Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Ordinary meeting Exchange of views with Irish Presidency
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FEMM European Parliament
Follow its sittings
Norma Foley
These principles of equality matter in good times, but they matter even more in moments of instability and uncertainty. We very much welcome the continuing commitment of the Commission to work towards the goal of a Union of Equality. We welcome the concrete measures that make the commitment real. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the measures in the new EU Gender Equality and LGBTQI+ strategies and in the renewed EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities. They give us an important policy framework to guide our work in the coming years.
The Irish presidency sees our program as supporting these initiatives and helping to ensure the Council can be ambitious in its work. We will also aim to bring our work on equality to a broader audience and maintain our values at the heart of our EU project. We have chosen to organize our work in this area around one clear message, backed by both evidence and data: equality powers competitiveness. We will highlight that our values are a competitive edge for the EU and that discrimination leaves talent untapped, competitiveness weakened, and our full economic potential unrealized.
So let me now move to the more specific details. Gender equality and broader equality issues will be on the agenda at both formal EPSCO meetings, Council meetings. There we will seek to advance work on the Equal Treatment Directive. This remains a proposal that can and should fill a gap in the EU's equality legal framework by extending protections beyond employment. Whilst progress remains challenging, we are committed, we are absolutely committed to exploring all avenues to break the deadlock.
We will hold policy debates on equality issues that will guide the work of the Council. We will also aim to adopt Council conclusions on equality issues at both October and December EPSCO Councils. I will host an informal meeting of equality ministers in my home country of Kerry this November. And a significant part of the meeting will be dedicated to advancing gender equality. The meeting will also focus on how we can make meaningful progress for people with disabilities across the EU.
We will have a series of high-level conferences and events on equality matters in Dublin through September, October, and November.
And I hope to welcome many of you here to those events if you should wish to attend, you would be most, most welcome. Working closely with the European Institute of Gender Equality, we will place an emphasis on the issues of the care economy, leadership, and the impacts of AI in the workplace. These themes are central to ensuring that all of Europe's workforce can participate fully and contribute to our future competitiveness. Ireland also has the privilege of being the first presidency in a new trio along with Lithuania and Greece. And I'm working with my colleagues to agree a strong and meaningful trio declaration on gender equality.
And we intend to sign the declaration during our informal ministerial meeting this November. It will set out our distinct priorities, but also the shared trajectory of our work over the course of this trio. This work on gender equality will also be a key aspect of our work on equality and competitiveness. It is appropriate that we highlight the economic gains that the EU achieves when it supports the full and equal participation of all. I can highlight here two of many statistics that demonstrate the potential that exists for Europe's competitiveness if we eliminate discrimination and promote equality.
The European Institute for Gender Equality has assessed that substantial improvements in gender equality could generate up to 10.5 million jobs and raise the EU employment rate by 80% by 2050. OECD analysis also shows that legal LGBTI inclusivity is positively associated with economic development and that countries that have introduced the most legal protections for LGBTI people fare better in terms of GDP per capita. This key focus of our program will be discussed at a high-level conference dedicated to the subject in September in Dublin. In addition, we have already tabled a set of Council conclusions on this subject. I hope that we will be in a position to adopt that political statement during our formal EPSCO Council in October.
Moving to LGBTQ+ equality, the presidency will hold a high-level conference also, and I'm pleased to say that this will be in Dublin Castle, where Ireland celebrated being the first country in the world to introduce marriage equality by way of a popular vote. Our conference will be followed by ILGA-Europe's annual conference, also to be held in Dublin, which will ensure a week in the middle of our presidency where LGBTQ+ rights can be discussed and celebrated. Whilst on this subject, I would also like to welcome the Commission's response to the European Citizens' Initiative on conversion practices.
Ireland welcomes the commitment made by the Commission to work on a recommendation. Our current programme for government in Ireland commits to legislation in this area. It is a complex legal topic and the work of the Commission has the potential to be beneficial to Member States, including Ireland, who have yet to legislate. I would also like to take a moment to highlight other work that we will carry out during the presidency on equality and participation. Although distinct from FEMM's core remit, this work demonstrates how participation and equality are interconnected and mutually reinforcing.
