Report | Doc. 12260 | 17 May 2010
A minimum of 30% of each sex in Assembly national delegations
Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs
Summary
The Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs welcomes the regular increase in the proportion of women in both national parliaments of the member states and the Parliamentary Assembly and the positive progress towards achieving the objective the Assembly has set of a minimum 30% women represented in the national delegations to the Assembly.
National parliaments, particularly those whose national delegations are nowhere near achieving the objectives set, shall resolutely maintain their efforts in support of a balanced representation of women and men in national delegations.
The Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs notes that women appear too often as Substitutes rather than Representatives in the national delegations. It therefore considers that the Rules of Procedure could be modified in order to strengthen women's effective participation in the work of the Assembly and its committees by limiting their appointment as Substitutes in the delegations.
A. Draft resolution
(open)"National delegations should include the under-represented sex at least in the same percentage as is present in their parliaments and, at a very minimum, one member of the under-represented sex appointed as a representative";
B. Explanatory memorandum by Mr Greenway, rapporteur
(open)1. Introduction
2. Situation of women in national delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly
- 12 national delegations have at least 40% women (including eight between 50% and 67%);
- 12 national delegations have between 30% and 39% women;
- 13 national delegations have between 20% and 29% women;
- nine national delegations have between 10% and 19% women;
- just one national delegation has less than 10% women.
3. Analysis of replies to the questionnaire to national delegations
3.1. Position of the national delegations regarding the obligation to include a specific percentage of Representatives of each sex
3.1.1. Should it be compulsory for each national delegation to include a minimum of 30% of each sex?
- the Polish and Russian delegations consider that the rule should be that national delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly should comprise the same proportion of women as in their respective national parliaments, whatever that proportion may be;
- the Polish delegation also believes that the decision on whether to implement the proposal should be up to each individual parliament;
- the German delegation considers that, while the 30% objective is reasonable, the introduction of a mandatory system together with penalties could produce the opposite effect to the one sought, because it would interfere with the sovereignty of national parliaments;
- the Estonian delegation is in favour of having a compulsory threshold of 20%;
- the delegation of Liechtenstein considers that the 30% threshold should be reduced to 25% for small delegations;
- the Swiss delegation is broadly in favour of having better gender representation, but against having a quota system. It believed this would be too inflexible, unnecessary and contrary to Swiss political culture, which encourages dialogue and consultation. While some delegation members think that it could help improve the representation of women, others feel that it is degrading for them;
- the British delegation considers that the goal is worthy and legitimate but the means chosen to achieve it – namely a compulsory threshold set arbitrarily at 30% – are not realistic and could not be applied in practice unless delegations were left incomplete or women were brought in artificially to fill the quota without any guarantee that they would be able to take part properly in the work of the Assembly;
- the Lithuanian delegation considers it far more important for the Assembly to try hard to promote delegations’ involvement in its work and help consolidate democracy than to bring in a compulsory gender representation.
3.1.2. Are there any obstacles to the immediate implementation of this measure?
– the way parliaments work
– the low number of female parliamentarians
– the fact that female parliamentarians are not available or reticent about being members of the parliamentary delegations
3.1.3. Should this measure be implemented gradually?
3.1.4. Is it necessary to introduce a compulsory proportion of over 30% of the under-represented sex?
- Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Sweden favour a higher threshold. The Swedish delegation is the most progressive, as it proposes a compulsory proportion of 40% of the under-represented sex by 2014 and a proportion of 50% by 2018;
- other delegations have more moderate positions (Azerbaijan believes that efforts to improve women’s representation in parliament must depend upon the results of future elections; Bosnia and Herzegovina considers that it is currently impossible for all parliaments to meet such a condition, as this would require changes to national electoral laws. Hungary and Slovenia favour the measure in principle, but cannot implement it for practical reasons – not for lack of political will).
3.1.5. Should non-compliance with the condition of a compulsory 30% representation of the under-represented sex be penalised?
