B Explanatory
memorandum by Mr Greenway, rapporteur
1 Introduction
1. Rule 6.2.a of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure stipulates
that “National delegations should include the under-represented
sex at least in the same percentage as is present in their parliament
and in any case one representative of each sex”.
2. When the Assembly last considered the issue of equal gender
representation, in 2007, it adopted
Resolution 1585 on gender equality principles in the Parliamentary Assembly
in which it urged “national parliaments to ensure that women are
present in the national delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly
in at least the same proportions as they are present in the national
parliament, with the aim of achieving, as a minimum, a 30% representation
of women, bearing in mind that the threshold should be 40%”. Rule
7.1.b of the Rules of Procedure explicitly recognises failure to
include at least one Representative of each sex in a national delegation
as a ground for challenging that delegation's credentials.
3. A motion for a resolution on “Requiring a minimum of 30% of
each sex on the Assembly’s national delegations" (
Doc. 11664), which was tabled on 25 June 2008 by Mrs Err and others,
has been referred to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities
and Institutional Affairs for report and the Committee on Equal Opportunities
for Women and Men for opinion. The idea is to amend the Assembly’s
Rules of Procedure to require national delegations to comprise at
least 30% of Representatives of each sex.
4. It should be noted that the terms of reference of the Committee
on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs confine
it strictly to the representation of the sexes in parliamentary
delegations. Consideration could therefore not been given, in the
framework of this report, to other aspects, such as how to encourage
equality of the sexes in other Assembly bodies, such as political
groups, committees, the Bureau or Vice-Presidents.
5. Nor does the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and
Institutional Affairs intend to consider in this report the value
of quotas for encouraging the representation of under-represented
sexes. The matter has been raised in several Assembly reports, most
recently in January 2010.
Note The committee has adopted a pragmatic
approach by attempting to assess, before making any final decision,
the feasibility of such a proposal for the Assembly. The committee
has consulted the national delegations, in order to collect the
information needed for a report on the issue and ascertain the extent
to which this proposal can be implemented. It therefore approved
a questionnaire on the representation of women in national delegations
to the Assembly, which was sent to national delegations in May 2009
(see Appendix I).
2 Situation
of women in national delegations to the Parliamentary AssemblyNote
6. In January 2010, women constituted 28.57% of Assembly
members (180 out of 630). The figure has been rising steadily, and
compares with 24.84% in January 2007, 24.48% in January 2006 and
22.5% in January 2005. It was about 19% in 2003, when the Assembly
approved the revision to its Rules of Procedure. Progress has been
slow, but real. These figures show a fundamental trend since 2003
that cannot be reversed in the future.
7. It should be noted, however, that 78 (43.33%) of the women
are Representatives and 102 (56.67%) Substitutes at the Assembly,
whereas men have a much more equal distribution between the two
statuses (236 Representatives (52.44%) and 214 Substitutes). In
the current context of budgetary restrictions, several national
parliaments have now introduced rules confining the participation
of members of their delegations to Representatives, so these statistics
are likely to have an impact on the assessment of the real level
of participation of women in the work of the Assembly and its committees.
8. In connection with the objective of securing a minimum 30%
representation of the under-represented sex, the figures at 21 April
2010 are encouraging (see Appendix II):
- 12 national delegations have at least 40% women (including
eight between 50% and 67%);
- 12 national delegations have between 30% and 39% women;
- 13 national delegations have between 20% and 29% women;
- nine national delegations have between 10% and 19% women;
- just one national delegation has less than 10% women.
9. Eight national delegations include only one woman (Andorra,
Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino).
With the exception of the Irish and Andorran delegations, these
women appear as Substitutes.
10. More than half the delegations (24 out 47) have currently
attained the objective in
Resolution
1585 (2007) of a minimum of 30% of women. This compares with 18
in 2007, 13 in 2005 and 11 in 2003. There has also been an improvement
at the "bottom of the table", since there is now only one delegation
with fewer that 10% of women, compared with five in 2007. Of the
47 national parliamentary delegations, 11 are chaired by a woman,
compared with nine in 2007.
Note
11. In all the member states of the Council of Europe, the percentage
of women in national parliaments is rising and has now reached 21.43%.
12. Overall, the percentage of women in the Assembly reflects
that in the national parliament, but the figures also show that
certain parliaments with few women members have made a real effort
to ensure female representation in the Assembly, in particular Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro and Slovenia. On the other
hand, certain delegations, in particular those of Belgium, Denmark,
Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, include few women comparatively,
which in no way reflects their strong numerical presence in their
national parliaments.
