Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-01-Speech-3-086"
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"en.20000301.6.3-086"2
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"Mr President, two centuries ago, during the French Revolution, a very famous woman, Olympe de Gouges, was executed and proclaimed mad because she had supported equal rights for men and women. Two centuries later, we have achieved a great deal in Europe. The last century was marked by three periods. The first period was a period of institutional change, change in the legislative framework and huge constitutional victories in all the Member States as a result of the fight by the women’s movement, as a result of major decisions by progressive parties and as the result of action by enlightened men and women. This was followed by a second period, in which the worth of female models was recognised. There were women everywhere. Prime ministers, members of parliament, ministers, in the professional arena, doctors, lawyers, pilots, generals. We are now in a third period: in this third period, the composition of the bodies which wield political and economic power needs to be changed. The composition, or rather the change in composition, will also bring about changes in policies – policies which need to take account of the merits and experience of both sexes.
Women make up half the population, half the strength of the planet. Excluding women from the centres of power means, first, democratic failure and, secondly, under-exploitation of human resources. We face a unique challenge and the time is ripe for combining economic and political expediency with respect for basic democratic principles. I am optimistic that we shall succeed. The bet before us is a bet with time. Future generations of women must not be sidelined. If need be, we must use all possible means to force the situation.
Ladies and gentlemen, the first few months of the new millennium have been marked by two important events: the first was the election of the President of Finland, Mrs Halοnen. For the first time in Finland, the women candidates outnumbered the men. And a woman was elected. The second event took place in France, which passed a law on the equal representation of men and women as a result of the declaration made in April 1999 at the ‘Women and Men in Power’ conference, at which the ministers responsible undertook to implement specific measures and policies to change the power ratio. We must congratulate Prime Minister Jospin for ratifying this commitment in the clearest and most categorical manner.
A great deal has been said and numerous policies have been implemented in the Member States. But the figures tell the true story. And the figures still give Europe cause for concern. 24% of members of government are women and there are an average of 22% in parliament, although this fluctuates from 6% in some Member States to as many as 40% in others. The number of women on committees who wield power and frame policies is very small. Even in countries such as Germany and Belgium, which have specific legal commitments on the representation of the two sexes, the involvement of women on various committees is no more than 18%. What we need, therefore, is to promote specific policies. We need a policy mix which includes long-term political commitments, as in Sweden and Finland; they now have governments in which women account for 56% and 44% of members respectively. We need organisation and statistical monitoring. We need controls and suitable structures which reflect the culture, mentality and specific problems of each area. And, of course, these policies need a budget, they need to be given financial teeth.
Increasing the number of women or, as the French prime minister put it, increasing the influence of women in the decision-making centres, is the best way of renewing the policy, of reshaping the approach to the question, of injecting political thought with new ideas and new experience: the new ideas and experience which women can inject by reason of the different way in which they live and grow up.
The recent initiative by the Finnish presidency to develop indicators recording and reflecting the representation of women in the decision-making centres is extremely important. These indicators include national parliaments, regional councils and town councils and give a complete picture of the degree of representation of women in every Member State. I think that creating and supporting statistics is a very important political issue and that the facility to set targets, compare performances and bolster our efforts is an important political tool. The programme which I shall present for the fifth women’s programme includes a similar initiative for systematic monitoring.
Although legislative measures and institutional intervention by Member States have been effective as far as the decision-making centres of the parties in power is concerned, the same cannot be said for the private sector. My contacts with large European and multinational companies in Europe have brought tragic results to light. There are companies at European level which employ thousands of workers, sometimes hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the world and yet fewer than 2% of the directors and managers are women. Nor must we underestimate the representation of women in economic decision-making centres. Here too, specific efforts will be made of course; naturally they cannot be of a legislative nature, but they can operate on the basis of an exchange of best practices; in all cases, my initial contact with the chairmen and directors of these large companies has had positive results.
As you know, Europe is endeavouring to solve the problem from within. A decision has already been taken on quotas of 40% for each sex on all teams and on all research and technological development programmes. It was approved by the House in May 1999, when the need for women in research and technology was stressed. We in the Commission are obliged to set a specific and clear example and all the Commissioners are working together, as can be seen from the reform of the Commission, to achieve 40% representation of women on all the committees of the European Commission.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are often objections, crypto-progressive objections, as to whether there should be a binding undertaking on the representation of women at the centres of power. No one ever asks in a federal state if all the members of the federation should have their say. And at the level of the European Union, the question of whether the 15 Member States need to be represented on every committee will never be asked. Why then is it curious and why do we have reservations when it comes to a legislative commitment on the representation of half the population. I should like to be absolutely categorical. There should be no reservation, no reservation whatsoever about a legislative commitment on the representation of women at the centres of power."@en1
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