- Austria, Croatia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” support the two measures mentioned by way of example (amending Rule 7.1.b of the Rules of Procedure to make it possible to challenge the credentials of a parliamentary delegation which fails to comprise at least 30% Representatives of the under-represented sex, or an automatic penalty such as the obligation to leave a vacant seat for each missing member of the under-represented sex);
- Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Luxembourg favour an automatic penalty (such as the obligation to leave a vacant seat for each missing member of the under-represented sex, cited as an example);
- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland support only a non-automatic penalty (the possibility to challenge the credentials of a parliamentary delegation which fails to comprise at least 30% Representatives of the under-represented sex);
- Luxembourg also listed some other possible penalties in its reply (withdrawal of the right to vote for each missing member of the under-represented sex, obligation for the chairperson of the national delegation at fault to become an active member of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men) and additional measures (preferential treatment on the list of speakers for members of national delegations with equal numbers of women and men; national delegations to be chaired jointly by a man and a woman);
- Switzerland also mentioned the possibility of penalising delegations using the rule governing the selection of candidates for the position of judge at the European Court of Human Rights.
3.2. Explanations given by the national delegations which do not currently comprise a minimum of 30% of each sex
- Azerbaijan gave no specific reason for its delegation’s failure to reach the 30% women threshold, saying simply that any progress would depend upon the general policy for improving the representation of women in society;
- Belgium said the number of women in its delegation is fortuitous, as its composition is determined by the appointments made by political groups, and they do not confer with one another;
- Cyprus said that there are nine women in its parliament and the percentage of women in its delegation (25%) is already much higher than that of women in parliament (16%). In the absence of legislation establishing a quota at elections, parliamentarians are elected on the basis of their political programme and not their gender. Because there are so few women parliamentarians, many demands are made upon them in order for parliament to be able to meet the requirements for equal representation in international delegations. They do not always have the time and fear their involvement can have a negative impact on the amount of time they spend on national issues and their relationship with the electorate;
- Hungary pointed out that several female parliamentarians already occupy important positions in the Hungarian Parliament, which prevents them from joining parliamentary delegations. Inadequate command of the Council of Europe’s official languages is also an obstacle to their participation in delegations;
- Malta said that there are only six women in its parliament, of whom two are ministers;
- Monaco said that there are only six women in its 24-member parliament. Parliamentarians have other jobs in addition to being members of parliament, which sometimes prevents them from taking up international representative appointments;
- the Netherlands said it wanted to encourage parliamentarians with the necessary expertise to put themselves forward. Political parties are constantly informed about the need to promote new political talent among women;
- Portugal said that the parity law adopted in 2006, which introduced a minimum 33.33% quota for each sex, could not be applied to the current delegation, but that the new delegation after the forthcoming elections will have to comply with this requirement;
- Romania said that its delegation is composed of members appointed independently by the parliamentary groups, using their own criteria, including one concerning representation of the sexes;
- Serbia said that its delegation too is composed of members appointed by the political groups. However, the Serbian Parliament’s rules of procedure are currently being revised and should soon stipulate that there must be a minimum of 30% of each sex on all parliamentary bodies;
- Slovakia said that its women parliamentarians showed little interest in taking part in the work of an international organisation;
- the United Kingdom noted that its delegation contained very experienced parliamentarians taken in equal numbers from the House of Commons and the House of Lords, whose members were from an older generation in which women had been less represented. There was a clear trend towards increased representation of women in each new parliament.
4. Conclusions
4.1. Summary of the replies
- among the delegations which replied to the questionnaire, a majority expressed a positive opinion on amendment of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure (Rule 6.2.a) to introduce a minimum 30% threshold for the representation of each sex;
- a majority also agreed that such a reform should be implemented gradually;
- the majority of delegations which replied do not support the proposal to introduce a penalty for failure to comply with the condition of a compulsory 30% representation of the under-represented sex;
- the majority of delegations consulted do not support the proposal to introduce a quota higher than 30%.
