Athens, 07/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The usual observations drawn from International Women's Day, on 8 March, have highlighted the EU's inability to set in place binding mechanisms to promote equality between men and women. In the run-up to the end of the term in office of European Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding, two of her key legislative initiatives are still treading water: the proposed directive for a quota of women on the boards of directors of large European companies, and another for a minimum maternity leave in Europe.
Maternity leave shelved. The revision of the European directive on this subject (dating from 1992) aims to lay down a paid maternity leave of a minimum of 18 weeks in all member states. The project, which was presented in 2008, remains at stalemate in the Council. The European ministers have not discussed this issue, which treads on the toes of national sensitivities, since 2012. The European Parliament, which is active on this issue and has already adopted a negotiation mandate, is no longer even encouraging the states to relaunch the negotiating machine.
Quotas in suspense. And a similar scenario is emerging regarding the proposal for a 40% quota of women on the boards of directors of large European companies quoted on the stock exchange. In autumn, the European Parliament adopted a negotiation mandate, supporting the principle defended by Reding. But here again, the Council is sticking its head in the sand: apart from a few exchanges of views, no common position at the Council on this issue is anticipated any time soon. Some ten member states are believed to be opposed to the quota, whilst France and Italy are highly committed to the project. The Italian Presidency in the second half of the year is therefore expected to move things along a bit. Meanwhile, there has been a slight increase in the number of women on boards of directors since the proposed quota was tabled.
The two main legislative proposals of the European Commission, the term in office of which ends this year, are therefore pretty much on ice. Only the directive on victims, which was adopted in 2012, includes provisions which are capable of tackling domestic violence against women and protecting victims.
Parliament and Commission compensate. It is therefore mainly the inertia of the member states which is undermining the modest European actions on the ground in terms of equality. However, this has not prevented the other institutions from ensuring that this principle is increasingly unequivocally stated in the European treaties. The Parliament is responsible for a great many non-legislative resolutions calling for greater efforts in various areas (migrant women, prostitution, employment, etc). The European Commission is also active on several fronts, although this work is not of a legislative nature. In many cases, it is limited to reports, collecting data, awareness campaigns or recommendations, for instance regarding the fight against female genital mutilation, the salary gap (see other article) and women's employment.
The Commission sets an example. As an institution, the Commission stresses that it is practising what it preaches: on its own staff, the gender equality objectives were met 11 months before the end of its 2010-2014 strategy, it reports: 27.9% (target of 25%) of senior positions, 30.3% of middle-management positions (target of 30%) and 43.2% of general administrative posts (target of 43%) are now held by women. (MD)