At the end of this month, we will host experts from around Europe to discuss child participation in decision-making, a subject that Ireland has taken a world lead on. We will be looking at the participation of children in moments of crisis and in moments of challenge. Across all of these events, our objective is the same: to ensure that participation, inclusion, and equality remain central to European policy-making. We will host a high-level conference on disability that will focus on the enormous, the absolutely enormous potential of digital and assistive technology as a key enabler of inclusion, freedom, and choice.
Along with the Commission, we will host the 19th Roma Platform and meeting of national contact points. We will host discussions that look at barriers to Roma and Traveller participation in education and employment. Also with the Commission, we will host a round table on equality data. The collection of equality data is essential to inform policy, and I'm proud that Ireland became the first EU Member State to publish a national equality data strategy last year. My colleagues across government will also host events focusing on other important issues that will be of interest to this committee, including, to name just a few, an informal ministerial meeting on housing, a conference on online strategy, and importantly, a dedicated conference on endometriosis.
I opened this speech by outlining the focus that this Presidency will place on values. Ultimately, the success of our Presidency will be measured by whether we advance a Union in which women and girls are free from discrimination, everyone is free to be who they are, and all of us can play our part in building a more equal society. I hope that the work that I have outlined shows how this will be delivered in the area of particular interest to the FEMM Committee. I look forward to ongoing collaboration and engaging with you here in the FEMM Committee during the course of the Presidency, and in that spirit, I am happy to have a discussion with you here today on our programme and to answer any questions that you might have. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
Lina Gálvez
Thank you, thank you very much, Minister. You really have given us a lot of hope, I have to say, for keeping our values as one of your core priorities, and also for sharing with us all the programme you have ahead with this EPSCO Council, the Trio Declaration on Gender Equality, also to take the Equal Treatment Directive, and in general everything you have shared with us. I hope that many members will be able also to join the Irish presidency on those events, and I hope also you will join us also in an event we hold in Parliament every first week of November, which is the Gender Equality Week, where we really develop mainstreaming in all committees, because each one of our committees will develop an activity related to gender equality on the different policy areas.
So it's a it's a great week for us here in Parliament regarding gender equality. So I hope the Irish presidency will be happy also to join us. And now I will pass the floor to the first to the coordinators or the people that are representing the coordinators for each political groups, and then I will give the floor to other members that are present and then give back the floor to you. So we start by EPP coordinator Eleonora Meleti. The floor is yours for two minutes and a half.
Thank you.
Eleonora Meleti
Thank you, Chair. Minister Foley, thank you so much for presenting the priorities of the Irish presidency. I very much welcome the fact that the care economy is among your key priorities. As the European Parliament's rapporteur on this file, I highlighted that investing in care also means investing in people. In the Parliament's report, we called for the recognition, validation, and certification of the skills acquired by both formal and informal carers, as this can boost labour market participation, address skills shortages, and strengthen Europe's competitiveness.
Likewise, investing in the care economy is an investment in economic growth and productivity. Could you outline the concrete actions the Irish Presidency intends to pursue in the care economy, and should we expect any specific initiatives or Council conclusions, particularly on recognizing carers' skills and strengthening Europe's competitiveness? Thank you so much.
Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus
Thank you, but EPP, Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus.
Thank you so much. I will be speaking Polish. I'm sorry, what I say EPP, I'm moving. I will be speaking Polish. Hello, hi, good morning, thank you for your presentation, but the question will be in Polish.
Dziękuję serdecznie za tę prezentację. Powiedziała pani wyraźnie i bardzo mnie to cieszy, że kobiety, równość wobec kobiet będzie w centrum państwa zainteresowania. Powiedziała pani o tym, że kobiety powinny być wolne od dyskryminacji. I moje pytanie dotyczy tego, co nie padło tutaj podczas dzisiejszej prezentacji. Pytanie dotyczy przemocy wobec kobiet w internecie.
