COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 12.02.1997 
COM(96) 650 final 
ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 
Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 
in the European Union 
- 1996 -
« 
m 

CONTENTS 
FOREWORD 4 ^ 
SUMMARY 4 c 
PARTI 
CHAPTER I BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 9 
1.1 Mainstreaming and integration 9 
1.2 Structural funds and equal opportunities 15 
1.3 Social dialogue and social partners 22 
CHAPTER 2 WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 23 
2.1 Equality and economy 23 
2.2 The European employment strategy and 
national multiannual programmes 36 
2.3 Business and women entrepreneurs 48 
CHAPTER 3 COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 51 
3.1 The effect of children on parents employment 51 
3.2 Parental leave 57 
3.3 The individualisation of rights 64 
CHAPTER4 PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION MAKING 71 
4.1 The current situation of women in decision-making 71 
4.2 Why the need for a balanced participation of women 
and men? 74 
4.3 Strategies for bringing more women into political 
decision-making positions 76 
4.4 Legislation and initiatives at European level 79 
4.5 Women in decision-making in European trade unions 84 
•A 
CHAPTER 5 ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
5.1 Exercising rights 
5.2 Enforcement and remedies 
5.3 Current state of community law remedies 89 
89 
97 
100 
PART 2 
CHAPTER 6 THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
6.1 The Beijing preparatory process 
6.2 The conference itself 
6.3 The contribution of non-governmental organisations 
6.4 After the conference itself implementing the platform for action 107 
107 
114 
115 
117 
LIST OF TABLES 
LIST OF CHARTS 
LIST OF SOURCES 123 
124 
125 
4 cv 
FOREWORD 
Equal opportunities for women and men is a subject which has been addressed from many 
different perspectives and in many different formats. This report however is the first to cover 
Community policy in equal opportunities as a whole. It is aimed at a broad audience, which 
includes not only those with reponsibility for equal opportunities policy, but also those in charge 
of employment, social affairs, industrial relations, training and education policies whether, at 
European, national and/or regional levels. This report will also be an interesting tool forv 
members of the European Parliament, the social partners, for academic and research centres, ; 
and all those who are involved in the current debate on equal opportunities. 
The Commission intends to publish this as the first in a series of annual reports on equal 
opportunities in the EU. Its aim is to respond to three main goals: to give visible expression to 
community policy on equal opportunities for women and men (visibility), to encourage debate 
on the progress to be achieved and the policies to develop (strategy), and to act as a reference 
point for the Commission, the Member States of the EU and countries applying for membership 
(convergence). 
This report reviews the advances which have been achieved at the level of Member States and 
the Union, and thereby serves as a monitoring instrument for equal opportunities. It offers you, 
the reader, information concerning several subjects related to equal opportunities. Its structure 
broadly reflects the Fourth Community Action Programme on equal opportunities (first part) and 
deals with five main themes: building partnership in a changing society, women and men in a 
changing economy, reconciling work and family life, promoting balanced participation in 
decision making and enabling women to exercise their rights. The second part of these annual 
Reports is intended to tackle a specific and topical subject in the equal opportunities debate. 
This year the selected subject is the United Nations World Conference on Women (Beijing, 
September 1995). 
Substantial emphasis is given to Community and national level trends. A balance between 
these two aspects was sought. Information on national (and regional) events was gathered 
with, amongst others, the help of the Advisory Committee on Equal opportunities for women 
and men. I would like to warmly thank the members of the Committee for their co-operation. 
Further information on the integration of equal opportunities into other community or national 
policies can be found in other annual reports, published by the Commission, such as the report 
"Employment in Europe", the activity report of the SOCRATES programme, the LEONARDO 
DA VINCI programme or 'Youth for Europe III". 
This report will be discussed, at Community level, by many actors involved in equal 
opportunities policies. I hope that this report and those which follow, will contribute fully to 
progress in equal opportunities for women and men. 
Padraig Flynn 
±1 
SUMMARY 
Equality between women and men is indis­
putably recognised as a basic principle of democ­
racy and respect for humankind. Since its cre­
ation, the Community has recognised the princi­
ple of equal pay and, on this basis, has developed 
a consistent set of legal provisions aimed at guar­
anteeing equal rights for access to employment, 
vocational training, working conditions and to a 
large extent, social protection. 
In order to promote equality in practice, the 
Community has implemented specific action 
programmes since the 1980s, which, though hav­
ing limited budgetary resources, have had a sub­
stantial knock-on effect, particularly by stimulat­
ing further action in the individual Member 
States. Furthermore, the European Council 
meeting in Essen (December 1994), declared that 
the promotion of equal opportunities for women 
and men was a key priority of the European 
Union and the Member States, on a par with the 
struggle against unemployment. 