3 Analysis of replies
to the questionnaire to national delegations
13. Of the 47 national delegations questioned, 31 replied
to the questionnaire: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, "the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia" and United Kingdom.
14. The rapporteur would naturally like to thank these delegations
and their chairpersons for their co-operation.
15. Of the 26 delegations which had fewer than 30% of women when
the questionnaire was sent, 12 replied, and their replies to the
questions specifically put to them have made it possible to identify
some issues for debate.
3.1 Position of the
national delegations regarding the obligation to include a specific
percentage of Representatives of each sex
16. The replies to the questionnaire show an extremely
wide range of positions among the delegations.
3.1.1 Should it be compulsory
for each national delegation to include a minimum of 30% of each
sex?
17. Some 19 of the 31 delegations (namely, 61%) said
they supported the proposal.
NoteWhilst
nine were against it,
Noteand
three others failed to agree a clear position.
Note
18. Three of the delegations which were in favour or somewhat
in favour of this proposal also stressed that they would be unable
to implement it (Cyprus, Hungary and Monaco).
19. The detailed comments made by some delegations in their responses
deserve to be mentioned:
- the
Polish and Russian delegations consider that the rule should be
that national delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly should comprise
the same proportion of women as in their respective national parliaments,
whatever that proportion may be;
- the Polish delegation also believes that the decision
on whether to implement the proposal should be up to each individual
parliament;
- the German delegation considers that, while the 30% objective
is reasonable, the introduction of a mandatory system together with
penalties could produce the opposite effect to the one sought, because it
would interfere with the sovereignty of national parliaments;
- the Estonian delegation is in favour of having a compulsory
threshold of 20%;
- the delegation of Liechtenstein considers that the 30%
threshold should be reduced to 25% for small delegations;
- the Swiss delegation is broadly in favour of having better
gender representation, but against having a quota system. It believed
this would be too inflexible, unnecessary and contrary to Swiss
political culture, which encourages dialogue and consultation. While
some delegation members think that it could help improve the representation
of women, others feel that it is degrading for them;
- the British delegation considers that the goal is worthy
and legitimate but the means chosen to achieve it – namely a compulsory
threshold set arbitrarily at 30% – are not realistic and could not
be applied in practice unless delegations were left incomplete or
women were brought in artificially to fill the quota without any
guarantee that they would be able to take part properly in the work
of the Assembly;
- the Lithuanian delegation considers it far more important
for the Assembly to try hard to promote delegations’ involvement
in its work and help consolidate democracy than to bring in a compulsory gender
representation.
3.1.2 Are there any obstacles
to the immediate implementation of this measure?
20. The majority of delegations (19) do not report any
obstacles to the implementation of this measure.
Note Most of these
delegations say that they already comply with the requirement for
a minimum of 30% of each sex. However, some say that implementation
of this measure could be complicated by the results of future elections,
in cases where there is no binding electoral legislation.
– the way parliaments work
21. For several delegations – this argument was made in the replies
from Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania and the Netherlands
in particular – the implementation of a compulsory representation threshold
would come up against internal parliamentary rules, namely that
the delegations are composed on the basis of appointments made completely
independently by each political party or parliamentary group, in accordance
with their own rules, and there is no co-ordination between groups
on these appointments. There are therefore no specific, binding
rules in national parliaments which would compel political parties
or groups to put forward more female candidates.
22. The Cypriot delegation said that the introduction of a quota
of female parliamentarians in international delegations would ultimately
create discrimination against male parliamentarians, as they would
be penalised by not being allowed to participate in such delegations’
work.
– the low number of female parliamentarians
23. Certain delegations (Cyprus, Hungary, Malta and Monaco) emphasised
the fundamental statistical reality: they have a low proportion
of women in their parliament, which limits the number of women on international
parliamentary delegations (see also paragraph 34).
– the fact that female parliamentarians are not available
or reticent about being members of the parliamentary delegations
24. The Hungarian and Maltese delegations said that several female
parliamentarians occupy important positions in parliament (Hungary)
or the government (Malta), and this prevents them from joining parliamentary delegations.
Monaco said that parliamentarians have other jobs in addition to
being members of parliament, which, along with their other day-to-day
personal commitments, sometimes prevent them from taking up international
representative appointments. The Cypriot delegation stressed that
parliamentarians’ international commitments are very time-consuming
and reduce the amount of time they spend in their national constituency.
