C Explanatory memorandum by Mrs Naghdalyan,
rapporteur for opinion
1 Introduction: from de jure to de facto gender
equality
1. Council of Europe member states have all accepted
the principle of non-discrimination, including in public life and
in the workplace, in pursuance of commitments under Protocol No.
12 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Article E and
Article 20 of the revised European Social Charter. One would therefore
expect a balanced representation of women and men at various levels
of society’s structures. However, as the report by Ms Gautier points
out, women remain under-represented in the economic and social spheres
throughout the continent. There is a yawning gap between de jure and de
facto gender equality, which calls for the continued
attention – and strong action – of European policymakers to improve
the situation.
1.1 Current situation and problems
2. As educational background paves the way for a fair
access of both women and men to all professions,
Note the
gap in employment rates between women and men in Europe has been
narrowing (the average rate in the European Union is 58.6% for women
and 70.7% for men). Yet significant differences persist between
the northern and southern European countries, with Iceland being
the best performing country and Turkey having the widest gap. The
Global Gender Gap Report 2010 by the World Economic Forum ranks
eleven European countries (Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Ireland,
Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom)
in its top-15 group as world leaders in narrowing the equality gap
in four areas
– economic participation
and opportunity (including salary levels); educational attainment;
political empowerment; and health and life expectancy.
3. Reflecting positive dynamics and increased public scrutiny
of recent years, overall trends show that gender equality has been
progressing at the recruitment stage, but less so as regards promotions
(especially to managerial and top posts) and the remuneration for
equivalent work (the pay gap is on average 18%). Curiously, according
to studies of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), most countries
of central and eastern Europe have experienced deterioration in
women’s participation in the labour market over the transition years
(1989-2008), notably with the restructuring of public services and
evolving societal behaviour patterns.
4. In a consumer society such as ours, about four in five purchasing
decisions are made by women; yet women’s position in the workplace
in terms of decision-making power and the scarcity of women leaders
does not reflect the real capacities, merit and potential of women.
In the European Union, fewer than 3% of chief executives and only
a tenth of company board members are women. The instauration of
quota systems has helped to improve representation of women in politics
(parties, parliaments, governments) and in some countries, such
as Norway, on company boards. However, it is often underlined that
women themselves also need to show more initiative and demonstrate
their readiness to take on more responsibilities at work, thus breaking
through the “glass ceiling”, including in their own minds.
5. Some major enterprises (including Deutsche Telecom, Siemens,
etc.) across Europe have also moved forward with innovative initiatives
to increase the proportion of women in key posts. Voluntary commitments
by companies on the basis of corporate codes of conduct have proved
quite effective in some countries like Finland, but, overall, self-regulation
seems to work only if it is accompanied by clear benchmarks and
close monitoring. With the current pace of progress towards true
equality at work, it would take over half a century to achieve a
gender-balanced situation in economic entities in Europe. Viviane
Reding, European Commissioner for Justice and Vice-President of
the European Commission in charge of gender equality, advocates
more ambitious change aiming for at least 30% of women boardroom
members by 2015 (leading to 40% by 2020) and is prepared to push
for binding quotas if changes proceed too slowly over the next few
years.
1.2 Proposed measures to accelerate de facto progress
on equality in the “higher circles” of power
6. The report by Ms Gautier rightly acknowledges that
action plans and framework programmes on gender equality help to
build up a more balanced participation of women through the action
of professional associations, trade unions and international organisations
(the European Union, the Council of Europe, etc.), although “glass
ceilings” and gender-biased stereotypes hindering the promotion
of women persist widely in the workplace, especially in a male-dominated
managerial world. The rebalancing of the distribution of tasks and
responsibilities both at work and in family life remains a major
problem and a good governance challenge.
7. The critical threshold for the fair gender representation
in decision-making bodies in the political/public sphere is 40%
according to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
This figure matches the European Union target of achieving 40% of
women in the composition of management boards. The latter benchmark
has the advantage of having a clearly defined timeline. In addition
to voluntary, binding or progressive targets, your rapporteur feels
it is necessary to also put in place indicative roadmaps for implementation,
including a realistic calendar, monitoring mechanisms, sufficiently
persuasive incentives and/or sanctions – in
addition to measures helping to better reconcile professional and
private life, and sustained public action of awareness raising (towards
influencing gender-linked attitudes, dismantling stereotypes/mental barriers
and improving working culture in general).
