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A. Draft
resolution
(open)
Report | Doc. 13022 | 18 September 2012
Political parties and women’s political representation
Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination
Summary
Although it is widely acknowledged that the low proportion of women in parliament affects its representativeness, introducing and implementing effective measures to redress this imbalance has proved to be a major challenge.
As key protagonists in pluralist democracies, political parties have a decisive role to play to enhance women’s political representation: in addition to ensuring strict compliance with electoral legislation, including on legislated quotas, and introducing voluntary measures, they are well placed to promote a change of culture conducive to gender equality, in politics and in society at large.
On the basis of the positive experience of some of them, the Parliamentary Assembly should recommend good practices on how to increase women’s representation in parliament to political parties in Council of Europe member and observer States, as well as partners for democracy.
A. Draft
resolution 
(open)1. In Council of Europe member States, women represent
approximately 51% of the population and yet only approximately 23%
of members of national parliaments are women. This average figure
hides a huge gap, between a handful of countries in which women’s
representation in parliament exceeds 40% (Andorra, Finland, Netherlands,
Sweden) and many more countries in which it is under 20% (Albania,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania,
Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Romania, San Marino, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia, Turkey), or in some cases even under 10% (Georgia,
Hungary, Malta, Russian Federation, Ukraine).
2. Although it is widely acknowledged that the low proportion
of women in parliament affects its representativeness, introducing
and implementing effective measures to redress this imbalance has
proved to be a major challenge.
3. Thirteen member States have tried to tackle it by introducing
in their electoral legislation the obligation for electoral lists
to include a minimum proportion of women (legislated quotas), a
measure that has been repeatedly supported by the Parliamentary
Assembly in numerous texts including Resolution 1706 (2010) on increasing
women’s representation in politics through the electoral system.
4. In addition, many political parties from approximately 30
member States have voluntarily introduced gender quotas in order
to promote women’s chances of being elected, or other equivalent
tools such as “all-women lists”. Political parties have also resorted
to a wealth of other measures to ensure women’s active participation
in their internal structures, place them in positions of visibility
and responsibility and support their development.
5. The Assembly believes that, as key protagonists in pluralist
democracies, political parties have a decisive role to play in enhancing
women’s political representation: in addition to ensuring strict
compliance with electoral legislation, including on legislated quotas,
and introducing voluntary measures, they are well placed to promote
a change of culture conducive to gender equality in politics and
in society at large.
6. On the basis of the positive experience of some of them, the
Assembly recommends the following good practices to political parties
in Council of Europe member and observer States, as well as partners
for democracy:
6.1. introducing
a formal commitment to gender equality and gender mainstreaming
in their statute;
6.2. organising campaigns and activities to attract women’s
membership;
6.3. setting up women-only structures and allocating them with
adequate funding, and giving them control over how to spend it;
6.4. ensuring that party structures which select candidates
to stand for election are fully representative of society, and therefore
include a proportional presence of women;
6.5. ensuring maximum transparency in the procedure for the
selection of candidates to stand for election;
6.6. introducing a minimum quota of 40% of the under-represented
sex in their executive decision-making bodies at all levels;
6.7. in the case of proportional electoral systems, introducing
a minimum quota of 40% of the under-represented sex in the electoral
lists, accompanied by special gender safeguards as regards the ranking
order and the positions at the top of the list, preferably through
a zipper-system;
6.8. in the case of majoritarian electoral systems, encouraging
the shortlisting of candidates of the under-represented gender,
if appropriate through “all-women shortlists” or priority lists
with an equal number of people of either sex;
6.9. setting up mentoring and training programmes to enhance
the capacity of talented women to take up positions of political
responsibility;
6.10. setting up training programmes to strengthen women’s media
skills and ensure that women members are given a fair chance to
speak on behalf of the party on a broad range of issues;
6.11. ensuring that, during electoral campaigns, the broadcasting
time allocated to the party is proportionally shared by men and
women candidates;
6.12. setting up measures to enable members to reconcile political
engagement and family commitments, for instance by providing free
childcare during important party events or during electoral campaigns,
and avoiding in so far as possible that party meetings take place
at unsociable hours;
6.13. setting up systems to regularly assess and discuss gender
distribution in political party structures and party mandates, for
instance by foreseeing that the party leader reports on this matter
on an annual basis;
6.14. trying to reach cross-party agreement on the need and
ways to enhance women’s participation and representation in politics.
7. Furthermore, the Assembly calls on member States to:
7.1. introduce legislation which
makes it possible for parties to resort to positive action in support
of the under-represented sex, also in the electoral field;
7.2. set up special financial allocations for political parties
which take positive action to promote women’s representation or
participation, such as the introduction of gender quotas;
7.3. introduce and consistently implement an effective system
of sanctions against political parties which do not comply with
gender-related obligations;
7.4. conduct a gender audit to assess to what extent the electoral
system is geared towards achieving gender equality;
7.5. widely publicise the Guidelines
on political parties, published in 2010 by the Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) and the European
Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), which include
examples of good practice while reviewing the main human rights
instruments relevant for the issue of women’s political representation.
8. Finally, recalling that women represent only 31% of its members
and that they are under-represented in all the main positions of
responsibility in the Assembly and its structures, the Assembly
calls on its political groups to:
8.1. take
into account gender distribution in the context of the negotiations
for the allocation of seats in committees’ bureaux and the appointment
of candidates to be put forward by the groups, so as to ensure that
the overall gender breakdown of committees’ bureaux includes 40%
of the under-represented sex, both amongst committee chairs and
vice-chairs;
8.2. pay increased attention to gender distribution in relation
to all appointments/elections which take place within the groups,
for group, Assembly and committee positions, with a view to achieving
equal representation between women and men in all key positions
of responsibility;
8.3. ensure that the gender dimension is taken into account
in all group discussions (gender mainstreaming);
8.4. if they have not already done so, consider setting up
an all-women structure;
8.5. hold regular discussions on how to improve women’s participation
and representation in the work of the Assembly and its structures.
9. Finally, recalling its Resolution
1781 (2010) “A minimum of 30% of representatives of the
under-represented sex in Assembly national delegations”, in which
it decided “to strengthen its dialogue with national parliaments
on this question” and considered that “awareness-raising activities
targeted at certain national delegations could also serve a useful
purpose”, the Assembly proposes to organise seminars on women’s political
representation for the parliaments of member
States in which women’s representation is below 10%.
B. Explanatory memorandum by Ms Stavrositu, rapporteur
(open)1. Introduction
1. In the Council of Europe member States, women represent
approximately 51% of the population and yet only 23.4% of members
of national parliaments are women. To be precise, in only four member
States do women hold more than 40% of seats in parliament, in eight
States, women’s representation ranges from 30 to 40%, in 15 it ranges
from 20 to 30%, while in the remaining 20 it is below 20%.
