Reply to Recommendation 1261 (1995) on the situation of immigrant women in Europe

15 June 1995

Doc. 7327

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

Reply to Recommendation 1261 (1995)

on the situation of immigrant women in Europe

(adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 7 June 1995

at the 540th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers has examined with interest Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1261 (1995) on the situation of immigrant women in Europe and wishes to inform the Assembly that it has decided to transmit this Recommendation to the Governments of the member States.

The Committee of Ministers agrees with the Assembly that everything possible must be done to eliminate the injustice and discrimination suffered by immigrant women. In this connection the Committee wishes to provide the Assembly with the following information:

1. For several years the European Committee on Migration (CDMG) has been conducting a project entitled "Integration of immigrants: towards equal opportunities". As part of this project, a thematic meeting on the role of women in integration was held in Strasbourg in June 1994. This meeting provided the opportunity to examine a number of measures taken in the member States concerning, inter alia, vocational training for women, the situation of recently arrived immigrant women and the situation of young, second and third generation, immigrant girls.

The conclusions of this meeting led the CDMG to propose that, under the Intergovernmental Programme of Activities for 1996, a consultant be entrusted with a study on the reinforcement of residence rights and the problems arising from family reunion. Particular attention could be paid to the legal status of immigrant women in the course of this work.

2. The CDMG and the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) have set up a Joint Specialists Group on Migration, Cultural Diversity and Equality of Women and Men. Among other things, this group is responsible for studying the impact on equality between women and men of the cultural diversity resulting from recent immigration. The group is organising a seminar, to be held on 4 and 5 July 1995, on the theme "Women and migration: establishing the fundamental right to equality in a setting of cultural diversity", at which the topics of discussion will include the legal and socio-economic barriers to the equality of women migrants and their full enjoyment of human rights. The Parliamentary Assembly has been invited to take part in this seminar.

3. With regard to equal treatment of immigrant men and women in employment matters, it should be remembered that the provisions of the European Social Charter apply to nationals - men and women - of any one of the Contracting Parties lawfully resident or working regularly within the territory of another Contracting Party on a footing of equality with the nationals. Three provisions of the European Social Charter may be of particular relevance in this context:

a. Article 1 para. 2, which - according to the jurisprudence - guarantees the elimination of all discrimination in employment on the grounds of sex;

b. Article 1 of the Additional Protocol, which guarantees the right to equal opportunities and equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation without discrimination on the grounds of sex and allows specific measures aimed at remedying de facto inequalities;

c. Article 4 para. 3, which guarantees the right of men and women workers to equal pay for work of equal value.

4. With regard to the right to family reunion, Article 19 para 6 of the Charter requires the Contracting Parties to facilitate the reunion of the family of a foreign worker. The Appendix to the Charter interprets this provision as covering "at least [the foreign worker's] wife and dependent children under the age of 21 years". Although the laws of most Contracting Parties make no distinction, the draft revised Charter (currently under consideration in the Committee of Ministers) replaces the word "wife" by "spouse" in order to ensure equality of treatment.

5. As regards measures to improve the integration of immigrant women, mention should also be made of Article 19 para. 2 of the Charter, which refers to measures to facilitate the reception of migrant workers and their families, and Article 19 para. 3, which provides for co-operation between social services in emigration and immigration countries. As for Article 10 of the Charter, concerning vocational training, the Charter's supervisory bodies pay particular attention, when examining the implementation of this provision, to vocational training for women and access for foreigners to training programmes.

6. In addition, the draft revised Charter provides for measures to promote and facilitate the teaching of the national language of the receiving state to migrant workers and members of their families.

7. Questions relating to the acquisition of the nationality of the country of residence and the recognition of dual nationality were recently the subject of a thorough review by the Council of Europe's committees of experts, leading, on the one hand, to the adoption, on 2 February 1993, of the Second Protocol to the Convention on the reduction of cases of multiple nationality and military obligations in cases of multiple nationality, and on the other, to the preparation of a draft European Convention on nationality and military obligations in cases of multiple nationality.

The first of these texts answers the Assembly's concerns to the extent that it introduces new possibilities for the nationals of a Contracting Party to acquire the nationality of a country of residence other than the country of birth and for a spouse who acquires the other spouse's nationality to retain his or her nationality of origin.

As regards the second text - which has been declassified so that interested parties can submit comments - it requires Contracting Parties to provide for the possibility of naturalisation for permanent residents (Article 7 para. 3), it being understood that children who have automatically acquired different nationalities must be able to retain those nationalities (Article 13a) and that nationals who have automatically acquired another nationality by marriage must be able to retain that second nationality (Article 13b).

8. One of the priority activities of the Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless Persons (CAHAR) is family reunion for refugees and displaced persons, which directly concerns women.

9. With regard to the de facto discrimination which immigrant women may suffer on the grounds of sex, the Committee of Ministers reminds the Assembly of the existence of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), whose activities are designed to encourage in the member States all activities and measures of a general nature likely to contribute to the fight against racism and intolerance. The ECRI therefore supports the setting up - at local, national and European level - of measures designed to help improve the situation of immigrant women, who are particularly vulnerable victims of racism and intolerance.

10. The Committee of Ministers has decided to forward Recommendation 1261 (1995) to the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG), the European Committee on Migration (CDMG), the Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless Persons (CAHAR) and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).