Indeed, the Commission has cited the achieve­
ment of equal opportunities as one of the major 
considerations in the development of all its poli­
cies. By so doing, equal opportunities has now 
become a policy which should intersect all other 
policies - a mainstream policy which is to be 
applied by all. 
This ambitious approach was presented in the 
Commission Communication proposing the 
Fourth Action Programme on Equal Opportunities 
for Women and Men (1996-2000), and was 
endorsed by a subsequent Council Decision.1 
The adoption of the action programme was fol-
1 Council Decision of 22.12.1995, OJ L 335 of 30.12.1995. 
ic 
SUMMARY 
aWMMfflMWII 
lowed in February 1996 by a Communication 
from the Commission on 'Incorporating equal 
opportunities for women and men into all 
Community policies and activities'.2 
This annual Report on equal opportunities for 
women and men in the European Union was 
announced in the 1994 Commission White Paper 
'European Social Policy - A Way Forward for the 
Union'.3 It offers a review of developments in 
equality at both Member State and European 
level. As such it may be used as an instrument for 
monitoring equality policies - an essential 
requirement of mainstreaming. 
CHAPTER 1 
BUILDING 
PARTNERSHIP 
IN A CHANGING 
SOCIETY 
Efforts to promote equal opportunities are 
being strengthened in many aspects of the 
European Unions policies and programmes. The 
key to this developing strategy can be summed 
up as 'mainstreaming', a concept that was men­
tioned in the Third Action Programme and is 
considerably developed in the Fourth Action 
Programme. This more global approach to equal­
ity calls for the development of a gender perspec­
tive and gender analysis of all policies, pro­
grammes and actions. 'Mainstreaming is defined 
as the systematic consideration of the differences 
between the conditions, situations and needs of 
women and men in all Community policies, at 
the point of planning, implementing and evalua­
tion, as applied to Europe, the industrialised 
countries and the developing countries. 
An application of mainstreaming policy in, for 
example, transport policy means that it takes into 
account the fact that women are much more fre­
quent users of public transport and less frequent­
ly own or have access to a car, as compared to men. Women also frequently travel with children 
and use prams and pushchairs. The development 
of good, efficient and qualitative public passenger 
transport systems which take into account acces­
sibility for passengers with specific needs would 
contribute to equal opportunities. 
Over time, one can see a greater emphasis on 
mainstreaming which does not imply the end of 
positive action policy. Both are complementary 
and they should be applied together. This process 
can be seen not only in the three Community action 
programmes, but also in development cooperation 
policy and in individual Member States. 
Mainstreaming was also a key issue at the Beijing 
conference to which the Union made a significant 
contribution (see Chapter 6). 
The implementation of a strategy of main-
streaming is a complex and long-term process, 
which requires a diversity of approaches. It 
demands, for example, analysis of the current sit­
uation to establish the differential impact of pol­
icy on women and on men, disaggregated data, 
funding, and a gender balance of those who take 
the necessary decisions. 
It demands the mobilisation of all policies and 
the improvement of consultation and coordina­
tion between all those involved in these policies. 
To this end, the Commission has set up a 
Commissioners' group under the chairmanship 
of the President, to take an overview of equal 
rights and opportunities for women and men at 
Union and Commission level. 
The Structural Funds 
There has been an overt equal opportunities 
dimension in the European Social Fund (ESF), 
the oldest of the Structural Funds, since at least 
1976 and, as for the other funds, with each 
review, the equality element has grown. However, 
both the statements of policy on equal opportu­
nities and the actual delivery of funding to equal­
ity programmes and actions have remained a very 
small part of the overall picture. Whilst there has 
been an undeniable increase in the number of 
women benefiting from the ESF, most of the 
1 COM (96) 67 final of 21.2.1996. 
'COM (94) 333of27.7.1994. 
SUMMARY 
wxxvmv?&m;mtm$m 
training that it provides for women are for tradi­
tional 'women's jobs'. Moreover, lack of sufficient 
childcare is an obstacle to women's access to these 
training schemes. 
With regard to equal opportunities, the most 
visible female element of the Funds until recent­
ly was the NOW (New Opportunities for 
Women) programme, launched during the Third 
Action Programme. Designed to be more flexible 
in criteria and funding, it had an indirect effect of 
mainstreaming in that it brought more women 
into the funding process, while simultaneously 
informing those who delivered the Funds in the 
Member States about the needs, demands, skills 
and capacities of women with whom they might 
not normally have come into contact. 
