, and sectoral knowledge-sharing in key industries, paying particular attention to rural and island areas and outermost regions; calls for enhanced training on EU single market rules, the use of e-commerce online platforms, and participation in international trade fairs; stresses that improving women entrepreneurs’ access to export markets will increase the competitiveness, resilience and added value of rural economies; notes that by expanding access to affordable internet services, providing tailored training programmes that build on women’s strengths, and fostering policies that promote equal participation, rural women are increasingly poised to overcome barriers and take on active, leading roles in the digital economy;

6. Encourages the creation of networks of women’s cooperatives and associations in the agri-food sector, promoting sustainable, circular and local value-added business models, with a particular focus on organic farming, artisanal processing and direct sales;

7. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to establishing a ‘women in farming’ platform, as a forum for discussion and the exchange of good practice, to strengthen participation and to promote equal opportunities in the agri-food sector; calls on the Commission to submit an annual report to Parliament on the activities and outcomes of the platform; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to ensure that the work of this platform is duly taken into account in the preparation and development of future policy initiatives in the fields of agriculture and rural development;

8. Urges the Member States to promote and highlight success stories featuring female entrepreneurs in rural and outermost regions through awareness campaigns, including in traditional media and social media, in order to boost visibility, confidence and community engagement; notes with this context in mind the importance of developing financial literacy, particularly targeting women, as a gender gap exists in financial knowledge – on average, in the EU, men scored 18 percentage points higher than women in a financial knowledge survey conducted by the European Commission; calls for measures aimed at engaging women in their communities to use local and bottom-up approaches, as well as promoting, among other initiatives, networks to promote women’s involvement; calls for targeted campaigns that portray modern images of women in agriculture in order to attract young women to entrepreneurial activities in the agricultural sector;

9. Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), in cooperation with social partners, to continue to analyse key barriers to women’s employment and entrepreneurship, including in outermost, island and remote regions, and to propose inspiring actions to overcome these obstacles to growth and prosperity; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support women-led enterprises, by providing legal and technical advice, through exchange of best practices, by helping women entrepreneurs overcome isolation in rural areas and strengthening their competitiveness and by increasing the share of women entrepreneurs and self-employed women in rural areas within the EU;

11. Supports the Commission’s strategy for the savings and investments union and the creation and expansion of inclusive financial instruments, including a labelled EU investment savings account to increase and facilitate access to finance for women-led EU companies, and notes that the strategy should include gender mainstreaming; to that end, welcomes the launch of ‘Finance Europe’, a label for EU long-term investment and savings products investing 70 % of their assets in European companies;

12. Calls on the Commission to introduce a ‘female founders fund’, to provide targeted financial support and investment opportunities for female-led businesses; underlines that such a fund would expand the EIF’s capacity to support private equity and venture capital funds while also contributing to closing the gender funding gap, and to achieving competitiveness across the EU; calls for measures, in line with the Women on Boards Directive, to address gender bias in access to finance, including a European network of investors aware of the important need for gender balance, and dedicated instruments and targets (e.g. microfinance, guarantees and equity) tailored to women-led rural SMEs;

13. Highlights how rural women entrepreneurs have the power to transform local ideas into cross-border success stories within the EU; welcomes the advancement of modern digital tools and the freedom of movement and trade within the EU, which facilitate women-led rural businesses, allowing them to connect with new markets, collaborate across borders, and share their authentic, locally made products and services with customers throughout Europe; notes that while some local roots have untapped continental reach, some Member States lack the geographical ability to participate in this cross-border economic activity;

14. Recognises the growing momentum and strong commitment towards making investments in digital infrastructure, skills development and inclusive digital policy frameworks – thereby creating exciting opportunities to empower rural women and ensure they fully benefit from the digital transition; highlights the importance of and calls for targeted investments in digital infrastructure, upskilling and reskilling opportunities, skills development and inclusive digital policy frameworks that ensure rural women and especially women from island areas and outermost regions can take part fully in the digital transition; calls on the Commission to reduce administrative burden; stresses that gender equality is essential for a successful digital transition, as the full participation of women in digital sectors enhances innovation and economic resilience; calls on the Commission to ensure that gender equality is integrated into the objectives of all digital policies and skills programmes, to ensure that women benefit equally from opportunities in the evolving digital economy;

