Little is known of the impact of trade and economic globalisation on women. This is partly due to a lack of disaggregated data, and partly because there is a lack of gender awareness in economic analysis and models.

The report finds that women are sometimes regarded as winners of global trade since more and more women are able to obtain employment. Furthermore, trade liberalisation has opened up new opportunities for especially educated and younger women. However, at the same time millions of women workers, small-holder farmers and petty traders are losing access to productive resources and are not improved by trade liberalisation. On the contrary; social and economic rights of women spelled out in the Beijing Platform for Action is even defined as trade barriers subject to deregulation.

Some highlights of the resolution include:

• The importance to stress that trade liberalisation has a differential effect on women and men and the need for coherence between the objectives of the European policy for gender and equality and the objectives of trade, development and aid policy.
• Urging the Commission to put in place an action plan for gender mainstreaming in international trade policies, including clear monitoring and evaluating mechanisms.
• Asking the commission to operate a gender impact assessment before concluding any trade agreements with third countries.
• Pointing out the importance of gender budgeting in European trade policy as a strategy for contributing to gender equality.