1.1. Table showing the proportion of women in national parliaments
|
Proportion
of women in national parliaments |
Council of Europe member States |
|
Above 40% |
Andorra, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, |
|
Between 30% and 40% |
Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Spain, “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” |
|
Between 20% and 30% |
Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
|
Under 20% |
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine |
2. Even though it is widely acknowledged that the under-representation
of women affects the representativeness of democratic institutions,
an easy-fix solution to redress it is yet to be found. So far, the debate
on how to enhance women’s representation in parliament has focused
mainly on safeguards to be introduced in electoral legislation,
in particular a certain minimum percentage of women candidates to
be placed on each party’s electoral list (hereafter “legislated
quotas”). At
the moment, legislated quotas are in operation in 13 member States.
At
the moment, legislated quotas are in operation in 13 member States.3. The Parliamentary Assembly has consistently taken position
in favour of such measures, including recently in Resolution 1706 (2010) on
increasing women’s representation in politics through the electoral system. In
this text, as far as countries with a proportional representation
system are concerned, the Assembly recommended:
In
this text, as far as countries with a proportional representation
system are concerned, the Assembly recommended:
- the introduction of legislation imposing gender quotas, ideally of at least 40% of female candidates;
- recourse to a rank-order rule (for example alternating male and female candidates);
- the introduction and implementation of effective sanctions for non-compliance.
4. With regard to countries with majority or plurality systems,
the Assembly recommended:
- introducing the principle of each party choosing a candidate amongst at least one female and one male nominee in each party district;
- finding innovative ways of ensuring increased representation of women in politics, such as, for example, applying innovative mandatory gender quotas within political parties, “all-women shortlists” or “twinned” constituencies;
- the introduction and implementation of effective sanctions applicable to party structures which do not comply.
5. With the present report, I intend to contribute to the reflection
on how to improve the representativeness of national parliaments,
highlighting the key role that political parties can play to promote
women’s chances to stand for election, get voted, and play a leadership
role in politics. This report will look at the wide range of measures
that political parties can take, on their own initiative, to increase
women’s political participation and representation, with a focus
on parliamentary elections. Although most considerations are also
applicable to local and regional elections, I have not developed
this aspect, which will be dealt with in Ms Pourbaix-Lundin’s opinion
on the report “For more democratic elections”. The findings of the
present report will integrate the Assembly’s previous work on legislated
quotas and should be taken into account in the context of the award
of the next Gender Equality Prize.
2. Methodology of the report
6. For the preparation of this report, I have relied
on desk research and an exchange of views with two experts, Professor
Joni Lovenduski, Anniversary Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College,
University of London and Dr Saskia C.I. Ravesloot, Gender Expert
at the Belgian Development Agency, held during the meeting of the
Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in Paris, on
8 December 2011.
7. Reports and research conducted by international organisations
have also been an important source of information. Indeed, bodies
such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the European Commission and the Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) are increasingly turning their attention
to the role of political parties in achieving a balanced representation
of women and men in politics.5
8. A key contribution to the report has also been provided by
the replies to a questionnaire, which was addressed to the political
parties represented in the Assembly. The main added value of the
questionnaire is that it enabled me to use first-hand information
and to identify examples of good practice. A total of 45 replies from
20 Council of Europe member States have been received and taken
into consideration.
3. The internal functioning of political parties: between self-regulation and law
9. Political parties are key players in pluralist democracies.
Their existence is a direct expression of fundamental freedoms such
as freedom of association, of assembly and of thought, which are
recognised by modern constitutions and enshrined in the European
Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5, “the Convention”). As a result
of this close link with fundamental political freedoms, political
parties have a great deal of autonomy in regulating their structure
and internal functioning: normally, the law does not interfere with the
internal regulation of political parties but it may do so to protect
the general interest or to ensure the respect of fundamental democratic
principles.
10. The OSCE/ODIHR and the European Commission for Democracy through
Law (Venice Commission) have elaborated a set of Guidelines on political
parties regulations, aimed at promoting best practices. Although
this document has a very wide scope, it also covers the issue of
women’s political participation and representation.
Although
this document has a very wide scope, it also covers the issue of
women’s political participation and representation.11. As a background, the Guidelines recall some basic legal instruments
in this area, namely:
- the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which imposes on States parties the obligation to take all appropriate measures to ensure the full development and advancement of women, specifically indicates the possibility for them to introduce positive action;
- the 2009 Committee of Ministers’ Declaration “Making gender equality a reality”, which urges member States to introduce positive action or special measures in order to achieve balanced representation of women and men in political and public decision-making.
12. According to the Guidelines, the selection of candidates is
a critical stage in ensuring women’s balanced representation: “Recognizing
that candidate selection and determination of ranking order on electoral
lists is often dominated by closed entities and old networks of
established politicians, clear and transparent criteria for candidate
selection is needed, in order for new members (including women,
and minorities) to get access to decision-making positions. Gender-balanced
composition of selecting bodies should also be commended.”
13. Furthermore, the Guidelines mention a range of measures that
political parties can introduce to ensure that women have an adequate
opportunity to compete in elections and to be represented in elected
bodies. Amongst such measures are:
- the creation of specific women’s wings, which enable women to discuss issues of common concern;
- requirements for gender balance in boards;
- the introduction of voluntary quotas;
- the organisation of training and capacity-building programmes for female candidates prior to their selection;
- the organisation of gender-sensitive training for party members and staff;
- the adoption, implementation and evaluation of gender equality strategies;
- the introduction of gender-sensitive working methods and hours, enabling women to reconcile political and family responsibilities.
14. Many of these measures are already being applied by political
parties in member States. However, it is important that the OSCE/ODIHR
has gathered them in specific guidelines, as this gives them greater
authority as a source of inspiration for other parties. I encourage
both the Council of Europe and the OSCE/ODIHR, in the context of
their work to strengthen democratic institutions in their respective
member States, to set up activities in order to promote and monitor
the introduction, implementation and impact of such measures by political
parties. The Council for Democratic Elections plays a key role in
advising Council of Europe member States in the area of electoral
law and should further develop its work in the area of women’s representation.
4. The European Court of Human Rights and the case of Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij v. the Netherlands (10 July 2012)
15. In the replies to the questionnaire, my attention
was drawn to the Reformed Political Party (Staatkundig Gereformeerde
Partij, SGP) in the Netherlands, which does not allow
women to stand as candidates for election (until 2006 this party
did not even admit women as party members).
16. The SGP is a confessional political party rooted in historical
Dutch Reformed Protestantism, which rejects the idea of absolute
equality of human beings as a false teaching of the French revolution.
