WOMEN'S RIGHTS : PARLIAMENT'S FEMM COMMITTEE HAS DIFFICULTY MAKING VOICE HEARD.

The European Parliament's Committee on Women (FEMM) is struggling to gain respect. The work of MEPs on the committee is often derided or at best ignored by colleagues.

Other committees mock the tendency of FEMM members to adopt reports on issues ranging from prevention of age-related diseases of women, women and climate change, the situation of women approaching retirement age, the role of women in the green economy, to developing women's roles via specific measures under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

In its defence, the issues FEMM deals with rarely come under the EU's competence. So it has to make do with non-binding own-initiative reports. Under this mandate, 35 have been adopted.

However, the EP has co-decision powers on trafficking in human beings and on maternity provisions (the...