EADS has committed to a long-term plan for the promotion of women in aerospace and has set two priorities: at least 20% of its annual recruitment will be women, and it will have active communication within universities and schools in order to convince female students through lively role models and concrete examples that the aerospace industry, and more specifically EADS, is an attractive employer for women.

From 1^st January 2004, BUs have been asked every quarter to report on their success in recruiting women.

The EADS CBA promotes diversity in all development programmes. In 2006, the percentage of women has increased in these programmes to be consistent with the Group recruitment target.

In 2006, the recruitment of women was 22.6% of total recruitment (20.5% in 2005), and so exceeded the Group’s target. The Divisions Defence & Security and Astrium as well as the EADS Innovation Works are leading the way in this field.

Since 2004, EADS has been involved in a partnership with the FEMTEC university career center for women Berlin GmbH in Germany.

Working in cooperation with well-known companies, the aim of this cooperation between FEMTEC and industrial companies is to promote engineering studies among young girls and women, and to help high potential and specialized female students enter the aerospace industry. EADS takes an active part in career advice workshops designed for FEMTEC students as well as in conference days.

In France, EADS sponsored the Irène Joliot-Curie award for the third time in 2006 (See “Sustaining and Protecting Innovation – Innovation Chapter”).

Furthermore, EADS is an active member of the WIST (Women Initiative in Science and Technology), a programme funded by the European Commission and aiming at exploring the partnerships between private and public research, as well as the links between diversity and business performance.

Airbus also agreed on a partnership with the Academy of Toulouse to facilitate contacts between female professionals and students, to provide information to students, teachers and career advisors on technological advances and new skills, and to participate in relevant events.

Other initiatives include:

• in Germany, the organisation of a “girls’ day” which is an open day for girls at the EADS German sites to allow them to find out more about the engineering profession;
• in France, participation in the “Elles bougent (“they move”) initiative. Led by major French engineering universities (ENSAM, ESTACA) together with key players from the transportation industry (EADS, PSA, Dassault, SNCF), this project aims at raising young women’s awareness of technical studies, as well as interesting them in complex technologies through plant visits, conferences, as well as regular contacts with female engineers currently working in the member companies, plant visits, conferences

Finally, in keeping with this overall strategy, a meeting with participants of the IIWE (International Institute for Women in Engineering) took place in July 2006 at EADS Paris headquarters, the Astrium ST plant in les Mureaux and at Eurocopter in la Courneuve. 80 young women took part in workshops on diversity and scientific vocations.

EADS was also a business partner to the second “Women’s forum for the economy and society”. This forum, which took place in October 2006, was created to promote the vision, influence and impact of women on all the major economic and social issues. It gives women an opportunity to express their views, ideas and solutions. It aims at defining directions for progress in the world of tomorrow.

In France, the implementation of the agreement signed in 2004 with trade unions (“Accord sur l’égalité et la mixité professionnelle”), is monitored by each EADS company, and also at Group level, using a defined set of common indicators to evaluate results and track progress with an action plan covering the 2004-2006 period. This action plan is to be re-negotiated every three years.

Age diversity
A group agreement covering EADS entities in France signed with trade union organisations in 2005 aims at banning all career development based on age criteria.

Being concerned with the lengthening of working life, the other European entities of the EADS Group are also working on this issue of second half of career development.