Setting up a committee on equal opportunities for women and men

Resolution 1144 (1998)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 26 January 1998 (1st Sitting) (see Doc. 7890, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, rapporteur: Mrs Pulgar). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 January 1998 (1st Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Assembly considers that bringing about equal opportunities for women and men is a prerequisite for genuine democracy. It notes that, in the intergovernmental sector, the Steering Committee on Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) has existed for several years in order to co-ordinate the various activities aimed at promoting equal opportunities. The Assembly believes that it needs a specific committee for that purpose.

2. The experience acquired by the Bureau’s Ad hoc Committee on Equality of the Sexes since its creation in 1993 shows that the terms of reference should not be limited to delivering opinions, from the equality standpoint, on texts submitted to the Assembly by its committees.

3. The Assembly therefore decides to constitute a Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men which replaces the current ad hoc committee of the Bureau, while stressing the fact that the creation of this new committee should not entail the suppression of an existing committee.

4. This new committee, whose terms of reference are appended, shall be composed of forty-five members (and forty-five alternates). The designation of the members and alternates shall be made in accordance with Rule 43, paragraph 2, of the Rules of Procedure.

5. The Assembly therefore decides to amend its Rules of Procedure as follows:

5.1 in Rule 43, paragraph 1, to add the following text: "Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (number of seats: 45)";

5.2 in Rule 43, to replace paragraph 2 by the following text:"France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom shall have three seats in each of the first eight committees and two seats in the next five committees. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine shall have two seats in each of the first eight committees and one seat in the next five committees. Albania, Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Malta, Moldova, Norway, San Marino, Slovak Republic and Slovenia shall have one seat in each of the first thirteen committees." [(1) For the composition of the Monitoring Committee, see Resolution 1115 (1997).]

6. This resolution shall enter into force in January 1998.

Appendix Terms of reference of the Assembly Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

The committee shall be responsible for:

1 considering equal opportunities questions, including the situation in Council of Europe member states, and reporting directly to the Assembly on them, together with draft texts for adoption;

2 considering activities having an impact on policies and/or legislation to promote equal opportunities for women and men in the member states of the Council of Europe;

3 supervising the implementation of commitments undertaken by Council of Europe member states in the Platform for Action adopted by the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and reporting periodically on this issue to the Assembly;

4 following up the compliance of Council of Europe member states with the recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly relating to equal opportunities;

5 promoting equal opportunities for women and men by organising seminars, conferences and parliamentary hearings on equal opportunities issues, with a view in particular to encouraging member states to promote equal opportunities in politics;

6 promoting co-operation between parliamentary bodies of Council of Europe member states in the field of equal opportunities and maintaining relations with the European network for parliamentary committees responsible for equal opportunities for women and men;

7 co-operating with intergovernmental steering committees of the Council of Europe and with other committees of the Parliamentary Assembly;

8 maintaining relations and co-operating with inter-parliamentary, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations in the field of equal opportunities, subject to the agreement of the Bureau;

9 examining the equal opportunities policy within the Secretariat of the Council of Europe and commenting on the annual report of the Secretary General concerning its implementation.