Doskonale wiemy, że kobiety, szczególnie te aktywne w życiu publicznym czy społecznym, są takim głównym celem prześladowania w internecie i przemocy ze względu na płeć. Dodatkowo ostatnio pojawiły się w zeszłym tygodniu skandaliczne informacje na temat tego, że media społecznościowe, w szczególności Meta, blokuje strony internetowe organizacji pozarządowych, które zajmują się prawami kobiet właśnie, równością płci i przeciwdziałaniem dyskryminacji kobiet. To dotknęło wiele organizacji w całej Europie. Więc moje pytanie dotyczy właśnie unijnych polityk cyfrowych i skutecznego przeciwdziałania przemocy wobec kobiet w internecie. Czy państwo zamierzacie coś w tej kwestii zrobić, zamierzacie się tym zająć, ponieważ według nas, według mojej grupy politycznej, jest to jeden też z palących programów, który nie jest rozwiązany, a jest takim gorącym tematem właśnie teraz.
Dziękuję.
Margarita de la Pisa Carrión
Sí, voy a hablar en español. Muchas gracias, ministra, por estar aquí hoy en la Comisión de Mujer. Sabemos que Irlanda es un Estado que ha hecho serios esfuerzos tanto a nivel educación como a nivel laboral para mejorar las oportunidades y la presencia de las personas con discapacidad.
Nos alegra también que este tema sea una prioridad de la presidencia irlandesa. Porque para nosotros como partido político Vox también la atención a la integración de las personas con discapacidad lo es, también es una prioridad. Creemos que la sociedad necesita de su presencia y aportaciones porque su afán de superación es una virtud que nos puede inspirar a todos. ¿Tiene prevista la presidencia irlandesa aprovechar la experiencia que ya ha tenido a nivel de país para trasladar estas buenas prácticas al resto de la Unión o hay alguna acción concreta, alguna iniciativa que vaya a impulsar para incentivar, ¿no?, que la Unión Europea ponga el foco en esto y anime también a los Estados miembros que tienen recorrido por hacer para incentivarlos?
Lina Gálvez
Gracias, Margarita.
I don't see anyone from ECR, so I go to Renew, Billy Kelleher, so the floor is yours. Thank you.
Billy Kelleher
Ar mhaith liom fáilte a ródh as an bhfóram seo agus na daoine as an Roinn freisin agus ceapaim go mbeidh siad ag obair go dian as seo amach le linn an uachtaránachta sa gComhairle an t-am ar fad. Just an issue that's just been raised, Minister, and it is the whole issue of the Equal Treatment Directive. And I know that you have very much prioritized the issue of disability and inclusiveness in Ireland. But when we look at the fact that one in two people with disability feel discriminated against, one in five face unemployment challenges, one in three are at risk of poverty, one in five leave school early, and they are four times more likely to have unmet health needs. So these are figures that just simply cannot be ignored by anybody.
And I know that you have put great effort into securing additional funding for disability services this year and will be the launching of the National Human Rights Strategy for disabled people as well. But I mean, the issue really is the Equal Treatment Directive and the fact that it is stalled in Council for so long. And I know that there's an effort and an impetus by the Commission again to move this forward.
But do you believe that there is a window of opportunity and can you prioritize or give us a commitment that we will try and move this equal treatment directive forward in view of all that I've just outlined but in view of the fact that you are passionate about this yourself, you have pioneered this in your department and in government. And certainly when you look at the potential to encourage member states that simply will not budge on this, I hope that you can use your your good offices to to move this forward. It has been stuck in the council for 17 years now minister, so it really is timely. And we're working in the parliament, I think you'll have a very soft ear for any supports that we can give you with regard to this particular issue. So again, I wish you well and thank you.
Mélissa Camara
Thank you, thank you very much and now from the Greens, Melissa Camara, the floor is yours.
Mélissa Camara
I will speak in French. Bonjour, merci beaucoup pour pour cette présentation et pour l'ambition affichée. Votre présidence intervient à un moment décisif pour l'Union européenne puisque elle va devoir démontrer que l'égalité est une priorité politique et donc budgétaire. J'aurai une première question, j'ai plus particulièrement travaillé sur le programme Agora et on sait qu'aujourd'hui il y a des attaques sur les organisations des droits des femmes, droits humains, des droits des personnes LGBTQIA+. Et peut-être une question, comment dans le cadre des négociations votre présidence compte faire en sorte que les financements soient accessibles et sécurisés pour les organisations qui aujourd'hui protègent nos droits et les démocraties européennes.
