Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Removed23. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that women’s entrepreneurship in rural, island and outermost regions is adequately supported under the post-2027 multiannual financial framework, including funding through relevant programmes such as the CAP, Horizon Europe, and Digital Europe; underlines the importance of facilitating access to EU funding for women-led rural enterprises, cooperatives and community-based projects;

Added79. Underlines the importance of access to confidential services in rural communities and of women’s shelters for women and children in situations of domestic violence; recalls the Istanbul Convention’s standard regarding women’s shelters of one family place per 10 000 head of population; regrets that access to such shelters in rural areas is limited; calls on the Member States and local and regional authorities to provide sufficient financial support and resources to specialist women’s organisations for the establishment and management of such shelters and for the continuity of provision in affected areas; urges the Member States and local authorities to actively promote a culture of respect, dignity and mutual understanding, with a focus on empowering rural and vulnerable communities made up of women and girls; highlights that open dialogue, survivor-centred storytelling, collective responsibility for the prevention of violence and positive educational initiatives can inspire empathy and collective healing;

Removed24. Reiterates the need for a comprehensive EU strategy for women’s entrepreneurship in rural, island and outermost regions and calls for dedicated financial resources and funding mechanisms to be allocated expressly to this strategy;

Added80. Calls on the Member States to support the establishment of monuments or memorials dedicated to the historical pain and suffering of women in post-war conflicts, including crimes committed in geographically vulnerable areas, such as rural locations;

Added81. Urges the introduction of measures that support survivors’ economic independence, including targeted training, job placement, entrepreneurship grants and microcredits, so they can safely enter or re-enter the labour market;

Added82. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the implementation of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence fully addresses the specific needs of victims in rural and island areas; stresses the importance of including rural considerations in national transposition plans; urges the Member States to use EU funding instruments, including cohesion policy and rural development funds, to support efforts to address gender-based violence, including the development of targeted strategies to ensure that victims in these areas have equal access to justice, protection and support, including through mobile victim support units, rural helplines, community-based services, and awareness-raising campaigns tailored to rural populations; highlights the need to bridge the digital divide and improve infrastructure to facilitate reporting and access to services;

Added83. Emphasises that the absence, or inferior status, of women working on the farm of their spouse/partner contributes to their economic dependency; notes that women’s lower employment rates, obstacles to inheriting land or taking over their parents’ farms, as well as limited access to credit and funding, have a similar effect, increasing the risk of domestic and economic abuse;

Added84. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that women’s entrepreneurship in rural, mountainous, border and island areas and outermost regions is fully supported within the framework of the post-2027 MFF; reiterates the need for gender mainstreaming across all MFF programmes; stresses the need to ensure that EU funding programmes such as the ERDF, the ESF+, the Just Transition Fund, Interreg, and in particular the CAP, cohesion policy, Horizon Europe, and the Digital Europe programme, include specific measures aimed at promoting the active participation of women, supporting the creation and consolidation of rural enterprises, and fostering innovation and digitalisation; also underlines the importance of facilitating women’s simplified and effective access to EU funds, covering not only agricultural businesses but also cooperatives, local associations and women-led community projects, in order to strengthen territorial cohesion, gender equality, and the economic vitality of rural and island areas and outermost communities; calls in this regard on the Commission and the Member States to enhance the visibility and accessibility of funding opportunities specifically dedicated to women in rural areas, including through targeted information and promotional campaigns aimed at increasing awareness and uptake; welcomes the recent announcement by the EIB regarding the extension of its Sustainability Awareness Bond framework to include two new social objectives – gender equality and women’s economic empowerment – which represents a step forward in integrating the gender dimension into financing;

Added85. Opposes strongly the centralisation of cohesion policy funding, as women’s support through cohesion policy funds would then hinge on the goodwill and allocation of national governments rather than be allocated at regional level; calls in this regard on the Commission and the Member States to honour the principles of multi-level governance and place-based solutions, as well as the partnership principle, as set out in the Treaties;

Added86. 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 (ISA) to increase and facilitate access to finance for EU companies; calls for a tailored ISA specially designed for women living in deprived areas;

Added87. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to apply gender budgeting principles systematically across all EU and national funding programmes that support entrepreneurship and rural development, including under the CAP and cohesion policy;

Added88. Welcomes any examples which celebrate the dedication of women agriculturalists, and promote awareness of sustainable agricultural practices rooted in European traditions;

Added89. Underlines that policies promoting women’s entrepreneurship in rural and island areas and outermost regions must adopt an intersectional approach, recognising that women’s experiences and access to opportunities are shaped by multiple and intersecting factors;

Added90. Stresses that the different EU initiatives and EU funding schemes must be designed and implemented through an intersectional lens, addressing the multiple and overlapping barriers women face, and ensuring that no woman entrepreneur is excluded or left without adequate support;

Added91. Underlines the importance of mobilising all actors in the financial system to improve women’s access to funding and, for this purpose, encourages the establishment of a European charter for equal access to finance;

Added92. Reiterates the need for the EU to adopt a comprehensive and integrated strategy for women’s entrepreneurship in rural and island areas and outermost regions, setting out clear objectives, measurable targets, and coordinated measures across the EU’s various funding instruments; requests that this strategy be allocated specific, stable and adequate financial resources, as well as dedicated funding mechanisms adapted to the particularities of these territories, in order to ensure equal access, promote innovation and digitalisation, and strengthen the EU’s economic, social and territorial cohesion, as well as to ensure adequate support from the Member States;

Added93. Highlights the contribution made by LEADER and Community-led Local Development to gender equality and local empowerment; calls for these approaches to be maintained, reinforced and ring-fenced with simplified access for women-led initiatives;

Added94. Calls for the EU and the Member States to combat trafficking in women and forced prostitution with a comprehensive strategy that includes prevention, effective prosecution, cross-border cooperation and assistance and protection for victims; emphasises that women must be able to decide for themselves what kind of work they do;

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95. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.