4.2. Proposals
- in Rule 6.2.a, replace the second sentence with the following sentence:
"National delegations should include the under-represented sex at least in the same percentage as is present in their parliaments and, at a very minimum, one member of the under-represented sex, appointed as a Representative";
- in Rule 7.1.b, replace the words "one representative of each sex" with "one member of the under-represented sex, appointed as a Representative".
Appendix 1 – Questionnaire sent to national delegations
(open)A. Questions to all delegations
1. What is your delegation’s position concerning the above-mentioned proposal to make it compulsory for national delegations to the Assembly to include a minimum of 30% of each sex?
2. Are there currently any obstacles in your parliament to the immediate implementation of this measure? If so, what are they?
3. Would your delegation be in favour of this measure if it were implemented gradually (for example, with a compulsory threshold of 20% within one year, 25% within two years, and 30% within three years) or would an extended time frame be helpful?
4. Would your delegation be in favour of a measure that went even further in this direction (for example, a compulsory proportion of 40% of the under-represented sex)?
5. If the Assembly were to amend Rule 6.2 of its Rules of Procedure to incorporate the condition of a compulsory 30% representation of the under-represented sex, should non-compliance with this requirement be penalised?
6. If so:
a. Is your delegation in favour of amending Rule 7.1.b of the Rules of Procedure to make it possible to challenge the credentials of the parliamentary delegation in question on the grounds that it fails to comprise at least 30% representatives of the under-represented sex?
b. Is your delegation in favour of applying an automatic penalty (for example, the obligation to leave a vacant seat for each missing member of the under-represented sex)?
7. Does your delegation have any other proposals to improve the representation of both sexes in national delegations?
B. Questions only for delegations which do not comprise at least 30% Representatives of each sex
8. Please indicate the reasons why your delegation does not include more women.
9. What practical measures is your parliament implementing in order to remedy this situation and to improve the representation of women in the parliamentary delegation in future, in accordance with Resolution 1585 (2007)?
Appendix to the questionnaire
(update of 27/04/2009)
PACE 2009 |
National parliaments 2009 |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total |
Lower or single house |
Upper house |
||||||
Women |
Men |
% women |
% women |
Seats |
Women |
Seats |
Women |
|
Sweden |
7 |
5 |
58.33 |
46.99 |
349 |
164 |
||
Bulgaria |
6 |
5 |
54.55 |
21.67 |
