Brussels, 11/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is set to adopt, on 12 April, a communication from Administrative Affairs Commissioner Siim Kallas, setting out the targets for the recruitment and appointment of women to management and other administrative posts for the year 2006. Since 1995, the Commission has set annual targets for the recruitment and appointment of women to management posts. However, despite real progress over the years, women remain under-represented at this level, says the Commission.
In 2005, three targets were set. Firstly, to appoint or recruit women to at least 20% of senior management positions: with 32.8% female appointment or recruitment at this level, this target has been clearly achieved, thanks largely to appointments as part of enlargement (40% of women appointed come from the new EU Member States, compared with 27% of women from the fifteen older Member States). Secondly, appoint or recruit women to at least 30% of middle management posts. This target was not reached: the level recorded was 24.4% (an increase of 1.4% on 2004). The Commission highlights the reduced number applications from women for posts at his level. And thirdly, recruit as many women as men to administrative posts, in so far as the reserve lists allow. This target was reached overall, with 51.4%, compared with 44% in 2004.
The Commission is setting itself more ambitious targets for 2006: 25% of first-time recruitment and first-time appointments in senior management, 30% in middle management and 50% of recruitment at A/AD non-management levels.
Currently, women account for 48.4% of Commission staff, with very strong representation in grades (79.6%) and B (43.1%). If grade A is treated as a whole, at the end of 2005, 16.2% of senior management posts were held by women, 19.2% of middle management posts and 36.2% of administrative posts. This shows clear progress on 2004, when levels were 12.8%, 18.3% and 34.1% respectively. Of the eleven appointments at the highest level, three were women, all for Deputy Director General (Françoise Durand, Françoise Le Bail and Lenia Samuel). Catherine Day is the first women Secretary General at the European Commission.
Women represented 35.3%of appointments to posts of director and a third of appointments to posts of head of delegation and chief adviser. The overall level of application from women for senior management posts remains low (15.3% in 2005).