Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13571 | 03 July 2014

Assessing the impact of measures to improve women’s political representation

Signatories: Ms Elena CENTEMERO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Anna ASCANI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Deborah BERGAMINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Robert BIEDROŃ, Poland, SOC ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET PEROT, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Geraint DAVIES, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Ismeta DERVOZ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Ms Sahiba GAFAROVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Ms Adele GAMBARO, Italy, ALDE ; Ms Maria GIANNAKAKI, Greece, SOC ; Mr Nazmi GÜR, Turkey, UEL ; Mr Tore HAGEBAKKEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Igor KOLMAN, Croatia, ALDE ; Mr Pierre-Yves LE BORGN', France, SOC ; Ms Meritxell MATEU PI, Andorra, ALDE ; Ms Pirkko MATTILA, Finland, NR ; Mr José MENDES BOTA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Michele NICOLETTI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Nikolaj VILLUMSEN, Denmark, UEL

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The Parliamentary Assembly has repeatedly called on Council of Europe member States to improve the representation of women in political life as a means to achieve genuine democracy. Achieving gender-balanced participation in political life requires all stakeholders to co-operate. Legislation may establish mandatory quotas reserved for women, “zipper” electoral lists in which female and male candidates are placed alternately, or even women’s lists. Political parties have also a specific role to play. In its Resolution 1898 (2012), the Assembly recommended to political parties a series of measures aiming at increasing women’s representation in political life, for example by ensuring that the party structures which select candidates to stand for elections include women or by setting up women-only structures within the party.

In the last two decades, a wide range of measures have been introduced to enhance women’s political representation but equality is still an objective to achieve.

The Assembly should evaluate the measures introduced by different stakeholders, including the authorities, at different levels, and political parties. This evaluation should be both quantitative, and gather information on the proportion of women in various political representative and decision-making institutions, and qualitative, clarifying whether women are present in key positions as opposed to playing secondary roles. On the basis of a thorough analysis of the actual impact of measures and practices introduced so far, the Assembly should identify best practices to be recommended.