Transcript TITRE DU DOCUMENT LIEU, DATE, NATURE DE L’INTERVENTION

PARITY NOW- WHY, WHAT FOR AND HOW?
Seminar on Women Decision Making in Cyprus and the EU
EU House, Nicosia, 27 June 2012
Sonja Lokar
EWL President
The voice of European Women
 The largest umbrella organisation of women’s
associations in the EU
 National co ordinations in 30 European
countries and 20 European-wide member
organisations
 Concentrating on European-level, but
activities from local to international level
 Aiming to promote women’s rights and
gender equality
The main policy areas of EWL work
 Male violence against women
 Women in decision-making / Parity Democracy
 Economic and social policies from a feminist
perspective
 Migration, integration and Asylum
Women's diversity as a horizontal theme
Why parity? Why now? Parity for what?
• EU 2020 slogan: smart, soustainable inclusive growth
• EU after 2008 loosing in the practice of the member states the
focus on gender maistreaming and diminishing special measures to
support equal economic independence of women and their social,
personal and political rights
• EU member states in financial and economic crises forced to adopt
austerity measures hitting women much harder then men
• EU is in financial, economic and social crises growing into the crises of
democratic legitimacy, in a political crises – it needs a thorow
reorientaion in the pattern of coping with the crises and in pattern of
development – women in political and economic decision making are
still not strong eneough to turn the trend. If the trend does not
change, we might lose peace, social stability and EU as a project of
development based on respect of diversity and human rights,
Most frequesnt consolidation measures in 19 EU memebr states
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On the expenditure side:
Wage freezes or wage cuts in the public sector (11 countries);
Staffing freezes or personnel cuts in the public sector (9 countries);
Pension reforms: postponing retirement and/or bringing the age of
retirement for women in line with that for men (8 countries);
Cuts and restrictions in care related benefits/allowances/facilities(8
countries);
Reduction of housing benefits or family benefits (6 countries);
Tightening of eligibility criteria for unemployment and assistance
benefits or reductions in replacement rates (5 countries);
Most frequesnt consolidation measures in 19 EU memebr states
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On the revenue side:
• Tax measures (6 countries);
• VAT increase (5 countries);
• Increase in fees for publicly subsidized
services (health care fee
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transport fees, others) (2 countries).
The case of Slovenia – undeclared war of the government agaist
thze middle class educated emplyed women
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Care for the sick family member – from 80% of the pay to 70% of the pay.
Second child in the child care – before 0 now 30% of the economic price
From 1st of September 2012 no more additional subvention for the food in the schools, child
allowance for the middle class families with 42-53 % of average income per family member
is lowered.
Pensions are frozen and those higher than 622 EUR per month are substantially lowered,
yearly allowance for recreation is canceled for all pensioners with the pension higher than
622 EUR per moth.
Maternity leave indemnity is lowered from 100 to 90% of the pay
Wages in public sector (80% women jobs) are frozen till 1.1.2014, in 2013 no bonuses for
better work, no promotion by wage classes, food subsidy diminished for 3.52 EUR per
working day
Yearly allowance for recreation and holidays diminished to the amount decided by the
government in 2012 and 2013
Bonuses for working age are diminished and only the time spent in public sector work
counts
Bonuses at retirement are diminished from 3 to 2 last wages
Solidarity support only for the people who earn less than minimal wage, and in case of
illness only to those who are on sick leave more than 6 moths
All wages in public sector are cut for 8%
Did you know that in the EU…
Only 35% of
MEPs and less
than a quarter
of national
parliamentarians
are women
Other figures
• Sweeden 45% women MPs, 50% senior
ministers
• France 2012 – parity in the Constitution and
in the electoral legislation from 2000 – 27%
WMPs, 47% senior ministers
• WMPs in Malta 8.7%, Hugary 8,8m%,
Cyprus 10.7%
• Women minsters in Hungary zero, only 1 in:
Cz.R, Estonia, Greece, Slovenia
Other figures
33% of European Commissioners are
women
24% in national governments are women
 Three Prime Ministers in the EU out of 27
are women, three Presidents out of 17 are
women
In all Member States except 2, more women in the EP
than in national parliament
The EWL and the issue of women in
decision-making
 Women in decision-making - an important issue
for the EWL since its creation
 50/50 Campaign 2008-2009: mobilize
membership and raise awareness around Europe
before the European elections and other
European high level decision-making positions
 Before this campaign: 30% of WMEPs now
35%, and 30% of Commissioners, now 33%,
“foreign minister” of EU became a woman
Reasons for women’s under-representation in
decision-making 1/2
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Women’s economic subordination: economic, social and
cultural resources are necessary to reach decisionmaking positions
Different main obstacles in political life for women and
men MPs – IPU research 2009
Different political socialization and different path of
political career – focus on profession not on party
career, entaring older, waiting to be invited, going
back to their profession
Reasons for women’s under-representation in
decision-making 2/2
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Political parties, electoral systems, functioning of
institutions
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Parties breed and choose women politicians
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Hostile, pretending and really gender equality friendly
parties
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Electoral systems: devil in the details
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Essential factor: political will
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Political will is made- how, by whom, for what?
