Today the ALDE group is organising a conference on gender related issues between the EU and Turkey - ' A 2020 Gender Perspective for the EU and Turkey' on the initiative of two ALDE MEPs Diana Wallis (UK, Lib Dem) and Gesine Meissner (FDP, Germany) and with co-participation of TÜSIAD (The Turkish Industrialist and Business Association) and KAGIDER (the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Turkey). See attached programme.

Diana Wallis will say that "gender equality remains a major challenge for Turkey but it is hugely encouraging that steps are being taken in the right direction, e.g. a gender equality committee in the Turkish parliament has been established and the number of women MPs in the Turkish parliament more than doubled in the last elections."

"It is clear that gender issues are not restricted to Turkey and a lot remains to be done within the EU. This seminar gives us the opportunity to learn from each other and to analyse some lessons taken from the DAPHNE programmes and the 2006-2010 Road Map."

Gesine Meissner, co-sponsor of the event added:

"In the ongoing discussions about Turkey's future membership in the EU there is still a lot of prejudice to find on both the European and the Turkish side. Europeans are especially concerned about gender equality and the role of women within Turkish society - concerns that can best be met through dialogue with Turkish women. Getting to know the other perspective and talking about a common gender perspective for the future is the added value I expect from this conference."

The conference aims to raise awareness of the fact that the gender dimension should be included in the EU 2020 Strategy and will contribute to better benchmarking and political visibility on gender-equality specific targets. Speakers from the UN Development Programme office in Brussels, the European Commission, the Spanish presidency, the European Training foundation, Turkish entrepreneurs associations, NGOs and European networks will discuss the issues of equal access for both genders to education, the labour market, leading positions and decision making.

For more information, please contact:

Neil Corlett: +32-2-284 20 77 or +32-478-78 22 84

e-mail: neil.corlett@europarl.europa.eu