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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 12449 | 17 December 2010
Women and the economic and financial crisis
1. The Committee of Ministers notes with
interest Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1911 (2010) on “Women and the economic and financial crisis” which
highlights the importance of bridging the gap between de jure and de
facto gender equality, in particular concerning leadership
and decision-making roles in the current economic and financial
crisis. It has brought the recommendation to the attention of their
governments and has also communicated it to the European Committee
for Social Cohesion (CDCS), the European Committee of Social Rights
(ECSR), the Governmental Committee of the European Social Charter
and to the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men
(CDEG), for information and possible comments.
2. The Committee of Ministers agrees with the Assembly that previous
gains made towards gender equality should not be lost due to the
economic and financial crisis. It also shares the view that gender
balance in leadership and decision-making positions should be promoted
by member states. The Committee of Ministers recalls its opinion
concerning the drafting of a new protocol to the European Convention
on Human Rights, according to which there are Council of Europe
instruments that already offer a legal framework for combating all
forms of discrimination against women and propose standards and
mechanisms for attaining equality between women and men. This includes
the general ban on discrimination ensuing from Protocol No. 12 to
the European Convention on Human Rights. Furthermore, pursuant to
its Article E, the Revised European Social Charter recognises the
enjoyment of rights set forth in the treaty “without discrimination
based on sex” and Article 20 of the Revised Charter provides for
the right to equal opportunities and equal treatment in matters
of employment and occupation.
3. In its Declaration entitled "Making gender equality a reality",
adopted on 12 May 2009 on the occasion of the 119th Ministerial
Session, the Committee of Ministers urged member states to commit
themselves fully to bridging the gap between equality in fact and
in law. In this text, it clearly identified the policy measures
to be taken to attain that objective and invited the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe to monitor and evaluate progress in the
implementation of gender equality policies every three years.
4. The Committee of Ministers further notes that the Assembly’s
recommendation is in line with the priorities of the Resolution
“Bridging the gap between de jure and de facto equality to achieve real
gender equality” and the Action Plan “Taking up the challenge of
the achievement of de jure and de facto gender equality” which
were adopted by the 7th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers
responsible for Equality between Women and Men (Baku, 24-25 May
2010). The resolution requests member states to “eliminate in national
legislation all discriminatory provisions that run counter to equality
between women and men and set-up the necessary mechanisms to implement
and monitor the implementation of this legislation, in particular through
the registration of complaints whenever it is violated”, “to sign
and ratify all relevant international legal instruments concerning
equality between women and men, such as Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention
of Human Rights” and also to “encourage the economic independence
of women and the empowerment of women by guaranteeing that equality
is respected in the labour market and in economic life”. Priority
I of the action plan deals with gender mainstreaming and positive
action and priority III upholds “Equal participation of women and
men in political, public and economic life, including in decision-making”.
On 29 September 2010, the Committee of Ministers decided that the
aforementioned resolution and action plan would be taken into account
in the future work of the Council of Europe in the area of gender equality.
5. Finally, the Committee of Ministers would like to draw the
Assembly’s attention to the replies given to Recommendation 1899 (2010) on “Increasing women’s representation in politics through
the electoral system”, Recommendation
1907 (2010) on “The wage gap between women and men” and Recommendation 1909 (2010) on “Involving women in the prevention and the solution
of unsolved conflicts in Europe”. Each of these replies reaffirms
the Committee of Ministers’ commitment to ensuring de facto gender equality in Council
of Europe member states.
Appendix 1 to the reply
(open)Comments by the European Committee for Social Cohesion (CDCS)
1. The CDCS welcomes Recommendation 1911 (2010) and highlights the pioneering role of the Council of Europe
in ensuring equality de jure and de facto between women and men,
which is still not the reality in several member states. It recalls
the work of its Committee of Experts on Social Security (CS-SS),
as stated in its opinion on Recommendation
1910 (2010) on “The impact of the global economic crisis on migration in Europe”.
2. The CDCS stresses that women and men entered the recession
on an unequal footing and that the narrowing of the gender employment
gap combined with the increase in lone mother households means that women’s
wages are more important than ever to the family budget. It underlines
the need of a fair and flexible, family-friendly labour market to
boost economic growth and to draw on all available talents, including
women, to recover from the global recession. Equality already in
place in the labour market should not be lost due to the financial
and economic crisis.
3. The CDCS is sympathetic with the idea of an additional protocol
to the European Convention on Human Rights which would focus on
equality de facto, but thinks
that the use of positive action measures, in combination with the
merit principle, should be sufficient without invoking the need
for positive discrimination.
4. The CDCS thinks that the introduction of strict quotas is
potentially against the merit principle and that the use of positive
action interventions open to political parties should allow them
to tackle underrepresentation of women. Parties should decide for
themselves how best to use the opportunities made available to them
by the legislation. Various countries have various systems, some
of them have one or other quotas de jure or de facto. Concerning women in leadership
and decision-making positions, the CDCS thinks that it is important
to consider ways to improve representation, for instance by improving
equality on company boards, but rigid quotas seems not to be an
option.
Appendix 2 to the reply
(open)Comments by the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR)
1. The Committee of Ministers has asked the European
Committee for Social Rights (ESCR) to forward any comments it might
have on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1911 (2010). In reply to this request, the ESCR wishes to make the
following observations:
2. The Charter is unique in Europe, not only in terms of the
rights guaranteed, but also because of the double dimension of its
supervisory mechanism: an annual procedure based on national reports
on the one hand and a collective complaints procedure allowing civil
society organisations to lodge complaints on the other. The ECSR,
the regulatory body of the Charter made up of fifteen independent
and impartial experts, rules on the conformity of national law and
practice under both these procedures.
