Gender equality principles in the Parliamentary Assembly
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 11762
| 13 November 2008
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- adopted
at the 1040th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (5 November 2008) 2008 - November Standing Committee
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 1819
(2007)
- Thesaurus
1. The Committee of
Ministers has taken note of Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1819 (2007) on “Gender equality principles in the Parliamentary
Assembly”. It welcomes the interest shown by the Assembly, and its
contribution to the efforts to achieve balanced participation of
women and men in political and public decision making. It also welcomes
the support that the Assembly has shown for the implementation of
the relevant recommendations of the Committee of Ministers and in
particular Recommendation Rec(2003)3 on balanced participation of
women and men in political and public decision making, including
within the organs and bodies of the Council of Europe.
2. Gender equality is not only a “principle of equality of women
and men, as a
sine qua non of
democracy and an imperative of social justice”
Note – as reiterated at the Second and
Third Summits of Heads of State and Government of the Council of
Europe – it is also a “matter of both fairness and common sense”.
Note
3. With this in mind, the Committee of Ministers has been pursuing
a gender mainstreaming policy. For it is convinced of the importance
of this strategy, which promotes equality, highlights the gender
perspective of every policy and activity and utilises the skills
and talents of society as a whole.
4. The Committee of Ministers examined the general thrust of
the Council of Europe’s action on gender equality during a thematic
debate in November 2008, which also enabled it to identify a number
of broad policy lines for the future. Particular emphasis is placed
on achieving de facto equality
between women and men. Efforts will accordingly focus on the implementation
and monitoring of Recommendations Rec(2003)3 and CM/Rec(2007)17
on gender equality standards and mechanisms. Much more than a list
of good practices, as proposed by the Assembly, Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)17
provides a checklist that allows member states to take the necessary
steps to make the transition from setting standards to actually
implementing them, so as to achieve de
facto gender equality.
5. The activities to be conducted in this context will include:
- analysing and monitoring changes
in the legislation on gender equality, national equality plans and national
gender equality machinery in member states;
- promoting the implementation of common standards throughout
Europe in order to achieve balanced participation of women and men
in political and public decision making;
- promoting gender mainstreaming, including through co-operation
with other Council of Europe bodies and by incorporating a gender
perspective in the various policies and in the budgetary process.
In addition to the discussions on future activities, at the
thematic debate the Committee of Ministers took a number of decisions
which are set out in the appendix to the present reply.
6. The Steering Committee for
Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) began the second round of monitoring
the implementation of Recommendation Rec(2003)3 on 1 September 2008,
with regard to the participation of women and men in governments,
parliaments and at local and regional level, as well as in diplomacy
and the judiciary, at the highest levels. The gender-based statistics
published after this monitoring exercise also include figures for
the Parliamentary Assembly, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of
the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights. The
Committee of Ministers hopes that this new exercise will show that
the situation has improved in comparison to September 2005. It encourages
the Assembly to promote an equitable participation of women and
men at the highest levels in its midst. It took note of the measures
advocated in
Resolution
1585 (2007) with a view to a more balanced representation of women and
men within the parliamentary structures and bodies, in particular
the Assembly’s presidency, Vice-Presidents and in its Bureau.
7. Under its equal opportunities policy, the Council of Europe
aims to achieve parity in the number of women and men employed in
each category and grade; in the event of equal merit, preference
is given to the under-represented sex. With regard to the highest
level appointments, the Committee of Ministers also encourages more
balanced lists of candidates.
8. With regard to the participation of women and men in an equitable
proportion in steering committees and other subordinate committees,
the Committee of Ministers is firmly committed to the objective
set in its own recommendations.
Note In this respect,
it reiterates its call on member states to take due account of those recommendations.
The Committee of Ministers further informs the Assembly that it
is regularly called upon to take decisions on mixed lists of candidates
submitted by member states in accordance with the principles of the
above-mentioned recommendations. In addition, and in view of the
importance of promoting men’s role in achieving equality, the Committee
of Ministers emphasises the need to promote balanced participation
of women and men in the bodies dealing with equality.
Appendix – Decisions adopted at the 1040th
meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (5 November 2008) under item
4.5 “Thematic exchange of views on Council of Europe action to foster
gender equality”
The Deputies
Having taken note of the information document on Council of
Europe action in the field of gender equality (document CM/Inf(2008)41),
underlined the importance of achieving de
facto gender equality as well as a higher visibility
of the Council of Europe’s action in this field and, in this perspective,
agreed on the following measures in order to:
Improve gender mainstreaming
1. invited all committees and bodies
set up by the Committee of Ministers, or with its authorisation,
by virtue of Article 17 of the Council of Europe Statute, to include
a gender perspective in their terms of reference in conformity with
the Committee of Ministers’ Message to Steering Committees of the
Council of Europe encouraging them to use the gender mainstreaming
strategy in their programmes of activities (628th meeting, 15-16
April 1998);
2. welcomed the studies carried out by the Steering Committee
for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) for monitoring recommendations
of the Committee of Ministers in the field of gender equality and instructed
the CDEG to continue work in this field;
3. at the same time, reminded member states of the Committee
of Ministers' recommendations in the field of gender equality and
called upon them to fully implement the principles and measures
contained in these texts;
Strengthen the work on gender
equality within the structures of the Committee of Ministers
4. agreed to bear in mind the
need for including a gender perspective into draft legal texts and
declarations of the Council of Europe and invited their competent
rapporteur groups to take account thereof when examining such matters;
5. invited their Thematic Co-ordinator on Equality between Women
and Men (TC-EG) to regularly report on main developments and activities
in his/her field of competence and to hold meetings as appropriate;
Ensure balanced participation
in selection processes for different bodies, entities and committees
of the Council of Europe and within the member states
6. recalled the principles established
in Recommendation No. R (81) 6 on the participation of women and men
in an equitable proportion in committees and other bodies set up
in the Council of Europe and Recommendation Rec(2003)3 on balanced
participation of women and men in political and public decision making
and encouraged member states to strive for greater balance in lists
of candidates during the selection processes of candidates for different
bodies, entities and committees of the Council of Europe;
* * *
7. required the Secretary General
to prepare an annual report on the follow-up given to the above
decisions as well as on the implementation of the gender equality
policy in the Council of Europe, including within Council of Europe
bodies, entities and committees to be presented to the Committee
of Ministers;
8. instructed the Secretariat to communicate the above decisions
to the different bodies, entities and committees of the Council
of Europe so that they could take account of them.
