What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Removed:7. Calls for targeted measures to improve women’s access to land, finance, education and training, especially for aspiring female farmers and business owners;

Added:P. whereas significant disparities between men and women in terms of employment in rural areas persist, amounting to around 13 % (compared with 10 % in urban areas); whereas in certain Member States these disparities exceed 20 percentage points; whereas such disparities have remained relatively stable at EU level since 2012; whereas in more than half of the Member States gender inequalities are more pronounced in rural areas than in cities; whereas many women also find themselves in situations of greater vulnerability due to precarious employment conditions, such as seasonal work, or in other cases, through performing ‘invisible’, unpaid roles on family farms as assisting spouses, which often results in a lack of access to social protection or maternity benefits; whereas women in rural and disadvantaged regions are more likely to engage in entrepreneurship and self-employment than those in urban and economically prosperous regions; whereas self-employment can be a form of work that helps to create jobs and reduce unemployment for women, but requires the development of adequate social protections; whereas in rural areas, the share of women in self-employment is 38 %; whereas women are over-represented in precarious types of self-employment; whereas women are at the same time a key driving force for economic prosperity and social inclusion in rural areas, notably through entrepreneurship, the promotion of which is a strategic priority for the sustainable development of the EU;

Removed:8. 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;

Added:Q. whereas entrepreneurship requires knowledge and skills; whereas rural women face more obstacles in accessing education than men; whereas in the EU, the proportion of rural inhabitants with at least basic digital skills in 2019 was 14 % lower than that of urban residents (48 % vs 62 %); whereas digital inclusion is an essential requirement to ensure that women and girls have access to quality education and training, and the labour market, for example through the diversification of agricultural activities, remote work, innovation and employment opportunities, whether on-site or remote, and benefit from technological and business innovation dynamics; whereas the promotion of women’s full access to all levels of education, including but not limited to science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) and financial education is crucial, taking into account that, as evidenced in the report by Mario Draghi on the Future of European Competitiveness, published in September 2024, there are twice as many male as female science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates, disparities that are further exacerbated in occupational choices after schooling, where there are almost four times as many men as women working in information and communication technology (ICT) occupations, and thus education can play a key role in closing gender gaps, diversifying professional skills and strengthening the economic and social competitiveness of rural areas; whereas women’s digital integration contributes to their economic autonomy, territorial cohesion and the modernisation of the agricultural sector and the business fabric;

Removed:Preparedness mainstreaming

Added:R. whereas education is a key tool to foster women’s economic independence, close gender pay gaps and tackle gender-based discrimination in labour markets; whereas there is an urgent need for the provision of comprehensive and age-appropriate education regarding sexuality and relationships across the EU, as an essential means to challenge gender stereotypes and promote equality from an early age; whereas, although women are on average more educated than men, they remain under-represented in STEAM professions and often leave these sectors due to persistent discrimination and stereotyping; whereas there is a need for increased EU investment in education and upskilling and reskilling programmes to create a level playing field in STEAM fields and to ensure that emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) do not reproduce existing gender biases; whereas mentoring programmes, women-led business hubs and support for non-governmental organisations working to empower women in STEAM fields are important; whereas gender mainstreaming is important across all policies and aspects of the EU budget, including adequate funding for EU-level awareness-raising campaigns about available programmes and funding opportunities;

Removed:9. Calls on the Member States to ensure that education includes digital skills and STEM subjects in a way that challenges harmful gender stereotypes and supports comprehensive teaching about consent and rights;

Added:S. whereas the number of women in farming has been slowly increasing in recent years; whereas only 30 % of farms across the EU are managed by women and whereas these farms tend to be smaller than those managed by men and have lower incomes and less access to financial support; whereas this number hides significant differences in the representation of women in farming among Member States; whereas women often share farm management responsibilities with their partners without benefiting from the status or social protections associated with that work;

Removed:10. Urges the Member States to provide gender-sensitive training, emergency services and infrastructure to mitigate the impact of crises on rural communities;

Added:T. whereas women, at least at the level of farm leadership or management, receive proportionately less support from either pillar of the common agricultural policy (CAP) than men; whereas this is due to women tending to manage smaller farm businesses, owning less land and having less access to formal and specialised education; whereas women meet more obstacles than men in accessing land, as the ‘from father to son’ model remains widespread in rural areas; whereas the smaller size of women’s farms on average, as well as the generally more environmentally focused and diversified models of production they engage in, also renders their access to bank loans more difficult; whereas these characteristics, however, make their farms more resilient to climatic and market variations, and easier to transmit;

Added:U. whereas women with disabilities can find it more difficult to start their own businesses; whereas entrepreneurship among older women is not being promoted, although they should be seen as having valuable and unused potential for economic growth, especially in rural areas where the population is ageing more quickly than in urban areas; whereas the promotion of entrepreneurship among migrant women can offer great opportunities for their integration in the labour market and foster their economic independence and empowerment;