3. Pursuant to its Article E, the Revised Charter recognises
the enjoyment of rights set forth in the treaty “without discrimination
based on sex”. The existence of this provision as a distinct article
attests to the high importance given by the states to the principle
of non-discrimination in the realisation of fundamental rights guaranteed
by the Charter.
4. Regarding the protection of specific rights in respect of
women, Article 20 of the Revised Charter provides for the right
to equal opportunities and equal treatment in matters of employment
and occupation. Moreover, Article 4§3 of the Charter recognises
the right of women and men workers to equal pay for work of equal
value. The ESCR refers in this regard to its comments on Parliamentary
Assembly Recommendation 1907
(2010) on “The wage gap between women and men”.
5. Furthermore, the Charter guarantees the right to equality
of opportunity and treatment for women and men workers with family
responsibilities and between such workers and other workers (Article
27). In addition, Article 26 of the Charter guarantees to all workers
the right to protection of their dignity at work and requests states
to adopt measures to prevent and properly sanction sexual harassment.
6. The ESCR welcomes the initiative taken by the Parliamentary
Assembly with the adoption of Recommendation
1911 (2010) and reaffirms its commitment to ensuring an effective
equality between women and men. It underlines the necessity of closing
the gap between de iure and de facto equality, especially in
the wake of the economic and financial crisis which endanger the
modest gains achieved by women in the past.
7. In its case law, the ESCR has stressed that compliance with
the principle of equal treatment requires taking positive account
of relevant differences as well as taking adequate steps to guarantee
genuinely equal opportunities to all. Affirmative measures are needed
to eliminate inequalities originating from the social consequences
of historic discrimination and from existing stereotypes. They should
not be considered as permitted exceptions from equal treatment,
as acts of “positive discrimination”. Such an approach would in effect
perpetuate the “single standard” perception of equality where equality
has to be achieved by women along standards adjusted to male realities.
8. Unequal division of family and domestic responsibilities is
a major cause, not only of the discrimination against women on the
labour market in the context of the economic and financial crisis,
but also of their limited social and political participation. In
this regard, the ESCR refers to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1800 (2007) on “The feminisation of poverty” and, in particular,
to the scope of the Article 30 of the Revised Charter (the right
to protection against poverty and social exclusion).
9. The ESCR shares the novel view expressed in the recommendation
about the role of women in the creation of a more stable and safe
economic and financial environment. It agrees with the high importance
of ensuring gender balance in political leadership and in decision-making
positions, including in businesses. It invites states to take measures
in order to ensure that workers with family responsibilities are
not discriminated against due to these responsibilities (Article
27). States should encourage initiatives aimed at conciliating family life
and work for both women and men workers in order to achieve real
equality among them.
10. In conclusion, the ESCR invites States Parties of the Charter
which have not yet accepted Articles 4§3, 20, 26, 27 and 30 and/or
the collective complaints procedure to do so before 18 October 2011
(date of the 50th anniversary of the Charter), as this would enable
the competent organisations to submit complaints with the ESCR concerning
breaches of discrimination based on sex.
Appendix 3 to the reply
(open)Comments by the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG)
1. The CDEG took note of the recommendations of the
Parliamentary Assembly transmitted by the Committee of Ministers.
2. The CDEG welcomes these recommendations which are in line
with the priorities set up by the Resolution “Bridging the gap between de jure and de
facto equality to achieve real gender equality” and the Action
Plan “Taking up the challenge of the achievement of de jure and de
facto gender equality” adopted by the Council of Europe
Conference of Ministers responsible for Equality between Women and
Men held in Baku, on 24 and 25 May 2010.
3. All the specific recommendations addressed to the Committee
of Ministers in Recommendation
1911 (2010) on “Women and the economic and financial crisis” were
already examined by the CDEG. It refers in particular to the replies
given to Recommendation
1899 (2010) on “Increasing women’s representation in politics through
the electoral system” and Recommendation
1907 (2010) on “The wage gap between women and men”. The CDEG will
continue its action in favour of the achievement of de facto equality in its member states
as well as within the Council of Europe through the implementation
of the Action Plan “Taking up the challenge of the achievement of de jure and de
facto gender equality”, priority I of which deals with
gender mainstreaming and positive action, and of the Resolution
“Bridging the gap between de jure and de facto equality to achieve real
gender equality”. The resolution requests, in particular, member
states to “eliminate in national legislation all discriminatory
provisions that run counter to equality between women and men and
set-up the necessary mechanisms to implement and monitor the implementation
of this legislation, in particular through the registration of complaints
whenever it is violated”, “to sign and ratify all relevant international
legal instruments concerning equality between women and men, such
as Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention of Human Rights” and
also to “encourage the economic independence of women and the empowerment
of women by guaranteeing that equality is respected in the labour
market and in economic life”.
4. Regarding the fact that economic independence for women could
be seriously compromised by the economic crisis if access to full-time,
well-paid, secure and formal employment for women is not guaranteed. It
should be mentioned that in some member states, not only full-time
work, but also part-time work, can guarantee well paid work and
can contribute to realise economic independence for women (in this
case part-time work meaning less then 32 hours per week).
5. The resolution also invites the Committee of Ministers to
“take all the necessary measures for the achievement of the objectives
set out in this resolution, and continues its action in all its
member states, in conformity with the commitments to its Declaration
“Making gender equality a reality”.”