2 Equal opportunities as part of good governance
2.1 In terms of economic, political and social development
8. The opponents of strong action to anchor gender balance
throughout all levels of governance in society often fear that any
quota-type measures would hurt the efficiency of institutions and
the competitiveness of companies by artificially favouring gender
concerns over merit. Some have used the argument of financial and economic
crises to justify the lack of progress towards genuine equality
in the workplace.
9. There is, however, a growing body of studies, including by
the private sector companies, which show that full participation
of women is good for companies’ balance sheets (profitability, productivity,
risk management and investment choices), performance (variety of
skills and creation of new jobs) and public image. For instance,
Goldman Sachs analysts consider that closing the gender gap would
enhance the euro-zone’s GDP by up to 13%! Another study by the McKinsey
consulting firm found that companies with more women on boards outperformed
companies with men-only boards in terms of profitability, auditing
results, risk oversight and control. In short, equality is good
for business and it is high time to root it in the society with deeds,
not just kind words and declarations of good intent.
10. Beyond the strictly business-centered view, equality at work
is also a matter of non-discrimination, inclusion and social justice,
which are essential for good governance. Yet, women’s contribution
to the well-being and development of the family, society and the
economy is systematically underestimated: a more accurate assessment
of such an input (as unpaid work) in monetary terms would help adjust
policies with a view to redressing imbalances and fostering women’s
careers. With more women as decision-makers, choices made by companies,
political institutions and social entities would correspond better
to the reality of society – and
its needs.
2.2 Involvement of European institutions and private
sector companies
11. This gender challenge is increasingly acknowledged
in the mainstream work of international and European institutions,
development banks, professional associations, trade unions and private
sector companies. The institutional actors play a major role in
explaining that increased women participation in the labour market
stimulates economic growth which in turn benefits society as a whole.
Optimising development prospects thus requires making the most of
women’s potential at all echelons of governance through adequate support.
12. Towards this end, the EBRD has done some highly valuable work
in central and eastern Europe via its “Women in business” programmes,
pilot projects fostering women’s access to financing, advisory services
on human resources policies, and the more recent Gender Action Plan
which seeks, inter alia, to
achieve greater female representation at senior management levels
in partner or client companies and its own structures. Other organisations
have championed investment to improve women’s working conditions
and balance between professional and private life (for example,
with more company nurseries, resting rooms, personal service offers, flexible
working hours), as well as providing leadership training and mentoring
services, refining gender-disaggregated data collection to obtain
a true picture of the market and the society, and promoting the
inclusion of gender mainstreaming clauses in corporate governance
codes.
13. We should also note the new legislation in the United Kingdom
that strengthens the existing rules regulating equality of treatment
at work and obliges employers to disclose salary levels of their
employees. The latter provision enables employees to compare their
remuneration, assess whether they are fairly paid and seek redress
if they feel discriminated against. Such practice could be exported
to other European countries and help to fight the pay gap between
women and men, which is highest, according to the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), among high earners.
14. The Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly also
have a significant role to play in fostering women’s accession to
leadership/managerial positions, especially in the sectors where
they are underrepresented. They could do so by encouraging member
states to adopt strong positive measures together with implementation
timelines, monitoring and sanction mechanisms where progress towards de facto equality at managerial
levels proves elusive or too slow; foster change in corporate cultures
in respect of appointment and promotion of women; invest in gender
training and leadership programmes, women-oriented incentive schemes
and pragmatic measures for better reconciliation of professional
and private life; issue guidelines for gender disaggregated data
collection across economic sectors and gender studies at national level,
etc.
3 Conclusion: equality should be the rule, not the
exception
15. Your rapporteur for opinion endorses the findings
and proposals contained in the report prepared by Ms Gautier. Women
and men constitute a mutually complementary driving force of progress
in society: their equality in terms of access to decision-making
positions in the economic and social spheres should be the rule rather
than the exception, as is the case today with women being de facto significantly underrepresented
in top management and administration. This calls for bold changes
in mentalities, corporate cultures and policy priorities in order
to assimilate a simple truth: equal participation of women in decision-making
is essential for boosting economic, political and social development.
16. Although several European countries are world leaders in bridging
the equality gap, the challenge remains considerable for many others.
Your rapporteur considers in particular that effective and ambitious action
by the Council of Europe member states needs to articulate clear
quantitative benchmarks with pragmatic implementation schedules,
close monitoring and adequate sanctions. The question of equality between
women and men is a matter of justice in society and the Council
of Europe has to press its member states hard to do their utmost
to redress the gender balance swiftly in both the public and private
sectors.