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Status of elected persons – risk factor, multiple
mandates
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Organization of time in parties, parliaments and
reconciliation of work and private life
EU activities to improve the situation
 Equality between women and men an objective and
value of the EU, decision-making, a priority of the
European Strategy for equality between women and
men 2010-2015
 « specific advantages » allowed by EU Treaty
(art.141§4)
 No EU binding measures to ensure the equal
representation of women and men in decision
making… maybe in 2012! No Daphne project for
this goal
 International commitments: CEDAW art. 4 (special
measures) and Beijing Platform for Action
Existing legislation – politics
Six EU Member States have legal systems to ensure
more equality / parity with various results: Belgium
(39%), France (19%), Spain (37%), Portugal (28%) Poland
(24%) and Slovenia (36%)
Voluntary quotas for political parties in around 16 EU
Member States - mostly left and green parties
 Cyprus?
Example 1: Sweden
47% of women in parliament, 48% of women in
government
No legislative quota system
Political parties have their own nomination rules
that for most include promoting equality between
women and men
Important role of women’s organisations: women’s
organisations within political parties, strong civil
society women’s movement, support of TU women,
experts
feminist political party to press traditional political
parties, case of supportive stockings and
women’s party in Iceland 1983-1999
Code of conduct for the public media
Example 2: France in 2012
27% of women in the parliament, 50% of women in the
government
Groundbreaking parity legislation in constitution since
1999 = equal representation of women and men in
political decision-making
Success in elections where parity is obligatory and
where proportional system is used : local elections
Betrayal of parity in national elections: non-favourable
election system and insufficient sanctions
Change of political will in the winning SP party? 40
pledges of Hollande on gender equality
Conditions for improving the situation
Commitment of political parties is crucial for
equal representation of women and men
Voluntary quotas by political parties can work
(Sweden) but without legal obligation they may
be neglected
Success of quota legislation depends on
• Electoral system
• Rank order rules – « zipper system »
• Sufficient quota for candidate lists - Albania
• Sanctions for non-compliance.
EWL 50/50 Campaign 2008-2009
 More than 300 prominent women and men from all
over Europe and all political affiliations support the
Campaign: 14 EU commissioners, heads of state,
ministers, members of parliaments, leaders of trade
unions, writers, a Nobel Prize winner etc.
Objectives of the EWL 50/50 Campaign
 Reach parity in European Institutions (Parliament,
Commission, « EU Top Jobs »
 Press for adopting binding measures to reach equal
representation of women men men at European and at
national level
 Push political parties to give visibility to gender equality in
their programmes and in selection of candidates
 Mobilize citizens to vote in the European elections and where
possible give preferential vote to women candidates from
their party
Activities within the EWL 50/50 Campaign
 More than 60 Campaign events in 22 countries!
 Petition, Facebook group, website, media work
 Gender audit of political parties in view of the
European elections
Demonstration for EU Top Jobs (2009)
2009 European Elections results (1)
 Now 35% women in the EP
 → progress compared to about 30% at the
start of 2004-2009 legislative period
What to do?
Ensure binding parity measures at national level
Ensure 50/50 in 2014 European Parliamentary elections
Ensure parity in European Commission: nomination of one
woman and man by each Member State
 Transform the parties from pretending into really gender
equality friendly parties
Enact gradually 50/50 in the economic sector at European
and at national level
Moblilze public opinionusing 75% of Europeans support
quotas in economic and political decision-making
How to do it?
 Analisys of gender impact of the recovery
measures in the second phase of the crises - state
by state and on EU level
 Engendering EU policy reorientation to growth and
jobs
 Mosaic strategy based on specific issue coalitions
 Initiative to enact binding rules to implement
much higher standards of gendered internal
democracy within political parties
 Form big coalitions for parity and start parallele
electoral campaigns
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Information:
www.womenlobby.org