This party affirms that, although being of equal value before God,
women and men are different in nature and talents. Its statute spells
out that, as a result, women should not be eligible for public office.
17. Following legal action brought forward by a number of non-governmental
organisations, in 2010, the Dutch Supreme Court found that the Dutch
State was under an obligation to take measures that would lead to the
SGP granting the right to stand for election to women. However,
even though such an obligation was based on the Dutch Constitution
(Article 4), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(Article 25 together with Article 2) and the CEDAW (Article 7),
the Dutch Supreme Court underlined that it was not within the courts’ remit
to indicate what specific measures the State should take to this
end. In fact, the Dutch Elections Law does not include any requirement
as regards the gender composition of the lists or the obligation
for political parties to allow candidates of both sexes to run.
18. In February 2011, the SGP appealed to the European Court of
Human Rights (“the Court”) against the judgment of the Dutch Supreme
Court, arguing that it was in breach of Articles 9, 10 and 11 of
the European Convention on Human Rights, respectively on freedom
of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association
19. Although this case was found inadmissible, it is of great
interest for my report because for the first time the Strasbourg
Court was called to examine a case on political parties and women’s
participation in politics. Amongst the main remarks made by the
Court are that:
- “the advancement of the equality of sexes is today a major goal in the member States of the Council of Europe. This means that very weighty reasons would have to be advanced before a difference of treatment on the grounds of sex could be regarded as compatible with the Convention”;
- “nowadays, the advancement of the equality of the sexes in the member States of the Council of Europe prevents the State from lending support to views of the man’s role as primordial and the woman’s role as secondary.”
20. Finally, recalling the judgment of the Dutch Supreme Court
and its conclusion that “the SGP’s position is unacceptable regardless
of the deeply held religious conviction on which it is based”, the
Court stated that the same conclusion can be drawn on the basis
of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular from Article
3 of Protocol No. 1, on free and fair elections, taken together
with Article 14 on non-discrimination.
5. Progress in women’s political representation: different paths
21. There is no single formula on how to enhance women’s
representation in politics. Each country has followed its own path,
strongly influenced by different political traditions, political
and electoral systems, the different degree of awareness of the
importance of gender equality also in the area of political decision-making, and
many other considerations. Without any pretence of being exhaustive,
in this section I provide examples drawn from the experience of
different regions or member States.
5.1. Nordic countries
22. The Nordic countries have amongst the highest proportion
of women in parliament in the world. This result
has been achieved in different ways: Finland has never applied either
legislated or voluntary gender quotas, while Denmark only resorted
to the latter option for a short time; in Norway and Sweden, on
the contrary, most political parties have introduced voluntary quotas
applying to the composition of electoral lists. A common element
to all these countries is that, in their political culture, gender
equality is an issue of the highest importance.
This result
has been achieved in different ways: Finland has never applied either
legislated or voluntary gender quotas, while Denmark only resorted
to the latter option for a short time; in Norway and Sweden, on
the contrary, most political parties have introduced voluntary quotas
applying to the composition of electoral lists. A common element
to all these countries is that, in their political culture, gender
equality is an issue of the highest importance.23. Irrespective of these different strategies, the current level
of women’s representation is the result of a complex process which
started for all the countries of the region in the 1920s, when some
political parties established women’s wings to exchange and influence
opinions, as well as to strengthen the capacity of women members
in political matters.
24. In Norway and Sweden, particularly from the 1970s, the women’s
movement applied pressure to all political parties, asking for quotas.
The proposal met with some resistance, as certain parties viewed
quotas as illiberal. However, resistance was overcome: the Norwegian
Socialist Left Party (SV Sosialistisk Venstreparti)
introduced a 40% minimum quota in 1975 and in 1983 the Norwegian
Labour Party did the same for candidates of either sex at all electoral
nominations. In
Sweden, the Liberal Party introduced a policy of a minimum of 40%
of either sex in internal boards and committees in 1972. In
1994, the Swedish Social Democratic Party introduced the principle
of “a woman every second candidate on the list” (zip-list).
In
Sweden, the Liberal Party introduced a policy of a minimum of 40%
of either sex in internal boards and committees in 1972. In
1994, the Swedish Social Democratic Party introduced the principle
of “a woman every second candidate on the list” (zip-list). 25. The introduction of voluntary quotas was a ground-breaking
step which brought decisive progress in women’s political representation.
However, quotas would not have succeeded alone. As Birgitta Dahl,
former Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, said: “We
did not start with a quota system. First we laid the groundwork to
facilitate women's entry into politics. We prepared the women to
ensure they were competent to enter the field; and we prepared the
system, which made it a little less shameful for men to step aside.
Then we used quotas as an instrument in segments and institutions
where we needed a breakthrough.”
26. In Norway and Sweden, voluntary quotas are formulated in a
gender-neutral way, requiring a minimum and a maximum quota for
both sexes. As a result, there have been cases in which men have
been moved up the list in order to fulfil the quota requirement. Also
in Denmark, for the period in which voluntary quotas were applied,
they were gender neutral (the Socialist People’s Party from 1977
to 1996 and the Social Democratic Party from 1983 to 1996 applied
a 40% quota).
Also
in Denmark, for the period in which voluntary quotas were applied,
they were gender neutral (the Socialist People’s Party from 1977
to 1996 and the Social Democratic Party from 1983 to 1996 applied
a 40% quota). 5.2. The United Kingdom
27. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy with
a strong civil society and an extensive range of women’s advocacy
groups. Traditionally, State interference with the party system
is minimum. The electoral system for the House of Commons is majoritarian
uninominal, with no specific obligations set out in the law as regards
either the gender composition of the lists or the ranking order.
28. Since the 1980s, all the political parties in the United Kingdom
have announced their commitment to improving the level of women’s
political representation. Most parties encouraged women candidates
to come forward and called on local branches to give them fair consideration.
However, the overall improvements were negligible at first.
29. A turning point in women’s political representation occurred
in 1997, when 120 women parliamentarians were elected to the House
of Commons, doubling the number of women in parliament. The main
reason for this sharp increase was the Labour Party’s decision to
shortlist only women to stand for election in half of what were
considered as winnable seats. The strategy succeeded, with 101 women
Labour candidates being elected (as opposed to 37 in the previous
election).
30. “All-women shortlists” were the climax of an internal party
policy aimed at boosting women’s representation, including gender
quotas in decision-making bodies and committees selecting candidates, training
in gender equality for selectors and training for women candidates.
This wide range of measures was introduced following pressure from
the women’s wing of the Labour Party.
31. Despite their positive impact, all-women shortlists had detractors:
many, including within the Labour Party itself, considered them
as anti-democratic and discriminatory. As a matter of fact, the
party abandoned this policy following the decision of an industrial
tribunal, which found that the exclusion of male party members from
the shortlisting was in breach of anti-discrimination law.