Et une deuxième question puisque vous avez abordé la question des thérapies de conversion. Il y a eu un premier pas avec la décision de la Commission et notamment la reconnaissance que ceci constitue des pratiques de torture. Il y a 24 % des personnes LGBT aujourd'hui en Europe qui font face à ces pratiques de conversion. Ça a été pour une partie de la société civile et certains parlementaires une déception parce qu'on attendait une interdiction contraignante. Donc vous avez dit que vous alliez travailler sur le sujet.
Comment faire en sorte que les États membres à la fin de ce mandat aient tous interdit ces pratiques de torture ? Merci.
Kathleen Funchion
Merci, Casspin-Fouchon, The Left.
Thanks very much, Chair. Thank you, Minister, and you're very welcome. So first of all, I want to acknowledge all of the very good points that you've mentioned and I know that there's stuff in the some of the documentation as well in relation to the Irish presidency.
I'm really happy to hear about child participation, because that's something I am a big believer in, and we actually do a lot of that through the children's committee in Ireland, and it's something that I often find myself saying here that we don't do enough of in terms of actually listening to children's voices. I welcome as well the conference that you spoke about that will have a portion at least focusing on gender equality, and also the conference on endometriosis, because that is something that very many women have been literally medically gaslit for many years, so it's good to see it being on the agenda. I do have a real concern. I have to say I'm a bit uncomfortable with equality drives competitiveness. I understand where you're coming from in terms of, you know, we all want to see equality, but my first thought is with women living in domestic violence, and there's so much that we could focus on.
There's the issue of disability. There's lots within this, so I'm focusing my remarks specifically on gender-based violence and domestic violence, and for women living literally in fear of their lives every day, they unfortunately competitiveness is the last thing on their mind. They're trying to figure out how they stay alive, how they keep their children alive, and we even know from an Irish point of view that already in 2026 more women have been killed than the whole of 2025. So and this is an EU-wide issue as well.
So while I welcome a lot of the remarks you've made in relation to it, I think there's a real chance for the Irish presidency to stand out and be different and make a real difference in this area. So my specific question to you is will the Council under the Irish presidency commit to making real progress on classifying gender-based violence as a new area of EU crime and advance a common definition to include the recognition of femicide, which is the killing of a woman for being a woman, as a distinct crime? I think that that would be an incredible achievement for us. And I know it's six months, but I think we could really get some very concrete work done in relation to this. The other issue I want to raise, and you probably won't be surprised, but I have to take the opportunity to raise the issue of the mother and baby home survivors, the mother and baby institutions, I should say.
That's due to be reviewed. I know that is an Irish scheme. It's we're still waiting on the review. It's due this year. Our chair actually here of this committee met with a group that were over here last November.
There is similar, although a little bit different stories throughout Europe of women and girls who were treated horrifically historically. And it is something that I really want to see happen. It's something I have committed to pushing since my time in the Irish parliament. I will continue to raise it. I will continue to push for the proper recognition for all survivors to be recognized.
There's a lot of exclusions as you know. And I'm really hoping Minister that you will open that review and that you will you know be open to making those very necessary changes. But I do want to wish you all the best with the next six months. It's going to be extremely busy. And as I said a lot of the things that you've mentioned are really good and really good progress.
But specifically on gender-based violence, domestic violence, I think we have an opportunity to be real leaders. And I'd like to see us really push for that EU crime definition. Thanks chair. Thanks Minister.
Thank you. Thank you very much also for inviting me to this meeting where I obviously hear all these testimonies. I don't know if Mrs. Borchardt you would like to take the floor on behalf of ID? Yes. The floor is yours.
Irmhild Boßdorf
Ja, das möchte ich sehr gerne. Ich freue mich natürlich über die irische Ratspräsidentschaft. Ich bin aber ein bisschen entsetzt, dass wieder der Fokus nur auf LGBTQIA+ Agenda gelegt wird. Und ich würde mich freuen, wenn dieser FEMM-Ausschuss irgendwann auch zu der Überzeugung käme, dass bei Frauenrechten vor allem Mütterrechte mal ein bisschen stärkere Berücksichtigung finden würden. Das nur ganz kurz dazu.
Dankeschön.
Lina Gálvez
Thank you. But many of us believe we are more than just mothers.
