Increased representation of women in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
Doc. 7494
23 February 1996REPORT[1]
Rapporteur: Mr COLOMBIER,France, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group
Summary
Observing that women are under-represented in most of the national delegations, the Assembly considers this situation incompatible with the principle of equality between the sexes upheld by the Council of Europe.
The Assembly is aware, however, that the strict application of this principle is difficult, in view of the discrepancy between the number of seats assigned to each national delegation and the number of women elected at national level.
It has nevertheless made proposals for the attention of the national delegations which should apply prerequisites for the choice of their members, that would help to reduce gender imbalances.
I. Draft resolution
1. At present women are represented in all national parliaments of Council of Europe member states. However, some delegations to the Assembly are exclusively male or include a much smaller percentage of women than is present in their national parliaments.
2. The Assembly considers this situation incompatible with the principle of equality between the sexes, asserted and upheld by the Council of Europe, and that national parliaments whose delegations show such an imbalance must endeavour to redress the situation.
3. It acknowledges, however, that the strict application of the principle of representation reflecting the percentage of women elected to national parliaments may be inappropriate in view of factors such as a percentage of seats reserved for smaller political parties, or delegations having only a limited number of seats.
4. Nevertheless, the Assembly:
i. recommends that national parliaments, and in particular those represented by large or medium-sized delegations, seek to ensure that the percentage of women present in their national parliaments is reflected within the delegation;
ii. calls upon leaders of national delegations in which imbalances still exist to take the necessary steps within their national parliaments to redress such imbalances;
iii. calls upon the political groups represented in the Assembly to take similar action within the parties which they represent.
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mr COLOMBIER
1. Introduction
In order to follow up a motion for a resolution referred to it for report, the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations considered it appropriate to carry out a survey among its members and the representatives of special guests by submitting the following three questions to them:
a. What percentage of the total number of seats in parliament are occupied by women and men?
b. What is the percentage of women in each party?
c. What is the percentage of women in relation to the total number of candidates standing for election?
Thirty-eight delegations replied.[2]
The replies clearly show the percentage of seats occupied by women in the different parliaments but some delegations found it difficult to answer the questions concerning the number of women active in the various parties and the number put forward as candidates and this is understandable: were parties not represented in parliament to be included or not? In some countries there are a large number of parties and in other countries very few, so that it has not been possible to draw a sufficiently clear picture of the general situation.
The committee's exchange of views on the replies obtained highlighted the difficulties of the Assembly imposing a minimum quota of women to be represented in national delegations.
2. Prerequisite for increased representation of women in the Assembly: the role of the parties
It was emphasised that the problem of female representation in the Parliamentary Assembly depends on factors which precede the constitution of national delegations and which determine the number of women elected to parliaments and hence eligible to become members of delegations at the Assembly.
Parties would first need to put forward more female candidates, applying quotas if necessary and both female and male electors would then have to give them a majority of votes.
The Assembly can have some influence on national parties through its political groups. Political parties are associations which are free to set their own rules and can themselves choose to impose quotas.
However, it has been pointed out that a system of quotas may be difficult to apply � a great deal depends on the electorate.
3. The role of the Assembly
The problem with which the Assembly is concerned is that of ensuring that national delegations are a fair reflection of the percentages of women in national parliaments; in this connection paragraph 3 of the draft resolution reiterates the precedent of the Charter of the Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe, Article 2.b.iv of which stipulates that "the membership of each member state's delegation shall be such as to ensure equitable representation of women and men on the statutory bodies of local and regional authorities in the member state".
The table submitted to you clearly shows that, in a large majority of countries, there is a sometimes considerable gap between the number of women elected to national parliaments and the number of women with seats in the Parliamentary Assembly.
We could take note of this and draw up a resolution addressed to the national parliaments, asking them to ensure that the same proportions of male and female representatives are also members of their delegations to the Assembly.
Should we go further and propose that our Assembly introduce rules requiring member states to observe this principle? This would no doubt be difficult to achieve. The percentage of women elected varies from one party to the next. The government party may, for instance, have a large number of seats but very few women whereas the opposition may have a better balance in the number of representatives of each sex but have only a few seats. The female parliamentarians may also not be interested in a term of office in Strasbourg.
Moreover, the small delegations (three members) may, for the reasons already mentioned, find it impossible to impose a minimum quota.
Lastly, consideration should be given to the motivation of female representatives who may not be interested in representing their country in the Assembly � this would make the appointment of a minimum number of women to national delegations even more difficult.
4. Conclusion
All of these factors make it difficult to assess whether the two sexes are fairly represented in national delegations. It does not therefore seem appropriate to introduce a statutory measure or rule.
A resolution recommending the application of the principle might be more appropriate.
REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
REPRESENTATION DES FEMMES A L'ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE
June/Juin 1995
COUNTRY/PAYS
Seats/Si�ges
%
women/
femmes
%
women/femmes
candidates
% of
women in PA/
des femmes � l'AP
ALBANIA/ALBANIE
140
5,7%
0%
ANDORRA/ANDORRE
28
3,6%
0%
AUSTRIA/AUTRICHE
Bundesrat
Nationalrat
63
183
23,5%
31,85%
16%
BELARUS
346
6%
not available/
pas disponible
0%
BELGIUM/BELGIQUE
Senate/S�nat
Representatives/Repr�sentants
71
150
22,5%
12%
23%
25%
0%
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINIA/
BOSNIE-HERZEGOVINE
156
3,8%
6,5%
0%
BULGARIA/BULGARIE
CROATIA/CROATIE
Zupanijski Dom
Zastupnicki (Reps)
63
138
4,8%
5,8%
not available/
pas disponible
40%
CYPRUS/CHYPRE
80*
*24 vacant
3,6%
11%
0%
CZECH REPUBLIC/
REPUBLIQUE TCHEQUE
200
9,5%
18,6%
7,14%
DENMARK/DANEMARK
179
33,3%
not available/
pas disponible
60%
ESTONIA/ESTONIE
101
12%
16,67%
FINLAND/FINLANDE
200
39,5%
41,2%
50%
FRANCE
Senate/S�nat
National Assembly/Assembl�e nationale
321
577
5,6%
6,08%
19,25%
2,78%
GERMANY/ALLEMAGNE
662
26,3%
29,5%
16,67%
GREECE/GRECE
300
6%
9,91%
7,14%
HUNGARY/HONGRIE
386
11,39%
0%
ICELAND/ISLANDE
63
25,40%
6,25%
33,33%
IRELAND/IRELANDE
Sennad
Dail
60
166
10%
12%
18,1%
0%
ITALY/ITALIE
Senate/S�nat
Chamber of Deputies/
Chambre des D�put�s
325
630
9%
14,8%
18%
22%
11,11%
LATVIA/LETTONIE
100
17%
not available/
pas disponible
0%
LIECHTENSTEIN
25
8%
21,7%
25%
LITHUANIA/LITUANIE
141
7%
not available/
pas disponible
0%
LUXEMBOURG
60
18,3%
25,59%
50%
MALTA/MALTE
NETHERLANDS/PAYS-BAS
1st Chamber
2nd Chamber
75
150
26%
32%
25,75%
35,71%
NORWAY/NORVEGE
165
38,8%
37%
50%
POLAND/POLOGNE
Senate/S�nat
Sejm
100
460
13%
13,4%
12,42%
20,83%
PORTUGAL
250
9,2%
14,5%
7,14%
Former Yugoslav Rep. of MACEDONIA/
Ex-R�p. Yugoslav de MACEDOINE
120
3,33%
11,5%
0%
MOLDOVA
104
4,8%
0%
ROMANIA/ROUMANIE
Senate/S�nat
House of Deputies/Chambre des D�put�s
143
341
2,1%
3,2%
not available/
pas disponible
0%
RUSSIAN FEDERATION/
FEDERATION DE RUSSIE
Council of Federation
Duma
176
448
5,1%
9,6%
not available/
pas disponible
0%
SAN MARINO/SAN MARIN
60
11,67%
7,94%
0%
SLOVAK REPUBLIC/
REPUBLIC SLOVAQUE
150
14,7%
15,24%
20%
SLOVENIA/SLOVENIE
90
13,33%
11,08%
0%
SPAIN/ESPAGNE
Senate/S�nat
Congress of Deputies/
Congr�s des D�put�s
256
350
12,10%
15,42%
12,5%
SWEDEN/SUEDE
349
41,3%
43,3%
41,67%
SWITZERLAND/SUISSE
Council of States/Conseil des Etats
National Council/Conseil national
46
200
9,5%
18%
29%
13%
8,33%
TURKEY/TURQUIE
UKRAINE
UNITED KINGDOM/ROYAUME-UNI
House of Lords
House of Commons
1 200 peers
651
7,8%
9,5%
19,3%
8,33%
Reporting committee: Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.
Reference to committee: Doc. 7060 and Reference No. 1968 of 5 September 1994.
Draft resolution unanimously adopted by the committee on 11 January 1996.
Members of the committee: Mrs Ragnarsd�ttir (Chairperson), Mr Columberg (Vice-Chairman) (Alternate: Gross), Mrs Mihaylova (Vice-Chairperson), Mr Amaral, Mrs Arnold, MM. Attard Montalto, Bachna, Bobelis, Sir Andrew Bowden, Mrs Brenden, MM. Bugli, Colombier, Diacov, Dokle, Erler, Eversdijk, Foga�, Golu, Mrs Grzeskowiak, MM. G�l, Harmegnies, Hughes, Mrs Jaani, MM. Jurkans, Kitt, Kollwelter, Korahais, Laakso, Lekberg, Lummer, Mignon, Moser, Petruccioli (Alternate: Lauricella), Mrs Prestigiacomo, MM. Pukl, Robles Fraga (Alternate: Herrero), Rott.
N.B. The names of those who were present at the meeting are printed in italics.
Secretary to the committee: Mr Roberto La Porta.
[1]. By the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations.
[2]. Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.