32. At the following general elections, held in 2001, political
parties did not put in place such far-reaching mechanisms for fear
of legal challenges. As a result, the number of women elected went
down for the first time in over twenty years, to 118 (of which 95
Labour, 14 Conservatives and 5 Liberal Democrats), out of 459 members
of the House of Commons.
33. In 2002, the Sex Discrimination (Elections) Act permitted
an exception to the obligation of non-discrimination to nominate
women candidates, including the use of all women shortlists, until
2015. The Equality
Act adopted in 2010 extended this possibility until 2030.
The Equality
Act adopted in 2010 extended this possibility until 2030. 34. The positive trend in women’s representation reappeared in
2005 with 128 women MPs elected (including 98 Labour, 23 of whom
were elected on the basis of all-women shortlists, 17 Conservatives
and 5 Liberal Democrats) and in 2010 with 143 (including 81 Labour,
49 Conservatives and 7 Liberal Democrats).
35. During the 2011 elections, the Labour Party relied on all-women
shortlists. The Conservatives’ Central Office set up a priority
list (A-list), including an equal number of women and men and a
significant proportion of people from minority groups, and encouraged
local associations to choose from this list would-be candidates for
140 winnable seats.
36. The Liberal Democrats have never introduced either all-women
or priority lists. In 2001, the Liberal Democrat annual conference
considered a proposal to impose an all-women shortlist in each constituency being
left vacant by a Liberal Democrat MP. The proposal was rejected
as illiberal and no similar measure has been proposed since then.
5.3. Belgium
37. Also in Belgium, the issue of women’s under-representation
in politics emerged on the political agenda in the early 1980s.
In the framework of Belgium’s proportional electoral system, legislated
quotas were deemed the most effective tool to redress it. In 1994,
Parliament adopted a law prohibiting political parties from forming electoral
lists comprising more than 66% of candidates of the same sex.
38. In 2002, a constitutional reform incorporated the principle
of gender equality into the highest level source of law. Following
the reform, several pieces of federal legislation were issued to
increase the number of women in legislative assemblies at regional,
federal and European level. A new gender quota was also introduced, requiring
parties to put forward an equal number of women and men as candidates.
Non-compliance with these rules is sanctioned with the invalidation
of the electoral lists.
39. Even before the legislated quotas were introduced, the three
major Flemish parties (Christian Democrats, Liberals and Socialists),
the French-speaking Christian Democrats and both green parties applied their
own voluntary quotas.
40. Against this background, in January 2007, 10 Belgian political
parties signed a Charter of Political parties on “Gender equality
as a permanent objective of political parties in Belgium”. The
Charter’s nine articles laid down standards to which the political
parties commit themselves in order to ensure gender equality within
their structures.
The
Charter’s nine articles laid down standards to which the political
parties commit themselves in order to ensure gender equality within
their structures. 41. Despite being an important symbolic document, the Charter
avoids taking a position on the issue of gender parity and quotas
in the decision-making structures of political parties and neither
does it establish a common monitoring mechanism or sanctions for
non-compliance. As a result, its impact remains very limited.
42. The example of Belgium, however, proved successful as far
as legislated quotas are concerned, with women’s representation
passing from 23.3% in 1999 to 35.3% in 2003, and being maintained
above 30% thereafter.
5.4. Post-communist countries
43. In central and eastern European countries, the communist
ideology of equality and the way in which it was perceived have
deeply affected women’s representation in politics, also after communist
regimes gave way to democracy.
44. Prior to the Second World War, western, central and eastern
European countries did not differ substantially as regards women’s
political participation in public life: everywhere, traditionalist
attitudes prevailed, with home being considered as the natural place
for women. With the outset of communist regimes, however, the situation
started to diverge, at least formally. One of the most important
principles of communist ideology was to empower groups that had
been historically disadvantaged, including women. As a result, throughout
the period 1945-1989, women’s representation in parliament soared
to around 30%, while it was much lower in many western European
countries.
45. Women’s formal participation in parliament, however, did not
imply real empowerment, as the truly ruling body was the communist
party, in which women were seldom represented at decision-making
level. It did not even imply a radical change in gender roles, as
women carried the multiple burden of reconciling family, professional
and sometimes political life, while retaining the main responsibility
for domestic tasks. The fact that a few of them managed to reach
leadership positions did not imply an improvement in the situation
of ordinary women.
46. With the transition to democracy, in 1989, women’s representation
in all the post-communist countries declined sharply. Following
the first democratic elections in Poland, women represented only
13.5% in the Sejm and 6% in the Senate. In Hungary, they were 7.3%. In
Romania, the proportion of women in parliament fell below 5%.
In
Romania, the proportion of women in parliament fell below 5%. 47. This phenomenon may be due to the emergence of new political
priorities – especially tackling the transition to market economies
– and to the open return to traditional attitudes on men and women’s
respective roles. Paradoxically, as a major element of communist
propaganda, with the advent of democracy gender equality was perceived
as an artificial and forcibly enforced objective and a return to
the past, as opposed to a political priority for the future or an
issue that would attract votes.
48. Throughout the ‘90s, women’s representation in parliament
remained very low. For some countries, namely Romania, Poland and
the Baltic States, it started to rise only in the following decade,
perhaps also in response to the process of European Union accession,
as gender mainstreaming and equality were amongst the yardsticks
against which the progress of candidate countries would be measured.
In Hungary, however, the proportion of women in the national parliament
has always remained very low, and is currently only 8.8%.
49. It is also interesting to note that, for all the central and
eastern European countries which are European Union members, women
have a higher representation in the European Parliament than at
national level. This difference has been explained in various ways:
perhaps political parties are more prepared to put women candidates
forward on electoral lists for the European Parliament because they
want to appear modern, or because within the same party there is
less competition to run for the European Parliament than for national parliaments.
50. In Romania, legislated quotas have never been introduced but
some political parties have applied voluntary quotas since 2001.
In that year, the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR, later
PSD) announced that it would introduce a 25% quota for women in
its electoral lists; the Democratic Party announced a quota of 30%.
These declarations were not translated into concrete actions: the
number of women on their electoral lists fell short of what was
promised and they were not placed high on the lists. Prior to following elections
– in 2004 and 2008 – a number of political parties announced recourse
to voluntary quotas but the impact on the number of women in parliament
has not been of great significance.
51. In my opinion, the case of Romania shows that, to be effective,
voluntary party quotas should be strictly implemented and be accompanied
by a commitment to place women on winnable seats or according to
a favourable ranking order on lists of candidates.