25. The Hungarian delegation said that inadequate command of the
Council of Europe’s official languages hampers women’s participation
in international delegations. The Cypriot delegation also emphasised
that delegation membership requires a high level of expertise in
and understanding of international issues and knowledge of the languages
used at international level.
3.1.3 Should this measure
be implemented gradually?
26. The delegations in favour of the introduction of
a 30% quota also favour being implemented gradually (Austria, Azerbaijan,
Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, France,
Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania,
Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia). Sweden said that the reform should
be implemented as soon as possible while Iceland said it should
be brought in over a three‑year span. “The former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia” said that gradual implementation would not be useful.
For Cyprus, any quota system should be implemented in accordance
with each delegation’s wishes and the implementation of any compulsory
measure should be spread over a very long period of time.
27. The delegations opposed to the introduction of a 30% quota
are no more favourable to its gradual introduction (Armenia, Denmark,
Malta and the Netherlands).
28. The Romanian delegation wants the proposed system to be introduced
over a period equivalent to the lifetime of a parliament, so that
the member states can introduce the measures needed to promote women
in politics and parliament. The Swiss delegation supports an incremental
approach to promoting the gender representation.
3.1.4 Is it necessary
to introduce a compulsory proportion of over 30% of the under-represented
sex?
29. Those delegations which do not support the proposal
to introduce a 30% quota naturally reject the idea of having an
even higher one (Armenia, Denmark, Estonia, Malta and the Netherlands).
Nor do delegations with a mixed position (Cyprus, Czech Republic
and Lithuania). Moreover, some of the delegations in favour of a
30% quota do not nevertheless support the idea of a higher one (Liechtenstein,
Portugal and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”). The Swiss
delegation believes that such a measure would be premature.
30. With regard to the delegations that support the proposal:
- Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France,
Iceland, Luxembourg, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Sweden favour a
higher threshold. The Swedish delegation is the most progressive,
as it proposes a compulsory proportion of 40% of the under-represented
sex by 2014 and a proportion of 50% by 2018;
- other delegations have more moderate positions (Azerbaijan
believes that efforts to improve women’s representation in parliament
must depend upon the results of future elections; Bosnia and Herzegovina considers
that it is currently impossible for all parliaments to meet such
a condition, as this would require changes to national electoral
laws. Hungary and Slovenia favour the measure in principle, but
cannot implement it for practical reasons – not for lack of political
will).
3.1.5 Should non-compliance
with the condition of a compulsory 30% representation of the under-represented
sex be penalised?
31. A majority of the delegations (16) which replied
to the question are against the introduction of a penalty in the
Assembly’s Rules of Procedure. This is the case both for delegations
which are opposed to the planned proposal to introduce a 30% quota
(Armenia, Denmark, Estonia, Malta, Netherlands, Russian Federation
and United Kingdom) or somewhat opposed (Lithuania) and for delegations
which are in favour (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Monaco,
Romania and Slovakia) or somewhat in favour (Cyprus). The Polish
delegation did not expressly state its opposition but is clearly
against the idea. The Czech delegation said it was neutral.
32. The other delegations (12) support the introduction of a penalty
system:
- Austria, Croatia and
“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” support the two measures
mentioned by way of example (amending Rule 7.1.b of the Rules of
Procedure to make it possible to challenge the credentials of a
parliamentary delegation which fails to comprise at least 30% Representatives
of the under-represented sex, or an automatic penalty such as the
obligation to leave a vacant seat for each missing member of the
under-represented sex);
- Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Luxembourg favour
an automatic penalty (such as the obligation to leave a vacant seat
for each missing member of the under-represented sex, cited as an example);
- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland
support only a non-automatic penalty (the possibility to challenge
the credentials of a parliamentary delegation which fails to comprise
at least 30% Representatives of the under-represented sex);
- Luxembourg also listed some other possible penalties in
its reply (withdrawal of the right to vote for each missing member
of the under-represented sex, obligation for the chairperson of
the national delegation at fault to become an active member of the
Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men) and additional
measures (preferential treatment on the list of speakers for members
of national delegations with equal numbers of women and men; national
delegations to be chaired jointly by a man and a woman);
- Switzerland also mentioned the possibility of penalising
delegations using the rule governing the selection of candidates
for the position of judge at the European Court of Human Rights.