We are also individual persons. So now there are other members that would like to take the floor.
Maria Walsh
Maria Walsh. Yeah, thank you, Chair, and welcome, Minister Foley. Delighted to have you and your team in the Gender Equality Committee. And despite what was previously shared, you speak a lot more than just on LGBTI rights. It's inclusive.
And I have to say, from a personal standpoint and from working with colleagues here in this room, your ministerial focus of children, disability, and equality is never more important than it is right now. So thank you very much for outlining the work that you do, not just in our presidency, but throughout. Really proud to see that Ireland has placed values as a priority. Our country has long been recognized as an honest broker, a country that brings people together and finds common ground.
It gives us a unique opportunity, but also a real serious responsibility to turn our shared values into tangible outcomes. Equality cannot simply be something we champion in speeches, but it must be something we deliver through legislation, and I know you also agree with this. I welcome our commitment as a country to the Equal Treatment Directive, or Horizontal Directive as it's also known. And to MEP Kelleher's previous point, 17 years it's been blocked, and my focus in this question will be on securing agreement within the Council. Conscious we will also debate this issue in a LIBE hearing in an hour or so, so it's great to even have it on the focus point from today.
But I've been working on this file since the previous mandate, along with other shadow rapporteurs in this room and in others, and it feels like this presidency might be the last chance we get to see this delivered and over the line. We know that only a small number of member states continue to block progress, most often citing implementation costs as a main concern, yet evidence has shown that the broader economic benefits of implementation outweigh that cost, making this argument increasingly difficult to sustain. So I ask you, Minister, how does the Irish presidency intend to work with us here in Parliament to unblock this? It's not just a one-person vehicle. I appreciate I want you to lean on us as shadows and as MEPs to deliver this.
Is there a concrete strategy that the presidency is pursuing to support or shift the remaining member states to deliver this change, and are you confident that Ireland can build that consensus?
As I said, this work is not only on you, but we're eager to see equality legislation move and work for citizens that represent us and voted for us. Thank you very much.
Maria Noichl
Ganz herzlichen Dank. Ich denke mal, es ist wirklich eine gute, eine gute Tradition, dass mit der Übernahme einer neuen Ratspräsidentschaft in allen Ausschüssen über die Themen gesprochen wird, die aktuell sind. Und erlauben Sie mir bitte, ein Thema zu bringen, das nicht aktuell ist, aber das wichtig wäre. Und ich möchte es Ihnen deswegen ans Herz legen, weil Sie jetzt unsere führende Gleichstellungsministerin in Europa sind für die nächsten sechs Monate. Ich möchte das Thema Rechtsstaatsmechanismus ansprechen.
Wir haben in Europa einen Rechtsstaatsmechanismus, der deutlich macht, wenn es grobe Verstöße gegen Gewaltenteilung, grobe Verstöße gegen die Unabhängigkeit der Justiz oder grobe Verstöße gegen Korruption gibt, dann ist es möglich, Ländern Sanktionen aufzubürden, nämlich deutlich zu machen, dass das Aussetzen von Zahlungen oder auch das Mittel, die Kürzung von Mitteln möglich ist.
Wir bräuchten dringend eine Koppelung, dass Länder, die massiv gegen Gleichstellung vorgehen, auch dem Rechtsstaatsmechanismus unterliegen und dass sie es am Kontoauszug merken. Denn wir haben, wir, wir, es ist von allen akzeptiert, dass Gleichstellung ein Grundwert ist. Somit muss doch auch von allen akzeptiert werden, dass ein massiver Verstoß gegen Gleichstellung ein Grundwertverstoß innerhalb der EU ist, genauso wie es ist, wenn ich gegen Gewaltenteilung oder gegen die Unabhängigkeit der Justiz vorgehen würde. Deswegen einfach ein Gedanke in die Zukunft. Das wird nicht umgesetzt heute und morgen.
Wir werden es auch nächstes Jahr noch nicht schaffen. Aber vielleicht können Sie Ihre Zeit als Ministerin für Gleichstellung jetzt im europäischen Kontext und natürlich jetzt als Ratschefin in dem Bereich, vielleicht können Sie Ihre Kraft dazu nutzen, mal den Anstoß, den Denkanstoß weiterzugeben, dass es Sanktionen auch bei fehlender Gleichstellung für Mitgliedsländer geben kann und geben soll. Ganz herzlichen Dank.
Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle
Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister, for being here today. Good to see you, to see you again, now in the European Parliament. My question is actually quite simple. We have discussed a lot rights, women's rights, healthcare, women's healthcare. And I would like to ask you about the application, implementation of My Voice, My Choice, will be known to you, the European Citizens' Initiative, which has been accepted by the European Parliament, the European Commission, and now it's up to Member States.
I'm not going to ask you if Ireland is going to make use of it.
I'm not going to ask which other states are going to make use of it. I would like to ask you a commitment or maybe the possibility to ask the Commission for guidance. Because we have understood that the Commission can issue guidance on how Member States could implement My Voice, My Choice, but they need this request to come from Member States. So I would love to see Ireland, which has been a country that has, through public involvement and public consultation, achieved a great victory of recognizing the right to safe and legal abortion recently, to take the lead in this one and see if we can have the Commission issue a guidance in the next six months. Thank you.
Lina Gálvez
Thank you. I don't see more members except myself that I would like to also to ask also a couple of questions, some issues that have not been raised by my colleagues, some of them that I believe are very important, as the care economy, the digital violence, violence in general, the intersectional approach, the everything is is is very important.
But I'm really glad that you put also emphasis on competitiveness, the link between gender equality and competitiveness, because as you know, this is one of of our core goals also in the Parliament now, in the European institutions, but normally they are treated as separate issues, while we insist that gender equality is not a question only of fairness, which it is which it is, but it's also a question of competitiveness. So during your presidency, the European Competitiveness Fund and the FP10 that it is very much associated to it will start to be negotiated in trilogues. We hope so, at least is the the timetable we are dealing with. And we are proposing, at least in FP10, as I'm one of the rapporteur for FP10, and we are proposing very innovative tools to improve gender equality and basically to improve real opportunities that will make talent, all talent, really flourish.
And so I hope you will support us in the negotiations. They are very important instruments also regarding innovation, where we are only financing, venture capital in Europe is only directed to women in 2% of all the money we are giving, only 2% of the money is going to women-led companies, which is ridiculous. So we are proposing new tools in order to improve that horrible percentage. So I hope you will help us. And also if you can also help us on advancing on gender data and statistics, as you were mentioning, you have this gender statistics plan or strategy approved, that will be very good because there is more and more the concern among certain members of the European Parliament and other actors that gender equality is an ideology, it is not evidence-based.
So whatever we can advance in that respect, it will be really great and to show that we are still suffering for a lot of discrimination, from inequality in many aspects on our life.
So that would be very helpful for us. And last but not least, you mentioned endometriosis and this is something in my own country in Spain we had advanced a lot on it. But there is an aspect there are not many advances in European Union countries which is menopause. And I was just to share with you that we will be developing an INI report on menopause and from different perspective here at the FEMM Committee during the Irish presidency. So I hope that in that area we will be able also to advance together.
Thank you very much and then the floor is yours.
Norma Foley
Thank you very much and and thank you to all of you for the rich and and varied type of questioning here and I will do my best to answer as as many as possible. So many of them crossed over, so I will do my best.
So firstly just the question around what we will seek to do around gender-based violence most especially whether it's online violence or indeed offline. I suppose in the first instance we all agree all of us here in this room and indeed I would hope across the world we would agree that more work needs to be done to stamp out the unacceptable phenomenon of gender-based violence both online and offline as I've said. In Ireland we are currently preparing our fourth national strategy on domestic sexual and gender-based violence and the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence adopted by the Council and the Parliament two years ago was a really really major achievement and will strengthen protection against violence against women for for years to come. Under our presidency Ireland will continue to progress work on this topic noting that the Council can only act in a legislative capacity as you're aware based on any proposal from the Commission. But the work that we will do in this area will be led by my colleague Minister Jim O'Callaghan and specifically MEP Kathleen Funchion's points I will share directly with Minister O'Callaghan and specifically the question that you've raised around the mother and baby homes just to confirm that the review will take place.