52. While a number of political parties in central and eastern
Europe have adopted voluntary quotas, legislated quotas are rare,
having being introduced only by Poland in 2011. It is still too
early to assess the impact of this new legislation, even if it is
worth mentioning that the Polish quota system does not foresee any safeguard
as regards the ranking order on electoral lists, a major weakness
that might affect its effectiveness. At the moment, a proposal to
introduce a 20% legislated quota on electoral lists is under discussion
in the Ukrainian parliament.
6. Good practices
53. As I mentioned earlier, voluntary quotas are only
one of many measures that political parties can introduce in order
to enhance women’s active political engagement. In this chapter,
I would like to describe a wide range of good practices for promoting
women’s political participation and representation, as indicated
by the replies to the questionnaire.
6.1. Statutory commitment to gender equality
54. In recent years, some political parties have introduced
a commitment to gender equality in their charter and statute, in
addition to referring to it in their electoral programmes. For instance,
in 2010, the Austrian Social Democratic Party changed its statute
to include a commitment to gender equality, introducing also the obligation
of a 40% gender quota in all the party’s decision-making bodies
and the zipper system for the composition of electoral lists.
55. Most parties, however, have included in their statute a commitment
to gender equality and mainstreaming, without specifying quota requirements.
This is the case, for instance, for the Greens in Germany, the Republican
People’s Party in Turkey, the Party of Communists of the Republic
of Moldova, the New Azerbaijan Party and the Greens in Iceland.
The Dutch Christians have no statutory commitment to gender equality
but have instead adopted a resolution on it.
6.2. Encouraging recruitment of women party members
56. Women’s membership in the political parties that
replied to the questionnaire ranges from a minimum of 25% (the Democratic
Liberal Party in Romania, the Christian Democrats in the Netherlands)
to a maximum of 52% (the Union for a Better Future of Bosnia-Herzegovina,
SBB-BIH). Despite
this broad span, as far as I aware, only the German Greens have
organised a campaign to promote women’s membership. In
all the countries covered by the report, women-only and other structures
play an important role in mobilising support and encouraging women’s
membership.
Despite
this broad span, as far as I aware, only the German Greens have
organised a campaign to promote women’s membership. In
all the countries covered by the report, women-only and other structures
play an important role in mobilising support and encouraging women’s
membership.6.3. Women-only structures
57. The existence of women-only structures within political
parties is instrumental in giving impulse to discussions on the
selection of women candidates, their participation in decision-making
bodies and their access to financial resources. However, the power
of these structures greatly depends on their relations with the
decision-making bodies of the party. Often, they remain only advisory
structures with a limited budget. As stressed by Dr Ravesloot, there
is a “need to strengthen the power basis of the women-only structures”.
58. The first women’s political organisation in the world was
the United Kingdom Conservative Women’s Organisation (CWO), a structure
which is still active today and which forms “the grassroot network
that provides support and focus for women, campaigning on particular
areas of concern and encouraging women to become politically active.
The organisation is also instrumental in ensuring that the women’s
perspective is taken into account”.
59. With the exception of the Green Party in Iceland, all the
parties that replied to the questionnaire confirmed that they have
all-women structures. To give an example, in the Austrian Social
Democratic party, there are women wings at national, regional and
local level. All women members of the Austrian Social Democratic
Party (SPÖ) are also members of the SPO women’s organisation and
are invited to participate in its activities.
60. Most importantly, the women’s organisation of the SPO has
its own budget, which is used for enhancing women’s capacity and
training to take up leadership positions. Similarly, the women’s
organisation of the Christian Democrats in the Netherlands is given
a yearly allocation, which it can spend as it deems fit (this allocation
amounts to 28 000 euros for 2012). The women’s branch of the Flemish
Socialist Party of Belgium has its own budget and can raise external
funds, in addition to receiving a contribution from the party. The women’s
branch of the Conservative Party in Norway, the Høyres Kvinneforum, also has its
own funding. In Switzerland, the women’s wing of the Socialist Party
has a budget equivalent to 4.3% of the total party budget. In the
majority of the other political parties that replied, the women’s
branch of the party does not dispose of its own independent funding
but receives allocations according to its needs.
61. In some cases, membership in all-women structures is voluntary,
and not automatic for all women with party membership (this is the
case, for instance, for the Cyprus Green Party, the Christian Democrats
in the Netherlands, the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova). In
the Women’s Union of the Party of the Communists of the Republic
of Moldova, participation is voluntary and open also to non-party
members.
6.4. Other structures to promote women’s political representation
62. It is more rare, but some parties have specific gender-mixed
structures to promote women’s political participation. The British
Conservative Party, for instance, explains that it trebled the number
of its women MPs during the last election also as a result of the
impact of the Women2Win organisation, which
is described as: “a broad cross section of men and women from across
the Conservative Party who have come together in a recognition that
the Party constantly needs to change in order to win the trust and
confidence of the British people. The aim of Women2Win is to continue
wholeheartedly in sourcing and helping more women of high calibre
into Government.”
which
is described as: “a broad cross section of men and women from across
the Conservative Party who have come together in a recognition that
the Party constantly needs to change in order to win the trust and
confidence of the British people. The aim of Women2Win is to continue
wholeheartedly in sourcing and helping more women of high calibre
into Government.” 6.5. Gender quotas in executive boards
63. Some political parties have introduced internal quotas
for their decision-making bodies. For instance, in Germany, the
Greens apply a 50% quota. In
Italy, the Democratic Party does the same. Other
examples include the Republican People’s Party in Turkey, which
applies a quota of 30%; the German CDU and the Liberal Democratic
Party of Moldova, which apply a minimum quota of 30%.
In
Italy, the Democratic Party does the same. Other
examples include the Republican People’s Party in Turkey, which
applies a quota of 30%; the German CDU and the Liberal Democratic
Party of Moldova, which apply a minimum quota of 30%. 64. The majority of the political parties that replied to the
questionnaire do not foresee special quotas for decision-making
bodies. Some of them have a very good representation of women anyway,
sometimes approaching gender parity (the Greens in Iceland and in
Cyprus, for instance). In other cases, there are quotas but they
do not apply to all decision-making bodies (this is the case for
the Flemish Socialist Party).
6.6. Voluntary gender quotas in electoral lists
65. In about 30 Council of Europe member States, one
or more political parties have adopted voluntary quotas in order
to guarantee that a minimum proportion of candidates are women. Such quotas
sometimes vary, as the decision to introduce them is taken by party
decision in advance of elections. There have been, therefore, cases
in which quotas have been discontinued.