33. The Russian Federation and Portugal said that if Rule 7.1.b
were to be amended, it should be to allow the credentials of a delegation
to be challenged only if the proportion of the under-represented
sex is lower than in the parliament concerned.
3.2 Explanations given
by the national delegations which do not currently comprise a minimum of
30% of each sex
34. When the questionnaire was sent out, 26 of the 47
national delegations had less than 30% women. Specific questions
were put to them in order to identify the reasons why they fail
to comply with the aim set in Assembly
Resolution 1585 (2007) of achieving a minimum of 30% of each sex. Of the 17
delegations which replied to the questionnaire, only 12 also provided
additional, more detailed explanations:
Note
- Azerbaijan gave no specific
reason for its delegation’s failure to reach the 30% women threshold,
saying simply that any progress would depend upon the general policy
for improving the representation of women in society;
- Belgium said the number of women in its delegation is
fortuitous, as its composition is determined by the appointments
made by political groups, and they do not confer with one another;
- Cyprus said that there are nine women in its parliament
and the percentage of women in its delegation (25%) is already much
higher than that of women in parliament (16%). In the absence of
legislation establishing a quota at elections, parliamentarians
are elected on the basis of their political programme and not their
gender. Because there are so few women parliamentarians, many demands
are made upon them in order for parliament to be able to meet the
requirements for equal representation in international delegations.
They do not always have the time and fear their involvement can
have a negative impact on the amount of time they spend on national
issues and their relationship with the electorate;
- Hungary pointed out that several female parliamentarians
already occupy important positions in the Hungarian Parliament,
which prevents them from joining parliamentary delegations. Inadequate command
of the Council of Europe’s official languages is also an obstacle
to their participation in delegations;
- Malta said that there are only six women in its parliament,
of whom two are ministers;
- Monaco said that there are only six women in its 24-member
parliament. Parliamentarians have other jobs in addition to being
members of parliament, which sometimes prevents them from taking
up international representative appointments;
- the Netherlands said it wanted to encourage parliamentarians
with the necessary expertise to put themselves forward. Political
parties are constantly informed about the need to promote new political talent
among women;
- Portugal said that the parity law adopted in 2006, which
introduced a minimum 33.33% quota for each sex, could not be applied
to the current delegation, but that the new delegation after the
forthcoming elections will have to comply with this requirement;
- Romania said that its delegation is composed of members
appointed independently by the parliamentary groups, using their
own criteria, including one concerning representation of the sexes;
- Serbia said that its delegation too is composed of members
appointed by the political groups. However, the Serbian Parliament’s
rules of procedure are currently being revised and should soon stipulate
that there must be a minimum of 30% of each sex on all parliamentary
bodies;
- Slovakia said that its women parliamentarians showed little
interest in taking part in the work of an international organisation;
- the United Kingdom noted that its delegation contained
very experienced parliamentarians taken in equal numbers from the
House of Commons and the House of Lords, whose members were from
an older generation in which women had been less represented. There
was a clear trend towards increased representation of women in each
new parliament.
4 Conclusions
4.1 Summary of the
replies
35. On the basis of the replies received – which reflect
a very wide and mixed range of positions – and bearing in mind that
replies which might have been given by delegations which had not
replied to the questionnaire would have provide the committee with
an even better picture, the following conclusions can be drawn:
- among the delegations which
replied to the questionnaire, a majority expressed a positive opinion
on amendment of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure (Rule 6.2.a) to
introduce a minimum 30% threshold for the representation of each
sex;
- a majority also agreed that such a reform should be implemented
gradually;
- the majority of delegations which replied do not support
the proposal to introduce a penalty for failure to comply with the
condition of a compulsory 30% representation of the under-represented
sex;
- the majority of delegations consulted do not support the
proposal to introduce a quota higher than 30%.
36. The delegations note that no progress can be made on this
issue until there are improvements at national level in the representation
of women in the political and parliamentary arena, and more broadly
in society. They argue that better representation of the under-represented
sex can only be achieved if progress is made in the representation
of women at national level, through a policy for promoting parity
in parliamentary elections (amendment of electoral laws with the
adoption of binding provisions and the introduction of quotas) and
in political parties (promotion to leadership positions). Some delegations
accordingly support amendment of national electoral laws to ensure,
where this is not already the case, that political parties include
a compulsory minimum percentage of women on their lists, or even
full parity, which in the case of list-based systems covers the
most favourable positions at or near the head of the list. However,
the establishment of a legislative or regulatory framework guaranteeing
equal participation in political, public and social life is not
on its own sufficient to secure serious progress.