I I do want to say that any evidence and any experience of gender-based violence lessens us all and I think we are more powerful as a collective and so the more we can do together as a collective to eradicate this then the more powerful and the more constructive we can be.
Just want to raise the question around the equal treatment directive that was raised by a number of speakers, in particular by both Maria and Billy. We're just very, very conscious that there does remain a gap in our equality framework which prevents offering a basic level of protection for everyone, absolutely everyone in the Union. And I do believe that the Council has a responsibility to find a way forward irrespective of the challenges that have been obvious heretofore and the difficulties. But I do want to say that we are absolutely committed to finding a pathway forward. We will do all that we can in our presidency to explore any reasonable measures or any reasonable pathway that can be found through the continued dialogue with Member States and we will give that our fullest priority.
Just in terms of the care economy, that the questions that have been raised there, in general, I would just make the statement that Ireland will seek to advance gender equality as an absolute priority throughout our presidency.
But specifically on the issue of the care economy, I want to say that there is a report being prepared for Ireland as a presidency on the care economy by EIGE, and we will also host with the Commission discussions on this topic in September in Dublin. We are determined to place a focus on the care economy, and we are looking forward to very active and proactive participation in this respect. In terms of the conversion practices that have been raised, again, just to reference our own national LGBTQI+ inclusion strategy, which continues to advocate for the protection and promotion of LGBTQI+ rights at an international level. And during our presidency, we will host a high-level conference on non-discrimination, and the EU LGBTQI+ equality subgroup meeting of ILGA-Europe will host their annual conference in Dublin in October. Ireland also wants to, I suppose, acknowledge and congratulate the European Citizens' Initiative on banning conversion practices on receiving the required number of signatures, and we recognize the hard work of the organizers to do that.
And it is an example of democracy in action, which is a vital concept at this time, and Ireland will put an emphasis on participation during our presidency and will look forward to facilitating exchange of good practice on how to include diverse groups in decision and policy-making.
And we look forward to the Commission recommendations and complementary measures in 2027. In terms of My Voice, My Choice, again, just I suppose to acknowledge that Ireland itself has a very strong record and is a strong advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights, and we recognize the hard work again carried out by the organizers and campaigners and supporters of the Citizens' Initiative as previously referenced as well in another domain. We are committed to ensuring that women can maximize their health and well-being, and this is a central objective of our new national strategy for women and girls. However, I think as everyone in the gathering today will appreciate, this is an area of Member State competence, and it is not appropriate for me specifically to comment beyond that. Each Member State will have to make its own determination on acting upon the communication of the Commission, and I welcome the clarity that the Commission has provided with their recent communication.
In terms of our budget, and I hear the various contributions that have been made around the budget, just to say that discussions on the financial aspects of the MFF are ongoing in the General Affairs Council, and I suppose I cannot prejudge or preempt the outcome of those discussions.
But I do want to say as Minister for Equality I am acutely, acutely aware of the vital role that the EU funds play in supporting equality, gender equality and gender mainstreaming and in the fight against discrimination and gender-based violence. And I very clear points have been made about I suppose funding to women in business and other sectors. And I do want to say not just in relation to women in business but across a whole cohort and I say this I'm very clear in saying this as Minister for Equality, where women are not treated as equal, we diminish ourselves and we diminish society. And it is the aim and the objective whilst we have the EU presidency to ensure that equality, equality for women, equality for people with additional needs or disability, equality across all elements of society becomes a cornerstone of the EU. And I know there was a contribution earlier that you know that we might be focusing on one particular element.
I would think that the Union is big enough to focus on all issues of inequality irrespective of who that might impact. And it is our agenda and our priority to ensure that equal participation, equal treatment, equal, equal experience of life and the opportunity to live life to your best would be experienced by all. And we will place an emphasis on that in our presidency. I think that's a general whiz through everything. Yeah, thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you.
Lina Gálvez
Thank you very much, Ministers. We are really very excited and plenty of hope with this presidency because it's clear you, you are putting gender equality at the core of your presidency and we really trust that that will be the case. There are very important files that you have to deal with and we hope also this gender mainstreaming, this bringing equality to all policies will be possible under your presidency. So thank you very much once more and I hope that we will be able to see each other along this six months. Thank you.
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