Such quotas
sometimes vary, as the decision to introduce them is taken by party
decision in advance of elections. There have been, therefore, cases
in which quotas have been discontinued.66. Voluntary quotas range from a minimum of 33% (the Republican
People’s Party in Turkey) to a maximum of 50% (the Greens in Germany,
the Socialist Party in Switzerland). As already mentioned, in some
countries they are formulated in a gender-neutral way.
6.7. Ranking order in electoral lists
67. The order in which candidates appear in the electoral
lists can influence their chances of being elected. This is why
a number of political parties have voluntarily introduced the zipper
principle (A-B-A-B), which involves alternating women and men candidates
(the Greens in Switzerland, Germany, Austria; the Swedish Moderate
Part; the Labour Party in the United Kingdom). The Green Party in
Iceland applies a system by which every two posts there must be
one man and one woman (A-B-B-A). Despite these safeguards, it often
happens that men are placed as heads of the lists more often than
women and that, in the case of uneven-numbered lists, there are
more men than women.
6.8. Mentorship/leadership programmes
68. Although not a widespread practice, some political
parties organise mentorship or leadership courses for women in politics.
For instance, in Sweden, for many years, the Moderate Party Women’s
League has organised special leadership training for women. These
two-year training courses start every year and each group includes
20 participants nominated by the party’s local associations. The
purpose is to strengthen women’s capacity and prepare them to take
on more responsible political assignments for the Moderate Party. Funding
for this training is included in the support from the State to the
Moderate Party Women’s League. Course fees are covered by the participants'
associations.
6.9. Access to financial resources
69. Unequal access to financial resources is one of the
major obstacles to women’s active participation in politics. Without
financial resources, women politicians cannot campaign successfully
and progress in their political career; they cannot get a nomination
for which they have to travel, participate in party meetings, network
in their constituency and organise a campaign team. The lack of
financial resources for women candidates can slow down their progression
within political parties and therefore their access to elected positions.
In addition, women face various obstacles when fundraising: “Male
politicians are better networkers, and manage to mobilise resources
outside the political parties more easily.”
70. Women’s fundraising organisations have been influential in
raising and mobilising funds for women candidates in the United
States. The American organisation Emily’s list, founded in 1985,
supports women candidates of the Democratic Party in the pre-nomination
stage. Once screened and selected, a candidate would receive funding
to start campaigning for nomination. No
similar organisations exist in Europe.
No
similar organisations exist in Europe.71. A particularly good practice occurs in Sweden, where parties
represented in the Riksdag receive financial support from the State
for activities targeting women. The Swedish Moderate Party has informed
me that, relying on State funding and on its own resources, it spends
the equivalent of 2.5% of the total party budget on capacity-building
activities targeting women. The party’s women’s associations cover
the costs of additional activities at regional level.
72. In Turkey, the Republican People’s Party lowers the cost of
being a candidate for women. At the last parliamentary elections,
women candidates paid 2 000 Turkish liras (approximately 870 euros)
while men paid 3 000 liras (approximately 1 230 euros).
6.10. Measures for the reconciliation of family and political life
73. Conscious of the fact that, on average, women take
up a greater share of family responsibilities than men, some political
parties apply incentives to help women reconcile their political
ambitions with their private life. The most common measure is the
provision of child-care during party conferences and important Party events,
as it is the case for the Austrian Social Democratic Party and the
Greens in Germany.
74. Looking at the reconciliation challenge in the United Kingdom,
the Fawcett Society suggested having childcare costs included in
the campaign financing covered by political parties. “Assistance
for candidates in financial difficulty and an understanding for
candidates with caring responsibilities are essential if genuine equality
of opportunity is to be achieved.”
75. In general, however, the replies to the questionnaire highlight
that internal party policies in this area have been so far largely
neglected.”
6.11. Media access and training
76. Political parties have adapted their media strategies
to new media. With the development of the Internet, social networks,
blogs and online forums of discussion, men and women party members
have an opportunity to be on a more equal footing when communicating
information and launching web campaigning.
77. Nevertheless, both new and traditional media (press, television
and radio) often convey a stereotyped image of women politicians,
commenting on their looks, lifestyle and family choices rather than
on their political programmes and proposals. The media and the public
opinion sometimes hint that women holding high profile political
posts may have obtained them for reasons other than strictly their
professionalism and expertise.
78. Many political parties provide media communication training
to their members embarking on an electoral campaign. The strategies
often include information on the use of the new social networks
and the interest for a politician to maintain a blog and provide
information about his or her activities via regular feeds to a twitter account.
79. Media training sessions specifically addressed to women politicians
have proved to be a good practice, providing them with advice and
tips on how to use the media time allocated in the most efficient
way and on how to avoid being trapped in gender-biased questions.
80. In the Swedish Moderate Party, media training for women is
organised both centrally and regionally. The Conservative Party
in Norway also organises specific media training for women. In most
parties surveyed, media training for women is organised by the women’s
party wing (for instance, the Christian Democrats in the Netherlands)
or by foundations linked to the party (the Socialist Party in Austria,
the Greens in Germany).
7. State funding and women’s representation
81. In July 2012, Ireland introduced a groundbreaking
piece of legislation: political parties that do not include at least
30% of women on their lists for parliamentary elections will lose
half of their State funding, for the entire duration of the legislature.
This quota will be raised to 40% in seven years’ time.
82. Although the law stirred controversy and caused much debate,
it received cross-party support from the main political forces;
it was initiated, promoted and defended by men holding key political
responsibilities; and was proposed and discussed not so much as
a tool to improve gender equality but as a means to strengthen democracy
and good governance.
83. Linking the failure to meet electoral quotas to financial
sanctions is not a new idea; this already happens in France. However,
what is interesting about the Irish legislation is the size of the
sanction: while in France fines are modest and political parties
prefer to pay them rather than comply with quota regulations, for
Irish political parties the risk of losing half their State funding
is bound to have a much greater dissuasive effect.
84. From 2012, financial incentives will also be applied by Georgia
– the Council of Europe member State with the lowest representation
of women in parliament: according to new legal provisions, the State’s
financial allocation will be increased by 10% for political parties
that present at least 20% women in every 10 candidates.
8. Women’s representation and participation in the Parliamentary Assembly
85. Over the years, the Assembly has introduced and successively
strengthened measures to ensure a balanced representation of women
and men and to promote women’s participation in its structures.
Even though the modalities for the election/appointment of national
delegations to the Assembly are decided by national parliaments,
the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, as revised in 2007, require that
“[n]ational delegations should include members of the under-represented
sex at least in the same percentage as in their parliaments”. In
addition, following a further revision of the Rules in 2010, national
delegations should at a very minimum include “one member of the
under-represented sex appointed as a representative”. This
latter requirement was introduced in response to women’s under-representation
amongst full members, which was an obstacle to their participation.