240 |
52 |
||
Andorra |
2 |
2 |
50.00 |
25.00 |
28 |
7 |
||
Estonia |
3 |
3 |
50.00 |
20.79 |
101 |
21 |
||
Liechtenstein |
2 |
2 |
50.00 |
24.00 |
25 |
6 |
||
Czech Republic |
7 |
7 |
50.00 |
16.37 |
200 |
32 |
81 |
14 |
Spain |
10 |
14 |
41.66 |
33.38 |
350 |
125 |
264 |
80 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
4 |
6 |
40.00 |
10.52 |
42 |
4 |
15 |
2 |
Croatia |
4 |
6 |
40.00 |
21.56 |
153 |
33 |
||
Finland |
4 |
6 |
40.00 |
41.50 |
200 |
83 |
||
Norway |
4 |
6 |
40.00 |
36.68 |
169 |
62 |
||
Albania |
3 |
5 |
37.50 |
7.14 |
140 |
10 |
||
Armenia |
3 |
5 |
37.50 |
9.20 |
131 |
12 |
||
Lithuania |
3 |
5 |
37.50 |
17.73 |
141 |
25 |
||
Austria |
4 |
8 |
33.33 |
27.75 |
183 |
52 |
62 |
16 |
Latvia |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
19.00 |
100 |
19 |
||
Luxembourg |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
23.33 |
60 |
14 |
||
Slovenia |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
10.00 |
90 |
12 |
40 |
1 |
Switzerland |
4 |
8 |
33.33 |
27.64 |
200 |
58 |
46 |
10 |
“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
31.67 |
120 |
38 |
||
Denmark |
3 |
7 |
30.00 |
37.99 |
179 |
68 |
||
Greece |
4 |
10 |
28.57 |
14.67 |
300 |
44 |
||
Netherlands |
4 |
10 |
28.57 |
38.66 |
150 |
61 |
75 |
26 |
Portugal |
4 |
10 |
28.57 |
28.26 |
230 |
65 |
||
Serbia |
4 |
10 |
28.57 |
22.40 |
250 |
56 |
||
Germany |
10 |
26 |
27.78 |
31.13 |
612 |
197 |
69 |
15 |
Poland |
6 |
16 |
27.00 |
18.39 |
460 |
94 |
100 |
9 |
Azerbaijan |
3 |
9 |
25.00 |
11.38 |
123 |
14 |
||
Cyprus |
1 |
3 |
25.00 |
14.29 |
56 |
8 |
||
France |
9 |
27 |
25.00 |
19.67 |
577 |
106 |
343 |
75 |
Monaco |
1 |
3 |
25.00 |
25.00 |
24 |
6 |
||
San Marino |
1 |
3 |
25.00 |
15.00 |
60 |
9 |
||
Turkey |
5 |
19 |
20.83 |
9.11 |
549 |
50 |
||
Georgia |
2 |
8 |
20.00 |
5.07 |
138 |
7 |
||
Moldova |
2 |
8 |
20.00 |
21.78 |
101 |
22 |
||
Romania |
4 |
16 |
20.00 |
9.76 |
334 |
38 |
137 |
8 |
Italy |
7 |
29 |
19.44 |
20.27 |
630 |
134 |
322 |
59 |
United Kingdom |
7 |
29 |
19.44 |
19.66 |
637 |
123 |
741 |
148 |
Iceland |
1 |
5 |
16.67 |
36.50 |
63 |
23 |
||
Malta |
1 |
5 |
16.67 |
8.70 |
69 |
6 |
||
Montenegro |
1 |
5 |
16.67 |
11.11 |
81 |
9 |
||
Ukraine |
4 |
20 |
16.67 |
8.22 |
450 |
37 |
||
Ireland |
1 |
7 |
12.50 |
15.49 |
166 |
22 |
60 |
13 |
Russian Federation |
4 |
32 |
11.11 |
11.47 |
450 |
64 |
169 |
8 |
Slovakia |
1 |
9 |
10.00 |
19.33 |
150 |
29 |
||
Belgium |
1 |
13 |
7.14 |
38.00 |
150 |
57 |
71 |
27 |
Hungary |
1 |
13 |
7.14 |
11.16 |
385 |
43 |
||
Total |
169 |
462 |
26.78 |
21.15 |
Appendix 2 – Women representation in national parliaments and in Parliamentary Assembly national delegations – Updated statistics (as at 21 April 2010)
(open)
PACE 2010 |
National parliaments 2010 |
|||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total |
Lower or single house |