37. However, there is no absolute correlation between women's
representation in national parliaments and in parliamentary delegations.
The preceding argument runs up against the statistics on female
participation in the Parliamentary Assembly. For example, while
the Assembly has only one Hungarian female member of parliament
(out of 43 elected to the national parliament), one Irish female
member (out of 36 elected women members), four Romanians (out of
46) and four Russians (out of 71), how then to explain that the
equivalent figures for Liechtenstein, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
are, respectively, two out of six, two out of nine and four out
of 10?
38. Some delegations also consider that more proactive efforts
are needed to raise awareness about the requirements of Rule 6.2.a
of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure in the parliamentary delegations
concerned, as well as in the political parties and groups in national
parliaments which appoint people to the delegations. Co-ordination
between groups in national parliaments would also be desirable.
39. On the other hand, some delegations believe that the law should
strictly respect legal equality between the sexes, in compliance
with democratic rules. In all cases, the composition of parliaments
stems from the free choice of voters.
40. One delegation said that it would be improper to introduce
a quota system in the Parliamentary Assembly if there were no binding
rules of this kind in national parliaments, an argument countered
by another delegation which said that the adoption of a 30% quota
by the Assembly would be a beacon and a model for national parliaments.
4.2 Proposals
41. There is little point in amending Rule 6.2.a of the
Rules of Procedure so that the requirement that delegations should
include the same percentage representation of the sexes as is present
in their parliament, with a minimum of at least one Representative
of each sex, is replaced by a representation of at least 30% of each
sex or any other minimum percentage yet to be decided on, if no
penalty is imposed on delegations that fail to comply with the rule.
Yet, there is no clear majority in the Assembly in favour of amending
Rule 7.1.b and imposing a penalty for failure to comply with a tougher
representation requirement. Neither does it make sense to amend
the Rules of Procedure immediately to incorporate an obligation
which practically all the delegations would like to phase in gradually.
42. The Assembly's Rules of Procedure comprise a body of rules
that govern its operations and establish obligations with which
its members and national delegations, in particular, must comply.
It cannot include mere political objectives that have no binding
force.
43. Moreover, simple arithmetical logic shows that a 30% minimum
level of representation would lead to discrimination between delegations.
Thus, in practice a minimum of 30% would require small delegations
to appoint two of their four members from the under-represented
sex, that is 50%.
NoteNoteNoteNoteNoteNoteNoteNoteNote This "strengthened" obligation
would also be detrimental – albeit to a lesser extent – to eight
and 14-member delegations.
44. On the other hand, formally setting a lower limit of, for
example, 20% or 25% in the Rules of Procedure would have a negative
impact in the light of the more ambitious objective that the Assembly
has set for itself and national parliaments in its previous resolutions.
45. In the light of the foregoing and bearing in mind the Assembly's
previous decisions, particularly in
Resolution 1585 (2007), the committee therefore considers that the existing
provisions of the Rules of Procedure, namely Rules 6.2 and 7.1.b,
are satisfactory, but could be clarified in such a way as to strengthen women's
effective participation in delegations and limit their appointment
as Substitutes.
46. The committee could therefore propose the following changes
to the Rules of Procedure:
- in
Rule 6.2.a, replace the second sentence with the following sentence:
"National delegations should
include the under-represented sex at least in the same percentage
as is present in their parliaments and, at a very minimum, one member
of the under-represented sex, appointed as a Representative";
- in Rule 7.1.b, replace
the words "one representative of each sex" with "one member of the
under-represented sex, appointed as a Representative".
47. Finally, it goes without saying that any consideration
of other measures that do not entail any changes to the Rules of
Procedure and do not involve the institutional functioning of the
Assembly is less the concern of the Committee on Rules of Procedure,
Immunities and Institutional Affairs than of the Committee on Equal Opportunities
for Women and Men, as part of its general terms of reference, which
require it to monitor progress on Assembly recommendations in this
field. These measures, which focus on closer dialogue with national parliaments
on the issue of women's representation in the Assembly, might include
awareness-raising programmes for members of parliament, developing
good practices in national parliaments based, for example, on closer
co-ordination between their political groups when appointing delegations,
or initiatives to encourage women to put their candidature and encourage
their active participation in parliamentary delegations. The Committee
on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men might also consider whether
it would be helpful to target awareness-raising activities on certain
national delegations, perhaps drawing on members of "model" delegations
that satisfy the objectives that have been set.
