Brussels, 13/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - In the wake of International Women's Day and the announcement that a public consultation is to be held on quotas for women sitting of the boards of large companies, the European Parliament (EP) passed two reports on gender equality in Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 March.
In adopting the report by Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, Finland) the EP called for gender parity in political decision making. The EP also adopted the report by Sophia in 't Veld (ALDE, Netherlands) on the 2011 annual report on gender equality in the EU.
Quotas in companies. With their adoption of the report by Sophia in 't Veld by 361 votes to 268, and 70 abstentions, MEPs paved the way for quotas to be set for women in executive positions in EU companies. In her report, in 't Veld called on the European Commission to table a legislative proposal to introduce quotas to step up corporate board quotas to 30% by 2015 and 40% by 2020. If, in the light of the consultation, Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding does decide to bring forward a proposal on quotas, she knows that she will be able to count on the support of the Parliament. The issue raised passions, however, in the debate before the plenary session vote. Paul Nutall (EFD, UK) said that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, fearing that the introduction of quotas could sound the death knell of meritocracy. He recommended deregulation and said he was concerned at the prospect of increased red tape. Others spoke of the able women who have managed to make it to senior positions without the need for quotas, and who might be accused of being token women promoted to meet the necessary percentages and not because of their professional qualities. Even though the issue of quotas might be embarrassing, it had to be admitted that quotas for men already exist, other MEPs argued. Marc Tarabella (S&D, Belgium), regretting that the business world was so conservative, hoped that legally binding measures of this sort would lead to more natural conduct. In 't Veld regretted that women still had to face very subtle barriers, of which men were sometimes totally unaware. She wound up the debate by arguing that quotas were a necessary evil.
Reducing wage inequality by 10%. The in 't Veld report also looks at wage equality. In adopting the report, MEPs called for an EU target of a 10% reduction in the wages gap between men and women (on average, women earn around 17% less than men) in each member state. On this issue, Reding said that it can be seen that, “while sometimes a European directive solves problems, other problems can only be solved at the level of the labour market, at the level of the social partners working together and at the level of national governments introducing transparency rules”. In this position she is joined by the rapporteur.
Political parity. Debate raged over parity between men and women in politics, too. In adopting the Pietikäinen report by 508 votes to 124, with 49 abstentions, the EP called on member states and the Commission to bring in legislation to establish gender parity and called on the European institutions to extend this parity to all levels. Following the vote, the rapporteur said: “The proportion of women in political decision-making has not grown in recent years and in some decision-making bodies, it has even begun to decline. The result of this vote shows that the Parliament has the political will to take active measures to increase equality”. In the debate the previous day Nicole Kiil-Nielsen (Greens/EFA, France) urged her colleagues to go even further: “Let us show the example. (…) Why not establish parity in the Parliament Executive Bureau with effect from the next parliamentary term. I think it is important to begin there.” The report calls on national governments to propose, after the 2014 European elections, both a woman and a man as their candidates for European commissioner. MEPs also believe that the European Institute for Gender Equality should be given a greater role. (MD/transl.rt)