15. Calls on the Member States to ensure that national education systems, including vocational and tertiary education and systems serving rural and remote areas, provide robust access to digital skills and STEM education, in ways that empower both girls and boys to pursue their full potential; stresses the need to promote entrepreneurial career choices – in a non-stereotypical way – and to include gender equality and finance education into school curricula; underlines the importance of mentorship programmes, female role models, and partnerships between schools, universities, businesses, and civil society organisations to inspire girls to pursue STEM careers; calls for the inclusion of gender equality objectives in the Digital Education Action Plan and for targeted EU and national funding to support women and girls in emerging digital fields such as AI, data science and clean technologies;

16. Calls for targeted measures to improve women’s access to upskilling and reskilling opportunities, as well as to information on entrepreneurship training, EU-funded programmes and business financing schemes in rural and island areas and outermost regions;

17. Calls for programmes promoting innovation in rural areas to explicitly include measures aimed at reaching women as a target group, for example through low-threshold information services, women-specific innovation workshops and active outreach to female farm managers;

18. Encourages Member States to recognise and support the traditional skills of rural women, such as clothing production and basket weaving, as vital cultural assets that preserve heritage and create economic opportunities, particularly given women’s key roles in agritourism, craft industries, artisan food production, direct marketing and regional value chains; calls for investment in vocational training programmes tailored for rural women and girls, enabling them to generate sustainable income and maintain family livelihoods; underscores, in addition, how women can help bridge the digital divide and unlock their immense potential as innovators, entrepreneurs, and community leaders, paving the way for more inclusive, vibrant and resilient societies;

19. Underlines that when venture capital backs a woman-led rural business with the aim of ensuring the full inclusion and empowerment of women in all their diversity, it sends a strong signal of trust, boosting the entrepreneur’s confidence and giving her greater visibility in the business ecosystem; also notes the potential of business angels who can step in even earlier, offering seed funding to help entrepreneurs get off the ground; notes how business angels are willing to take a chance on new or unproven ideas, especially when they see potential in the founder’s vision and dedication; underlines how this kind of support is essential in rural areas, where businesses may not fit traditional funding criteria; recalls how large-scale venture capital is urban-focused, with venture capitalists often city-based, while business angels are often more engaged locally, with a personal interest in supporting rural communities and empowering women as a force for local economic renewal;

20. Calls for targeted measures to improve women’s access to land, finance, education and training, including flexible options, especially for aspiring female farmers and business owners; underlines the need to tackle structural and institutional barriers, including difficulties in obtaining legal status for farm businesses, tax and social welfare rules that disadvantage women in farming couples, and administrative obstacles in farm ownership that disadvantage women; emphasises that women who wish to pursue entrepreneurial activity should be encouraged to take this step, since the running of a business can create jobs and incomes and thus added value for society; calls on agricultural cooperatives and producer organisations funded under the CAP to successively introduce gender representation benchmarks in their governing bodies, ensuring equal access for women to decision-making structures; stresses that such participation will enhance the competitiveness of rural enterprises by harnessing women’s innovative potential and management skills;

21. Highlights that women in a precarious situation, such as migrant workers, notably migrant farm workers, women with disabilities, women with a long history of unemployment and older women, should be specifically targeted by programmes supporting the access of women to entrepreneurship and self-employment in rural areas;

22. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote women’s entrepreneurship, including specific networks for business succession and mentorship, and to design funding programmes or support measures, including one-stop guidance, in such a way that smaller businesses and stakeholders are eligible to access them, and that the administrative burden is kept proportionate to the business size, given that women’s enterprises and farms are on average smaller than men’s; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that individuals or smaller organisations are also able to obtain an overview of funding opportunities and apply for them, and are given assistance in doing so; calls on the Commission to propose specific measures to support young female farmers and agri-food entrepreneurs, including financial incentives, and initiatives to address barriers to land access and farm succession; highlights that generational renewal is key to maintaining and developing agricultural activity, which ensures both food security and vibrant rural communities; calls on the Commission, in particular, to propose specific measures aimed at young female farmers under the CAP;

23. Encourages the Member States and regional and local authorities to make use of EU structural and investment funds to target and promote women entrepreneurs and self-employed women; stresses the need for awareness-raising and information campaigns on current and future EU funding opportunities for women entrepreneurs in rural areas;

24. Calls for the establishment of a ‘fast track’ for access to finance and public procurement for micro and small enterprises led by women in rural areas; stresses that this mechanism should include a reduction of administrative burdens and simplification of procedures, as well as the introduction of start-up advances enabling the launch of business activities; highlights the important role of microcredits in improving women’s financial inclusion by making the most of market and social opportunities for inclusion in the financial markets; welcomes public and private funds that implement gender equality, diversity and inclusion policies; applauds examples where private funds have committed to measuring and tracking gender representation and to reporting annually and in public on their findings;

25. Calls on the Commission to earmark adequate funding within relevant programmes to support women-led enterprises in rural and remote areas, particularly in innovative sectors and the tourism sector, through appropriate measures within relevant programmes where possible; calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the issue of disproportionate under-representation of persons with disabilities, especially women, in the labour market by introducing specific measures, including adequate incentives and support measures for employers and companies that recruit persons with disabilities, taking into account the capacity of micro and small companies; stresses the need to promote the employment of women with disabilities also within SMEs and through self-employment, by means of targeted incentives, as well as workplace targets for persons with disabilities and training paths tailored to the needs of persons with disabilities;

26. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that women’s entrepreneurship in rural and island areas and outermost regions is adequately supported under the post-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF), including funding through relevant programmes such as the CAP, including POSEI, Horizon Europe, the LEADER programme and Digital Europe; underlines the importance of facilitating access to EU funding for women-led rural enterprises, cooperatives and community-based projects; calls, furthermore, for gender mainstreaming across all policy areas and budgets, as this would enable EU policies to truly serve all women, especially women entrepreneurs; reiterates the need for a comprehensive EU strategy for women’s entrepreneurship in rural and island areas and outermost regions and calls for dedicated financial resources and funding mechanisms to be allocated expressly to this strategy; calls, additionally, on the Commission to maintain or increase the ring-fencing of the budget dedicated to the LEADER programme; calls on the Commission and the Member States to reinforce the LEADER programme by reducing the administrative burden on local authorities and simplifying access, promoting the local ownership of community-led development projects and encouraging women’s participation in Local Action Groups;

27. Regrets the insufficient access to childcare and care services for women entrepreneurs in rural areas; encourages investment in care infrastructure and the promotion of family-friendly policies for families in all their diversity to support work-life balance for women entrepreneurs; encourages the Member States and the regions to develop specific policies for the outermost regions, in accordance with Article 349 TFEU, taking into account isolation, population ageing and the scarcity of services, and ensuring measures that are adapted to the reality of women in these territories;

28. Notes the importance of simplification for competitiveness; calls on the Commission and the Member States to simplify administrative and reporting requirements, including the use of one-stop guidance, so that small women-led businesses, cooperatives and community initiatives can access funding without a disproportionate burden, and to ensure targeted access to financial support through EU funding programmes to promote women’s entrepreneurship, including specific networks for business succession and mentorship;