From the equality perspective, perhaps, the 
most significant development in the Structural 
Funds was the 1993 revision. Equal opportuni­
ties became a principle running through all the 
three funds, the ESF, ERDF and EAGGF. The 
1993 revision also introduced specific reference 
to equality under Objective 3. 
In practice, the implementation of equal 
opportunities principles by the Member States 
varies widely. However, all have made efforts; for 
example, by aiming to benefit women in propor­
tion to their numbers among the unemployed 
and/or creating a special budget for actions in 
favour of women. Special actions for women may 
involve support for childcare or dependent care, 
or measures to make women more competitive in 
the labour market. 
A seminar in Brussels in March 1996 brought 
together representatives from the Commission, 
the Member States and interested groups and 
bodies to consider the Structural Funds in the 
context of mainstreaming. The Commission 
clearly indicated that, whilst the ESF would con­
tinue to be a major tool for supporting equal 
opportunities, the other funds could provide a 
significant input by, for example, providing com­
plementary infrastructure such as buildings for 
childcare services and transport. Women have 
not figured greatly in the specific use of the 
ERDF, and it was made clear that they could and 
should be much more involved in the planning 
and delivery of regional development. Similarly, some measures to increase the visibility and 
involvement of women in agricultural develop­
ment are in place, and others are under discus­
sion. 
The effective use of the Funds requires full 
integration of equal opportunities issues at the 
planning stage and also in the measurement and 
evaluation of the programmes and projects fund­
ed by them. This will require the involvement of 
those who are familiar with equality issues as well 
as the use of systems which will make it possible 
to evaluate the benefits to women. As a follow-up 
to this seminar, the Irish Presidency proposed a 
Council Resolution on Equal Opportunities and 
the Structural Funds. It was adopted by Council 
on 2 December 1996. 
Social partners in the Fourth 
Action Programme 
Partnership is a key element of the Fourth Action 
Programme. The social partners are specifically 
mentioned in the objectives of the Programme, 
which includes a call for the 'equality dimension 
to be integrated into the Social Dialogue both at 
local and regional level, and an undertaking to 
support efforts by the social partners to develop 
Europe-wide networking. The Fourth Action 
Programme also cites the social partners as actors 
in the promotion of women's participation in 
decision-making. 
A significant increase in the influence of the 
social partners came with the agreement on the 
Social Protocol of the Treaty on European Union 
in 1992. The social partners may negotiate 
'framework agreements' which may ultimately be 
transposed as binding legal instruments. The first 
example of the process was in the production of a 
framework agreement on parental leave (see also 
Chapter 3 and Chapter 5). ETUC, UN ICE and 
CEEP have now decided to negotiate on another 
issue which is of key importance to equal oppor­
tunities: flexibility in working time and security 
for employees. 
Women are under-represented in decision­
making in social partner organisations. There is a 
lack of precise statistics, but it is clear that there 
are very few female general secretaries, presidents, 
or members of executive committees. On the 
employer side, women are even less visible at 
SUMMARY 
organisations, there is a better representation of 
women in paid positions than in repHsentative 
bodies. 
Furthermore, both employers and trade unions 
are in favour of equal treatment for women and 
men. Some trade unions have instituted positive 
action measures to address the imbalance between 
women and men in their own structures. The 
employers' organisations recognise that there is 
inequality and are overtly opposed to sex dis­
crimination, but they doubt the necessity for pos­
itive action. 
The value of increased female representation in 
the social dialogue is not just numerical, but is 
also about bringing a wider perspective to the 
debate and making sure that issues which have a 
gender dimension and which may even disadvan­
tage one sex are not treated as though they were 
gender-neutral. This would also contribute to 
bringing issues of direct and obvious concern to 
women, like childcare, onto the agenda. 
CHAPTER 2 
WOMEN AND MEN 
IN A CHANGING 
ECONOMY 
Gender differences are very strong in the 
labour market and are reflected in the segregation 
of women and men into different kinds of work 
and in the concentration of women in part-time 
and other forms of atypical employment. Women 
and men occupy distinct positions in terms of 
sectors of employment, occupations and also 
employment status. A growing majority of 
women are employees. Few women, except in 
agriculture, are employers or self-employed. 
Educational qualifications and training are of 
increasing importance in all countries, as compe­
tition for jobs has intensified and economic activ­
ity has been restructured. Securing skills and 
qualifications provides women with the basis for continuous employment in jobs which are more 
secure, better paid and have prospects for career 
development. Their absence exacerbates the mar­
ginalisation of women from paid employment. 
Despite the growth of employment and the 
improved skill and qualifications base which 
women bring to employment, women continue 
to earn significantly less than men. The concen­
tration of women in low paid work, combined 
with strong gender segregation on the jobs mar­
ket has meant that the gender pay gap has been 
highly resistant to change. 