Upper house |
||||||
Women |
Men |
% women |
% women |
Seats |
Women |
Seats |
Women |
|
Iceland |
4 |
2 |
66.66 |
42.85 |
63 |
27 |
||
Norway |
6 |
4 |
60.00 |
39.64 |
169 |
67 |
||
Sweden |
7 |
5 |
58.33 |
46.42 |
349 |
162 |
||
Liechtenstein |
2 |
2 |
50.00 |
24.00 |
25 |
6 |
||
Albania |
3 |
3 |
50.00 |
16.43 |
140 |
23 |
||
Lithuania |
4 |
4 |
50.00 |
19.15 |
141 |
27 |
||
Czech Republic |
7 |
7 |
50.00 |
16.01 |
200 |
31 |
81 |
14 |
Greece |
7 |
7 |
50.00 |
17.33 |
300 |
52 |
||
Spain |
10 |
14 |
41.66 |
34.09 |
350 |
128 |
263 |
81 |
Finland |
4 |
6 |
40.00 |
40.00 |
200 |
80 |
||
Croatia |
4 |
6 |
40.00 |
23.53 |
153 |
36 |
||
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
4 |
6 |
40.00 |
17.54 |
42 |
8 |
15 |
2 |
Germany |
14 |
22 |
38.88 |
31.69 |
622 |
204 |
69 |
15 |
Armenia |
3 |
5 |
37.50 |
9.16 |
131 |
12 |
||
Moldova |
3 |
5 |
37.50 |
23.76 |
101 |
24 |
||
Portugal |
5 |
9 |
35.71 |
27.39 |
230 |
63 |
||
Austria |
4 |
8 |
33.33 |
28.28 |
183 |
51 |
61 |
18 |
Suisse |
4 |
8 |
33.33 |
27.64 |
200 |
58 |
46 |
10 |
“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
32.50 |
120 |
39 |
||
Estonia |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
22.77 |
101 |
23 |
||
Latvia |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
22.00 |
100 |
22 |
||
Luxembourg |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
20.00 |
60 |
12 |
||
Slovenia |
2 |
4 |
33.33 |
10.77 |
90 |
13 |
40 |
1 |
Denmark |
3 |
7 |
30.00 |
37.99 |
179 |
68 |
||
Netherlands |
4 |
10 |
28.57 |
39.55 |
150 |
63 |
75 |
26 |
Serbia |
4 |
10 |
28.57 |
21.60 |
250 |
54 |
||
France |
10 |
26 |
27.78 |
20.00 |
577 |
109 |
343 |
75 |
Azerbaijan |
3 |
9 |
25.00 |
11.38 |
123 |
14 |
||
Andorra |
1 |
3 |
25.00 |
35.71 |
28 |
10 |
||
Cyprus |
1 |
3 |
25.00 |
12.50 |
56 |
7 |
||
Monaco |
1 |
3 |
25.00 |
26.08 |
23 |
6 |
||
San Marino |
1 |
3 |
25.00 |
16.66 |
60 |
10 |
||
Poland |
5 |
18 |
21.73 |
17.85 |
460 |
92 |
100 |
8 |
Turkey |
5 |
19 |
20.83 |
9.11 |
549 |
50 |
||
Slovakia |
2 |
8 |
20.00 |
18.00 |
150 |
27 |
||
Georgia |
2 |
8 |
20.00 |
6.52 |
138 |
9 |
||
Romania |
4 |
16 |
20.00 |
9.76 |
334 |
38 |
137 |
8 |
Italy |
7 |
29 |
19.44 |
20.27 |
630 |
134 |
322 |
59 |
Bulgaria |
2 |
10 |
16.67 |
20.83 |
240 |
50 |
||
United Kingdom |
6 |
30 |
16.67 |
19.80 |
646 |
126 |
733 |
147 |
Montenegro |
1 |
5 |
16.67 |
11.11 |
81 |
9 |
||
Malta |
1 |
5 |
16.67 |
8.70 |
69 |
6 |
||
Ukraine |
4 |
20 |
16.67 |
8.00 |
450 |
36 |
||
Belgium |
2 |
12 |
14.28 |
38.91 |
150 |
57 |
71 |
29 |
Ireland |
1 |
7 |
12.50 |
16.07 |
165 |
23 |
59 |
13 |
Russian Federation |
4 |
32 |
11.11 |
11.47 |
450 |
63 |
169 |
8 |
Hungary |
1 |
13 |
7.14 |
11.14 |
386 |
43 |
||
Total |
180 |
450 |
28.57 |
21.43 |
Name of the country: delegations where members of the under-represented sex are appointed as Substitutes only.