This
latter requirement was introduced in response to women’s under-representation
amongst full members, which was an obstacle to their participation.86. On a few occasions, credentials have been challenged for non-compliance
with the gender requirements, and the situation has been subsequently
redressed. Even if they are not subjected to
the ratification of the credentials, also delegations of partners
for democracy are required to include at least the same percentage
of the under-represented sex as is present in the parliament and
in any case one representative of each sex.
Even if they are not subjected to
the ratification of the credentials, also delegations of partners
for democracy are required to include at least the same percentage
of the under-represented sex as is present in the parliament and
in any case one representative of each sex. 87. The Rules of Procedure also require that, in the context of
the appointment of rapporteurs, gender-balanced representation be
taken into account, after competence and availability and fair representation
of political groups (and before geographical and national balance). Similarly,
as regards the election of bureaux of committee and sub-committees,
the relevant rules provide that elections should be held while taking
into account the principle of gender equality. Finally, in the context of the
2011 reform of the Assembly, the requirement for candidates to committee
bureaux to be full members of the committee as opposed to alternates was
waived. The Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men had
proposed such a measure, with a view to removing an indirect discrimination
against women who, as mentioned earlier, were under-represented
amongst full members.
Similarly,
as regards the election of bureaux of committee and sub-committees,
the relevant rules provide that elections should be held while taking
into account the principle of gender equality. Finally, in the context of the
2011 reform of the Assembly, the requirement for candidates to committee
bureaux to be full members of the committee as opposed to alternates was
waived. The Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men had
proposed such a measure, with a view to removing an indirect discrimination
against women who, as mentioned earlier, were under-represented
amongst full members.88. Although welcoming these safeguards, I cannot but consider
them as a minimum standard. While recommending that members States
introduce gender quotas, the Assembly has never had the boldness
to demand the same of its national delegations. On the contrary,
on several occasions, proposals to impose a minimum of 30% of the
under-represented sex in Assembly national delegations have been
rejected.
89. Similarly, the Assembly has always shied away from introducing
quotas for its own decision-making structures or positions of responsibility.
The most comprehensive Assembly text in this area is Resolution 1585 (2007) on
gender equality principles in the Parliamentary Assembly, which
asks Assembly members to support the candidate of the under-represented
sex for all Assembly or committee positions when candidates are
of equal merit.
90. Despite this resolution, and the indisputable progress in
women’s representation in the Assembly over the years, women are
under-represented in all posts of responsibility. Following an initiative
by the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, in 2011
the Bureau of the Assembly agreed that more transparency in this
area was necessary and decided to publish, on a yearly basis, the
gender breakdown of Assembly positions. Thus, in 2011, women represented
overall 31% of the members of the Assembly, 15% of the vice-presidents,
17% of the Presidential Committee and 19% of the Bureau of the Assembly.
At committee level, women represented 20% of chairpersons, 28% of
committees’ Bureau members, 37% of rapporteurs for report and 32%
of rapporteurs for opinion.
91. Already in its above-mentioned Resolution 1585 (2007), the Assembly
acknowledged the key role played by political groups in giving women
greater opportunities for visibility and responsibility. I fully
share this point of view. Political groups have in their hands the
promotion of women’s chances in the Assembly: they decide candidatures
for chairmanships of committees, membership in election observation
missions; they often propose candidatures for committee rapporteurships
and representatives; they discuss reports to be debated – and they
can choose to take a gender-sensitive approach to them – and, in
conclusion, they set to a great extent the Assembly’s agenda and
priorities.
92. In this regard, I would like to recall that the Socialist
Group is the only one with a specific women-only structure, which
meets on a regular basis. I would like to invite also the other
political groups to set up a similar structure, like the national
political parties. Empowering women should be a cross-party objective.
93. Finally, I wish to underline that, also for the Assembly,
quotas are not the only way to promote women’s representation and
participation. There are many other measures which are liable to
bring about a change of mentality and political culture, as described
in the following extract from Assembly Resolution 1781 (2010) “A minimum
of 30% of representatives of the under-represented sex in Assembly
national delegations”:
“The Assembly therefore decides to strengthen its dialogue with national parliaments on this question and to continue its consideration of measures that could be implemented by national parliaments to increase women's representation in the Assembly. These measures might include awareness-raising programmes for members of parliament; the development of 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 stand for election and encourage their active participation in parliamentary delegations. The Assembly also considers that awareness-raising activities targeted at certain national delegations could also serve a useful purpose. In this connection, it encourages its political groups and the national parliaments to promote women’s access to decision-making posts and elected office and to take part in the next edition of the Parliamentary Assembly’s Gender Equality Prize.”
9. The Parliamentary Assembly’s Gender Equality Prize
94. As part and parcel of the increased interest of the
Assembly in the issue of women’s representation, which led to amendments
to its Rules of Procedure in 2007, the Assembly also decided to
set up a prize “to reward actions, schemes or initiatives that have
been or are in the process of being carried out by political parties
and have brought about a significant improvement in women's participation
in elected assemblies, political parties and their respective executives”.
95. With this initiative, the Assembly sought “to highlight the
importance it attaches to promoting women’s access to elected office
and decision-making positions in political parties and acknowledge
the special responsibility political parties have for fostering
equal opportunities for women and men”.
96. According to a detailed procedure, “The political groups in
the Parliamentary Assembly, in the European Parliament and in member
States’ national parliaments will be able to submit a candidature
file for the award, including the description of specific action
taken by one or more political parties that has helped to achieve
the objective of the Prize, namely a balanced participation of women
and men in political life”.
97. The Prize was awarded for the first time in 2009 to the Portuguese
Socialist Party, in recognition of their adopting internal quotas
as far back as 1995 and then passing a parity law requiring a minimum
of 33% of candidates from the under-represented sex on party lists
for European, parliamentary and municipal elections. The second
and third prize-winners were respectively the United Kingdom Labour
Party and the Swedish Left Party. I
hope that my report will contribute to the identification of possible
winners of the next Gender Equality Prize, which should be awarded
in 2014.
I
hope that my report will contribute to the identification of possible
winners of the next Gender Equality Prize, which should be awarded
in 2014.10. Conclusions
98. Overall, in Europe, women’s participation and representation
in politics has increased steadily over the last decades. It suffices
to recall that, until 1971 women in Switzerland did not enjoy active
or passive voting rights in federal elections to realise what enormous
strides have been accomplished in the area of gender equality in
the political field.
99. Thanks to the evolution of mentalities, I do not believe anybody
could deny today that women’s balanced representation in politics
is at the same time an achievement for women’s rights and an essential
prerequisite for the good functioning of a democracy. However, the
debate on how such a balanced representation should be brought about
is to a large extent open.