An extended period of change has resulted in 
inter-generational differences between different 
groups of women; a process which is likely to 
continue for some time. But, generally, women's 
demand for employment has been very strong 
and consistent, even through periods, and 
regions, of severe economic recession, as more 
women seek integration into the formal labour 
force. Where employment growth has occurred, 
it has predominantly involved an increased rate 
of employment among women in the middle age 
groups. For women, the key sectors for increased 
employment opportunities are professional, tech­
nical and general service jobs. This means that a 
minority of well-qualified women have secured a 
strong position in the labour market while other 
women are confined to lower paid and casualised 
jobs. 
The Essen employment process has opened up 
new opportunities for the inclusion of equal oppor­
tunities in the multiannual employment pro­
grammes of the Member States. A preliminary 
analysis of the programmes or the Member States 
suggests that implementation of equal opportu­
nities in the multiannual programmes has posed 
a number of initial difficulties for several 
Member States. Despite this, there are signs that 
a number of programmes are beginning to take 
account of the differences between women and 
men in the labour market. 
Increasing proportions of women interested in 
improving their labour market status are attract­
ed by enterprise creation, self-employment and 
independent economic activity. These are some 
of the areas contributing to employment growth 
in Europe. These programmes of local employ-
SUMMARY 
ment initiatives for women are among the incen­
tives developed at European level to enable 
women to contribute to enterprise creation. 
CHAPTER 3 
COMBINING 
WORK WITH 
HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
With the care of children often seen mainly as 
the responsibility of the mother, difficulties with 
childcare can be a serious obstacle to women 
achieving equality in employment. There are sig­
nificant variations in the economic activity of 
mothers in the different Member States although 
the level is rising in all Member States. In a few 
countries, the presence of children makes little 
difference to women's participation in the work­
force; in others participation rates vary according 
to the number of children. Mothers are much 
more likely to work part-time than fathers (par­
ticularly in countries where part-time work for 
women in general is not uncommon). 
Variation among Member States is also evident 
in childcare services. Article 3 of the 1992 
Childcare Recommendation4 identifies key ele­
ments of good childcare services. However, there 
is a significant lack of comprehensive and com­
parable data as well as difficulties in interpreting 
the data that result from the very different 
approaches to care in the different Member 
States. The need for comparative monitoring sys­
tems is a recurrent demand within the childcare 
debate. 
The social partners, ETUC, UNICE and 
CEEP, made a major contribution with their 
Framework Agreement on Parental Leave, of 
December 1995, which was subsequently trans­
posed into a Council Directive in June 1996. 
This Directive (see also Chapters 3 and 5) enti­
tles women and men to three months' parental 
leave after the birth or adoption of a child. Much of the implementation of the Directive is left to 
the discretion of the individual Member States. 
Current provision of parental leave varies 
between Member States. 
The current Action Programme includes the 
individualisation of tax and social security sys­
tems as another area that might help the recon­
ciliation of work and family life. There is debate 
and research ongoing into how best these systems 
should be designed to avoid discrimination and 
promote equality. 
CHAPTER 4 
PROMOTING 
A GENDER 
BALANCE IN 
DECISION-MAKING 
Women remain under-represented at national, 
regional and local levels in all Member States of 
the European Union. There are wide variations 
between individual countries, but the average 
representation in national parliaments is only 15 
per cent (though this is an improvement on the 
11 per cent recorded in 1980). The Commission 
has recognised the problem and acknowledged 
that the under-representation of women in deci­
sion-making constitutes a loss for society as a 
whole and does not allow the interests and needs 
of the whole population to be catered for in full. 
The Fourth Action Programme also makes the 
attainment of a gender balance in decision-mak­
ing one of its main objectives, whilst the 
European Parliament passed a resolution on 
women and decision-making in 1994. The 
Beijing Platform for Action (see also Chapter 6) 
also included a call for women's full participation 
in power structures and decision-making. 
It seems, therefore, that the problem is well 
understood. Women's under-representation results 
in a democratic deficit, a serious loss of talent and 
4 Recommendation on Childcare, OJ L 123 of 8.5.92. 
SUMMARY 
expertise and a failure to engage with women's 
particular concerns and needs. The current posi­
tion shows a steadily upward trend in the num­
bers of women involved in political and public 
life - in parliaments (including the European 
Parliament), governments and regional and local 
politics. 
There is debate on the type and extent of posi­
tive action which should be taken to rectify the 
situation. The notion of parity democracy has 
not attracted a consensus. Quotas, although used 
selectively in some Member States, are also the 
subject of much debate. Targets and timetables 
are not binding, but they do raise awareness of 
the problem and may help to change attitudes. 