Gender mainstreaming

29. Calls on the Member States to ensure comprehensive, age-appropriate education, the inclusion of digital skills and subjects, including those serving rural and remote areas, and to provide robust access to digital skills and STEAM education, in a gender sensitive way that combats stereotypes and empowers girls to pursue their full potential; calls on the Commission to ensure comprehensive and age-appropriate education for boys and girls regarding sexuality and relationships that challenges gender stereotypes and teaches about consent and rights, ensuring inclusive education based on mutual respect and non-discrimination, while simultaneously fostering the full empowerment of young women to participate on equal terms in society and the labour market, as economic empowerment is key to fostering a more competitive and resilient economy;

30. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of reliable, up-to-date, and disaggregated statistical data by gender, age, territory and sector, as a basis for evidence-based public policies, in close cooperation with Eurostat, national statistical institutes and regional observatories; acknowledges the importance of impact assessments of the design of such proposals in helping to achieve gender mainstreaming goals in rural areas;

31. Highlights the transformative potential of AI, online platforms and remote work tools in facilitating women’s economic participation in rural settings;

32. Urges the Member States to provide gender-sensitive training, emergency services and infrastructure to mitigate the impact of crises on rural, remote and outermost communities;

33. Calls on the Commission to ensure that in its response to crises menstrual hygiene kits are included as a standard element in all of its emergency responses;

35. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote awareness campaigns and capacity-building programmes on the social and labour rights of women, particularly in rural and remote areas, including rights to social protection, maternity, health and workplace safety, with a view to strengthening their full and informed participation in economic and social life;

Traditional culture and craft

36. Applauds communities that preserve local heritage and tradition, and that promote and embrace initiatives enhancing women-led local farming, as well as the preservation and promotion of traditional craftworks, often developed and maintained by local women’s associations, including rural women’s organisations, cultural groups, monuments and museums; recognises that these activities make an essential contribution to economic diversification, the preservation of cultural and intangible heritage, the strengthening of sustainable tourism, and foster cultural recognition within the local community, which is an often unseen and undervalued dimension of rural economies; stresses, further, that the active involvement of women in these practices reinforces social cohesion, territorial identity and the attractiveness of rural areas;

37. Underlines the role of organised women farmers’ and rural women’s associations as the backbone of entrepreneurial, social and cultural development in rural areas; calls for these organisations to be structurally strengthened and involved in the implementation of gender equality measures, in particular in the delivery of training and mentoring programmes, healthcare and start-up advice;

38. Highlights the huge potential of traditional crafts and local circular economies, especially for women in precarious circumstances including elderly women, women with disabilities, migrant women and women living in poverty; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support intergenerational and multicultural entrepreneurship and craft-based value chains through training, funding and visibility actions;

39. Emphasises that many women-led businesses in rural areas are small-scale and often based on multiple activities and on the multifunctionality of agriculture, e.g. combining agriculture with tourism, crafts or social services; calls for support programmes that explicitly take these combinations into account;

40. Underlines how women, through their involvement in the crafting of traditional garments, embroidery, weaving, and their knowledge of local materials and patterns passed down through generations, serve to keep cultural heritage alive while adding their own creativity and innovation; recognises that women’s contribution not only sustains techniques but also inspires new generations to value authenticity, quality and identity in fashion for women in all their diversity;

41. Encourages the promotion of lifelong learning programmes targeting women in rural areas and ensuring continuous opportunities to update knowledge and acquire new skills; stresses the importance of formally recognising prior learning in order to value experience gained outside of formal educational contexts and to facilitate integration or reintegration into the labour market; recommends, also, the implementation of specific digital inclusion initiatives for elderly women in rural and remote areas and outermost regions, aiming to reduce the generational and territorial digital divide, while strengthening their autonomy, social participation and full inclusion in the digital transition;

42. Notes that grassroots efforts not only sustain time-honoured agricultural methods and artisanal crafts but also serve as vibrant expressions of cultural heritage, often paying homage to women and girls’ accomplishments for community and humanity at large;

43. Stresses the importance of promoting lifelong learning opportunities in rural areas, in order to promote a positive standard of mental health among elderly rural women;

