I. whereas Egyptian women are in a particularly vulnerable situation in the current period of transition; whereas, according to reports by Egyptian and international human rights organisations, female protesters are often subjected to violence, sexual assault, virginity tests and other forms of degrading treatment by the security forces, while women’s rights activists face threats and harassment; whereas women have witnessed major setbacks in the field of political participation; whereas women in the informal sector, in the fields of agriculture and domestic labour in particular, often work in dangerous and degrading working conditio ...[+++]ns, without health insurance or protection against injury;

8. Calls for an immediate end to all acts of violence, sexual assault, virginity testing and other forms of degrading treatment of female protesters and women’s rights activists, for serious and impartial investigations into all such cases, and for those responsible to be brought to justice; urges the government to promote and support the political participation of women by reversing the actual trend of setbacks in this field;

A large number of species of wild birds naturally occurring in the European territory of the Member States are declining in number, very rapidly in some cases. This decline represents a serious threat to the conservation of the natural environment, particularly because of the biological balances threatened thereby.

For regression purposes only, point deletions are permitted where noted in Table 2 before doing the regression calculation.

Without prejudice to the right of Member States to develop, in the light of changing circumstances, different legislative, regulatory or contractual provisions in the field of working time, as long as the minimum requirements provided for in this Directive are complied with, implementation of this Directive shall not constitute valid grounds for reducing the general level of protection afforded to workers.

In all, some 14.5 million individuals were unemployed in 2000 - 1.5 million fewer than a year earlier - the largest fall for a decade.