We conclude that women's access to the same formal rights as men, such as the right to vote, stand for election and apply for senior posts in public administration, has not produced equality in practice. We therefore deplore the lack of strategic policies to give practical reality to the principles of democracy. A democratic system should entail equal participation in public and political life by its citizens. We demand equality of participation by women and men in public and political decision-making. We underline the need for changes to the structure of decision-making procedures in order to ensure such equality in practice.
Women represent more than half the population.
Equality requires parity in the representation and administration of Nations. A balanced participation by women and men in decision-making would produce different ideas, values and styles of behaviour suited to a fairer and more balanced world for all, both women and men. We call upon the Commission of the European Communities and all European and international organisation to adopt action programmes and measures to ensure the full participation of women in decision-making in these organisations. We call upon the Member States of the European Communities and other European States to integrate fully the dimension of equal opportunities for women and men in their educational system and in all their national policies, and to adopt the measure necessary to implement these objectives, in order to achieve equal sharing of decision-making posts for women and men. We call upon all the political leadership at European and national level to accept the full consequences of the democratic idea on which their parties are built, in particular by ensuring balanced participation between women and men in positions of power, particularly political and administrative positions, through measures to raise awareness and through mechanisms.