Added:V. whereas agriculture plays a crucial role in rural areas in terms of conserving natural resources, ensuring food security, promoting economic and employment development, and supporting communities; whereas the active involvement of women throughout the food value chain – from production to processing, distribution and innovation – is a key factor in the competitiveness, quality and sustainability of the sector;

Added:W. whereas the number of women in farm ownership roles is increasing across the EU, but they still remain a minority; whereas in 2020, only 31.6 % of farm owners in the EU were women, managing on average only 12 % of utilised agricultural area; whereas farms managed by women tend to be smaller than those managed by men and have lower incomes and less access to financial support; whereas these statistics hide significant differences in the representation of women in farming across Member States;

Added:X. whereas most women working in the agriculture or agri-food sectors are employed through non-standard or part-time contracts; whereas farmers under the age of 40 manage only 12 % of all farms in the EU, and of these only 3 % are young women farmers;

Added:Y. whereas in rural areas, where local traditions and close-knit communities are often the cornerstone of society, equipping young people – especially girls – with practical, future-oriented skills will help ensure that they can thrive and carry forward the strength of their heritage into the digital age; whereas the legal recognition of and social security support for women in farming, traditional crafts and creative sectors contribute to local economic resilience and development, cultural preservation and generational renewal; whereas women in rural areas often receive lower pay than men, and ensuring equal pay for equal work is essential to make entrepreneurship more attractive and to enable both business creation and sustainable living in rural areas;

Added:Z. whereas from artisanal preserves to farm-fresh catering and innovative food products, rural women are often at the forefront of blending local heritage with entrepreneurship, thereby creating strong and sustainable enterprises that nourish their communities and preserve local food culture for future generations;

Added:AA. whereas the LEADER programme, by engaging local stakeholders in the design and delivery of strategies, decision-making and resource allocation for the development of their rural areas, has been a particularly efficient tool to support rural women leaders and entrepreneurs;

Added:AB. whereas support for women’s participation in digital and innovative entrepreneurship strengthens economic development and competitiveness, particularly in island areas and outermost regions, by helping to overcome barriers created by geographical isolation;

Added:AC. whereas empowering women in European agriculture and the rural economy is not only essential for achieving gender equality, but also for fostering sustainable rural development, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality;

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

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added:Empowerment of women entrepreneurs

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added:10. Calls on the Member States to build on EIGE’s analyses and findings on women’s entrepreneurship and self-employment across all Member States, ensuring good quality, comparable data collection and coherent metrics for access to finance, business survival rates, growth, sectoral representation and innovation, to publish comparative annual scorecards at EU and national level to monitor progress, identify lagging regions (including remote, island, outermost and rural areas) and promote transparency, to identify and scale up good practices and business success stories documented by EIGE – such as mentoring networks, inclusive investment programmes, women’s business hubs, and peer-to-peer networks – and disseminate them in rural contexts, to propose targeted financial instruments, guarantee schemes and capacity-building initiatives based on EIGE-identified barriers (e.g. network deficits, bias in funding decisions, lack of role models) to close the implementation gap, and to provide technical support and capacity-building to national and regional authorities to integrate gender mainstreaming into entrepreneurship programmes, ensuring alignment with EIGE methodology, best practices and the Gender Equality Index framework; calls on the Commission and the Member States to collect gender-disaggregated data in order to ensure the comprehensive overview of the socio-economic position of rural women and to take the gender dimension into account when designing, implementing and evaluating policies and programmes in the field of rural development; highlights the importance of impact assessments regarding the design of such proposals in helping to achieve gender mainstreaming goals in rural areas; stresses that gender budgeting enables the identification and correction of funding gaps that disadvantage women entrepreneurs, particularly in rural, island and outermost regions; urges the inclusion of gender-disaggregated data in EU programme evaluations in order to ensure that public investment effectively supports women’s entrepreneurship and contributes to closing the gender gap in access to finance and economic opportunities;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added:Gender mainstreaming

Added: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;

Added: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;

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

Added: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;

Added: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;

Added:34. Recalls that, in its special report no 10/21 on gender mainstreaming in the EU budget, the European Court of Auditors found that the Commission had not adequately implemented gender mainstreaming and had made insufficient use of sex-disaggregated data and indicators; highlights, in particular, that the European Court of Auditors regretted that the CAP direct payments system left ‘no scope for positive action regarding women’ and noted that there was ‘a clear need for a gender analysis of income support paid to farmers through direct payments, including income distribution and its relation with land ownership, eligible land, and recipients of payments’; notes that, as women’s farms are on average smaller than men’s, a surface-based direct payment system necessarily disadvantages women farmers; is deeply concerned that next to no improvements have been made in this regard, neither in the current CAP, nor in the draft published on 16 July 2025; calls on the Commission to implement gender-responsive budgeting across all of its programmes to ensure women and men benefit equally from public spending, including under the CAP;

Added: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