A3-0035/94

Resolution on women in decision-making bodies

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motions for a resolutions by:

(a)Mrs Dury on women in the decision-making process (B3-1672/92),

(b)Mrs Hermans on women's participation in the decision-making process (B3-0843/93),

-having regard to the Council resolution of 21 May 1991 on the third medium-term Community Action Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (1991-1995), and in particular paragraph 3 thereof,

-having regard to its resolution of 16 September 1988 on women in decision-making centres,

-having regard to the 'Survey of EC Member States for the European Women's Lobby on Strategies for the Promotion of Women in Politics', Dublin, October 1992,

-having regard to the statement adopted at the first European summit of women in influential positions, held in Athens on 3 November 1992,

-having regard to the Council of Europe's proposal entitled 'Ways and Means of Improving the Position of Women in Political Life',

-having regard to other detailed studies of the under-representation of women in political office, commissioned by, inter alia, the United Nations, UNESCO and the Commission,

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights (A3-0035/94),

A.whereas decisions which affect a large number of citizens, both men and women, are taken daily in all types of sectors and at different levels,

B.whereas women, half of humankind, are involved to only a small extent in such decision-making in representative bodies and national governments, as well as in other sectors, such as the private sector, the financial sector, the media, the judiciary and social organizations and advisory bodies,

C.whereas, whilst the allocation of positions of political and administrative responsibility varies considerably from country to country within the European Community, women are under-represented everywhere,

D.whereas the systematic under-representation of women in decision-making positions conflicts with the democratic principle that the citizens of a political system must be able to influence public decision-making on an equal footing and that decision-making bodies must be accessible to all citizens,

E.whereas the equal representation of men and women on decision-making bodies will enhance the legitimacy and quality of such decision-making,

F.whereas, the concept of European citizenship means that the European Union has an obligation to represent as effectively as possible the interests of women, who make up more that half of the population of Europe,

G.whereas, although over the last few years women have continued to gain ground in terms of education and have entered the labour market in greater numbers, and while more opportunities have been opened up for women to enter the public domain, this has not yet resulted in comparable numbers of women in decision-making positions,

H.whereas political parties play a decisive role in determining the lists of candidates for elections to representative bodies, as well as in determining the composition of national governments and nominating candidates for public office,

I.whereas, since the power of office is at stake where these decision-making positions are concerned and the possession of power is characterized by unwillingness to relinquish it promptly or voluntarily, there is no reason to expect that equal representation will be achieved in the short term, unless temporary binding measures are taken to increase women's participation,

1.Welcomes the establishment by the Commission in 1992 of a network of experts on women in the decision-making process;

2.Urges the Commission, the network of experts and national and European women's organizations to work together closely to draw up European policy to supplement and support national policy;

3.Regrets that women's participation in public decision-making is not developing sufficiently; for all the EC Member States, the average proportion of women in national parliaments is 11%, whilst women account for slightly more than 10% of top civil service posts;

4.Notes that there is an urgent need for a package of specific measures to increase women's share in public decision-making over the next five years;

5.Urges the European Institutions as employers to introduce target figures for the recruitment of women and the number of women in top posts and, if these target figures are not achieved by the year 2000, to introduce a quota system and urges the Commission to take the lead in this respect;

PROPOSALS FOR AN ACTION PROGRAMME

6.Calls on the Commission to step up implementation of the equal opportunities policy set out in the third Community action programme, to combat individual obstacles which hinder women from taking part in decision-making;

7.Calls on the Commission to urge the Member States to help girls and women acquire a wider range of skills in order to facilitate their access to the labour market in all sectors and at all levels, to create suitable and adequate child-minding facilities;

8.Calls on the Commission to increase opportunities specifically for women within the ESF, such as further training and management courses, and to insist that regional labour exchanges give some thought to the percentage of women participants in EC projets;

9.Calls on the Commission, on the basis of comparative studies concerning the participation of women and the allocation to them of posts in political, public and socio-economic sectors, to draw up a memorandum defining measures and actions to promote greater participation by women in the decision-making process;

10.Calls on the Commission to ensure, as far as possible, equal representation of men and women on advisory committees and working parties including its own internal committees;

11.Calls on the Commission to organize a conference for the government departments concerned to exchange knowledge and experience of public policy aimed at increasing the number of women in decision-making positions, and on this basis to draw up a policy programme for each Member State, with a view to improving the position of women;

12.Calls on the Commission to allocate extra resources to the formulation of actions and measures, in cooperation with the Member States and political parties, with a view to increasing the number of women elected to the European Parliament;

13.Calls on the Member States to launch a major information and awareness campaign so that the electorate, the political parties and the decision-makers are not only aware of the under-representation of women in political and administrative office, but should also consider this to be an undesirable situation;

14.Calls for more women to be appointed on recruitment and selection boards in order to break with traditional patterns;

15.Calls for target figures to be set for the number of women to be appointed by a given deadline to decision-making positions whose incumbents are appointed by a government body, such as the office of mayor, the Supreme Court, and so on and, if these target figures are not met by the year 2000, for a quota system to be introduced;

16.Calls on the Member States to introduce similar rules on the membership of national advisory bodies;

17.Calls on the Member States to urge the two sides of industry, the trade unions and employers' organizations to promote positive measures within their own organizations and in undertakings in the public and private sectors to guarantee access for female candidates to vacant posts in which women are under-represented, target figures should be borne in mind when posts fall vacant and if the target figures are not achieved by the year 2000 a quota system should be introduced;

18.Calls on the Member States in awarding public contracts, to give preference to companies which endeavour to improve the position of women;

19.Calls on the Member States to ensure that the criteria for all public decision-making posts are made explicit and public, as women are more likely to apply through open recruitment and selection procedures;

20.Calls on the Member States to introduce a system of supervision and guidance for women commencing their careers in government bodies;

21.Calls on the Member States to design their electoral systems in such a way that as many women as possible are elected to representative bodies;

22.Calls on the Member States to set up data banks concerning women employed in government organizations, national advisory bodies and social organizations, who might be encouraged to apply for posts of responsibility;

23.Calls on the Member States to compile statistics on women's share in public decision-making positions and to publish these every two years, to monitor the progress made and increase public awareness of them;

24.Calls on the Member States to introduce legislation to ensure equal representation when appointing members of councils, boards or committees requiring the authorities or organizations nominating members of the councils, boards or committees to nominate both a man and a woman;

25.Calls on the Member States to ensure a balanced distribution of Commissioner posts between men and women, for example by requiring countries with more than one Commissioner to select both a man and a woman;

26.Calls on the political parties to establish a positive action policy in order to achieve balanced democratic representation and involve more women in politics, elect more women to political posts and increase the visibility of the women already active in the field in order to ensure a substantial presence of women on electoral lists and in politically important posts;

27.Calls on the political parties to draw up a list of women with specialist skills for administrative, political and social appointments;

28.Calls on the political parties, where selection is decentralized, to reach agreements with regional and local party bodies setting out target figures, a time frame and an action plan;

29.Calls on the political parties to check the criteria used in drawing up lists of candidates, to see whether any of them are gender-specific, and, if necessary, to adjust them;

30.Calls on the political parties to set up management courses for women members interested in running for party or representative office and to set up a register of experts, composed of women members;

31.Urges women to show more solidarity with each other and to act together to defend their common interests;

32.Calls on women in decision-making posts to provide supervision and guidance for women beginning their careers so as to reduce the numbers leaving and improve their opportunities;

33.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and political parties of the Member States.