44. Calls for more visible examples that showcase the talents and dedication of women artisans and farmers, as these communities create unique attractions that draw tourists, thereby generating sustainable economic opportunities and tangible examples of rural, cultural legacies;

45. Calls for greater support in maintaining centuries-old handicraft traditions, such as weaving, embroidery, pottery, artisanal food production and on-farm food processing, as well as local value chains and agritourism, as has been fostered by numerous, rural women-led associations; recognises the important role of rural women’s organisations in preserving cultural heritage and fostering social cohesion, noting the success of Irish examples such as the Irish Countrywomen’s Association and local women’s sheds in promoting skills, community engagement and economic opportunities for rural women; calls on the Commission to support and recognise such initiatives across the EU as a means to strengthen rural economies, maintain traditional crafts and empower rural women;

46. Supports the creation of a specific thematic sub-programme for women in rural areas within the framework of the CAP Strategic Plans, financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, which promote female employment and entrepreneurship through opportunities related to agritourism, the development of ‘digital villages’, and the promotion of sustainable agriculture, by improving women farmers’ access to land, credit, financial instruments, skills development, and professional performance through training programmes and advisory services, as well as strengthening women’s participation in Local Action Groups and territorial partnerships developed under the LEADER programme;

47. Calls for the integration of rural women’s textile and craft industries into Member State and regional economic development plans, emphasising the role of private sector partnerships to expand market access;

48. Calls on the Commission to raise awareness in island and remote areas and outermost regions about the financial and other instruments available at EU level that promote entrepreneurship, encouraging women in these areas to engage in entrepreneurial projects and fostering self-employment opportunities;

49. Encourages the promotion of voluntary labelling for small-scale producers in peripheral island regions to highlight products that have been largely produced, processed or marketed by women; proposes developing these labels, particularly in the context of community processing initiatives, to strengthen women’s businesses in local value creation and marketing; recommends linking such labels to existing regional brands and initiatives to facilitate implementation and acceptance;

Agriculture, fishing and the agri-food supply chain

50. Celebrates the resilience of women in farming and fisheries and the associated contribution they make to feeding our society, growing local economies and building strong communities throughout the EU and in particular in rural and island areas and outermost regions;

51. Stresses the need to consistently promote the visibility, recognition and appreciation of women’s contribution to agriculture and rural development, including on family-run farms; calls on the Member States to remove practical barriers to women’s land ownership and succession in order to guarantee gender-equal access to land, credit, CAP funds, cohesion policy funds, advisory services, innovation support and succession rights; stresses that the CAP must be more closely aligned with the principles of gender mainstreaming and gender equality; underlines the importance of ensuring that the CAP support measures offer targeted, gender-responsive support for women farmers, including farm advisory services and guidance on occupational health and safety, maternity and carers’ leave, mental health and access to healthcare services; invites representative organisations to promote and highlight the involvement of female representatives and spokespersons who accurately reflect the presence of women in agriculture and rural areas; calls for the farm work done by women, especially work done to assist spouses and partners, to be taken into account to ensure greater appreciation of women’s work and rights; stresses that even though many women work for years, this valuable experience does not culminate in leadership or key decision-making roles;

52. Stresses that management positions on farms continue to be predominantly held by men, highlighting the marked under-representation of women in leadership roles within the agricultural sector; considers that this situation underscores the urgent need for public policies and specific instruments that promote women’s access to managerial and decision-making positions, ensuring equal opportunities, the recognition of women’s skills and encouragement of generational renewal; stresses that women in rural areas, including women with disabilities, play a key role in sustaining local communities through both economic and social activities, yet they remain under-represented in decision-making structures; recommends that agricultural and rural development support programmes include clear targets for the balanced participation of men and women in management roles on farms and within primary sector organisations;

53. Points out that many spouses working on farms are not adequately protected in the event of divorce, separation or the death of their spouse; calls on the Commission and the Member States to work with agricultural interest groups to develop models that take greater account of social security, co-entrepreneurship and inheritance rights;