100. In the present report, I have highlighted that there is no
one single way to improve women’s representation. Different countries
may decide to opt for different approaches, according to their history, political
culture and the place occupied by gender equality therein. Amongst
the tools at the States’ disposal are electoral legislation – including
legislated quotas requiring the presence of a minimum proportion
of women in electoral lists – and financial or other inducements.
101. Although I often hear that quotas are a controversial measure,
I should recall that they are in use in the majority of Council
of Europe member States, either as quotas imposed by the legislation
or as voluntary quotas self-imposed by political parties.
102. I must acknowledge, however, that legislated quotas do not
guarantee success and that, only in a few cases they have managed
to break the glass ceiling of women’s political representation.
Sometimes, their limited impact has been explained with poor implementation
of the relevant legislation, a weak sanction system, or lack of
provisions fixing the ranking order on electoral lists. These arguments
explain only part of the matter. For me, the reality is that legislated
quotas are at the same time neither indispensable nor sufficient.
103. The examples of countries such as Denmark and Finland show
that it is possible to make remarkable progress in women’s political
representation without quotas, when the entire political culture
and society are sensitive to this political objective. For countries
with a different background, legislated quotas can make a breakthrough,
but for this result to be sustained a wide range of voluntary measures
should be taken, primarily by political parties, to promote gender
equality in their internal structures at all levels and to strengthen women’s
capacity and ability to take up political responsibilities. In a
nutshell, the key to durable and meaningful progress in women’s
political representation is political culture. Political parties
have the main responsibility to lead the way and make it evolve,
with a view to promoting women’s rights and strengthening the representativeness
of democracy.
Appendix 1 – List of the political parties which replied to the questionnaire
(open)Austria
SPÖ/ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Grunge/The Greens
Azerbaijan
New Azerbaijan Party
Civil Unity Party
Civil Solidarity Party
Great Creation Party
Belgium
Flemish Socialist Party of Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serb Democratic Party
Alliance for a Better Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Party of Democratic Progress of Republika Srpska
Party of Democratic Action
Croatian Democratic Union
Social Democratic Party
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
Cyprus
DISY / Democratic Rally
European Party
DIKO – Democratic Party
AKEL – Progressive party of work
Green Party
Denmark
Danish People’s Party
Finland
National Coalition
True Finns Party
Green League
Finland Swedish People’s Party
Germany
CDU / CSU / Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union
BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN / The Greens
Iceland
The Left-Green Movement
Republic of Moldova
Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova
Democratic Party of Moldova
Liberal Party of de Moldova
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova
Netherlands
Christian Democrats – CDA
Norway
Conservative Party
Portugal
PSD / Social Democratic Party
Romania
Liberal Democratic Party
Serbia
Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians
Spain
People’s Party
Sweden
Moderate Party
Switzerland
Swiss Socialist Party
Christian Democratic People’s Party
Green Party
Turkey
Republican People’s Party
Justice and Development Party
United Kingdom
Conservative Party
Appendix 2 – Synoptic table of quota systems in Council of Europe member States
(open)|
Country |
Women’s representation in parliament |
Ranking amongst Council of Europe member States |
Legislated quotas |
Voluntary quotas by political parties |
|
Albania |
15.7% |
35 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Andorra |
50% |
1 |
No |
Yes |
|
Armenia |
10.7% |
39 |
Yes |
No |
|
Austria |
27.9% (lower chamber) 31.1% (upper chamber) Average = 29.5% |
13 |
No |
Yes |
|
Azerbaijan |
16% |
34 |
No |
No |
|
Belgium |
38% (lower chamber) 40.8% (upper chamber) Average = 39.4% |
7 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
21.4% (lower chamber) 13.3% (upper chamber) Average = 17.35% |
32 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Bulgaria |
20.8% |
25 |
No |
No |
|
Croatia |
23.8% |
19 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Cyprus |
10.7% |
39 |
No |
Yes |
|
Czech Republic |
22% (lower chamber) 18.5% (upper chamber) Average = 20.25% |
27 |
No |
Yes |
|
Denmark |
39.1% |
8 |
No |
No |
|
Estonia |
19.8% |
28 |
No |
No |
|
Finland |
42.5% |
3 |
No |
No |
|
France |
26.9% (lower chamber) 22.2% (upper chamber) Average = 24.55% |
16 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Georgia |
6.6% |
45 |
No |
No |
|
Germany |
32.9% (lower chamber) 27.5% (upper chamber) Average = 30.2% |
12 |
No |
Yes |
|
Greece |
21% |
24 |
No |
Yes |
|
Hungary |
8.8% |
41 |
Yes |
|
|
Iceland |
39.7% |
5 |
No |
Yes |
|
Ireland |
15.1% (lower chamber) 30% (upper chamber) Average = 22.55% |
22 |
Yes |
No |
|
Italy |
21.6% (lower chamber) 19% (upper chamber) Average = 20.3% |
26 |
No |
Yes |
|
Latvia |
23% |
21 |
No |
No |
|
Liechtenstein |
24% |
19 |
||
|
Lithuania |
19.1% |
29 |
No |
Yes |
|
Luxembourg |
25% |
15 |
No |
Yes |
|
Malta |
8.7% |
42 |
No |
Yes |
|
Republic of Moldova |
19.8% |
28 |
No |
Yes |
|
Monaco |
19% |
30 |
No |
No |
|
Montenegro |
12.3% |
38 |
No |
No |
|
Netherlands |
40.7% |
4 |
No |
Yes |
|
Norway |
39.6% |
6 |
No |
Yes |
|
Poland |
23.7% |
20 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Portugal |
28.7% |
14 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Romania |
11.2% (lower chamber) 5.9% (upper chamber) Average = 8.55% |
43 |
No |
Yes |
|
Russian Federation |
13.6% (lower chamber) 4.7% (upper chamber) Average = 9.5% |
40 |
No |
No |
|
San Marino |
18.3% |
31 |
Yes |
No |
|
Serbia |
32.4% |
10 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Slovak Republic |
17.3% |
33 |
No |
No |
|
Slovenia |
32.2% (lower chamber) 2.5% (upper chamber) Average = 15.35% |
36 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Spain |
36% (lower chamber) 33.5% (upper chamber) Average = 34.75 |
9 |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Sweden |
44.7% |
2 |
No |
Yes |
|
Switzerland |
28.7% (lower chamber) 19.6% (upper chamber) Average = 24.15% |
17 |
No |
Yes |
|
“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” |
30.9% |
11 |
Yes |
No |
|
Turkey |
14.2% |
37 |
No |
Yes |
|
Ukraine |
8% |
44 |
No |
Yes |
|
United Kingdom |
22.3% (lower chamber) 21.9% (upper chamber) Average = 22.1% |
23 |
No |
Yes |