Within the framework of the Third Action 
Programme, the Commission supported data col­
lections and analysis on women in politics and 
other aspects of decision-making and contributed 
to the development of suitable strategies. The 
'Athens Declaration' in 1992 marked the begin­
ning of a comprehensive policy approach to 
women in decision-making. There was Europe-
wide impetus in the run-up to the European 
Parliamentary elections of 1994 to raise aware­
ness and support women's organisations in their 
campaigns for greater participation from women. 
A range of strategies to achieve gender balance 
in decision-making is being developed in the 
majority of Member States. Research into the sec­
toral representation of women in industrial and 
administrative bodies across Europe is being sup­
ported by the Commission. There remains con­
cern, however, at the under-representation of 
women in many fields of social, economic and 
political life, a concern expressed in the Rome 
Charter of 1996 which was signed by a number 
of women ministers in European countries. 
There are other players in the development of 
social policy. Efforts to attract the attention of the 
social partners to equal opportunities are present­
ed in Chapter 1. Measures to improve the 
involvement of the voluntary sector have been 
developed as part of a continuous process and 
have included the convening of a European 
Social Policy Forum, which met in Brussels in 
March 1996. A Platform of European Social 
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) 
includes the European Women's Lobby (see also Chapter 5). The process of civil dialogue also 
includes issues of human rights and development 
cooperation. 
CHAPTER 5 
ENABLING WOMEN 
TO EXERCISE 
THEIR RIGHTS 
Equal treatment between women and men 
constitutes a fundamental element of 
Community Law. It has developed from the iso­
lated provision of equal pay for equal work con­
tained in Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome to a 
fully-fledged programme of equality measures. 
The legislative programme has been interpreted 
and clarified by the European Court of Justice, 
largely through references made by the national 
courts under Article 177 but also through 
infringement actions brought by the 
Commission under Article 169. In particular the 
Court has developed a case law on the concept of 
direct and indirect discrimination in Community 
law. 
The European Union has encouraged and sup­
ported initiatives in the Member States to make 
women and men more aware of their legal rights. 
The most recent developments of equality law 
include the use of the Social Protocol of the 
Treaty on European Union. Within this frame­
work, the social partners have arrived at a frame­
work agreement on parental leave and are consid­
ering the issues of flexibility of working time and 
security for employees, as well as dignity at work. 
In July 1996, the Commission published a pro­
posal for a Directive on the burden of proof in sex 
discrimination cases. 
Despite the relatively comprehensive legal 
framework on equal pay and equal treatment for 
women and men, there remain a number of out­
standing problems in the application of 
Community law: time limits, the effectiveness of 
legal remedies and sanctions, and access to justice 
SUMMARY 
are some of the problematic areas facing women 
and men seeking to enforce their rights. 
CHAPTER 6 
THEADVANCES 
OF BEIJING streaming. A similar emphasis is evident in devel­
opment co-operation, with an insistence on inte­
grating a gender dimension into all policies and 
programmes and in human rights. 
In the Member States, a wide range of infor­
mation dissemination and follow-up activities are 
being pursued. 
CONCLUSIONS 
The Fourth United Nations World Conference 
on Women was held in Beijing in September 
1995. It was called to assess the implemen­
tation of Forward-looking Strategies for the 
Advancement of Women to the Year 2000, a text 
agreed at the previous UN conference on women 
in 1985. Disappointment at the extent to which 
the strategies had been achieved was felt interna­
tionally, in spite of many advances made by 
women in all areas of life and in many parts of the 
world. 
The European Union prepared for the confer­
ence by producing a number of policy docu­
ments, by information-gathering, by supporting 
conferences and by performing a central role in 
the UN's preparatory meetings. Individual 
Member States also invested considerable energy 
in involving grass-roots women's organisations 
and other NGOs in the preparation as well as 
government and statutory agencies. 
At the conference itself, the Union played a sig­
nificant and constructive role in the negotiation 
of the Platform for Action. Many European 
NGOs, concerned both with women within the 
Union and women in developing countries, took 
part in a NGO Forum, held in parallel with the 
main conference. It was felt that, on the whole, 
linkages and communications between govern­
ments and NGOs had improved over the years. 
Since the conference, the European Council 
has agreed that it will review the Union's imple­
mentation of the Platform for Action each year. 
The current Action Programme on equal oppor­
tunities gives practical expression to the Union's 
priorities of achieving the goals of the Platform, 
emphasising especially the importance of main-The Report concludes that policy in the field of 
equal opportunities is in a transitional phase of 
renewal. An important acquis communautaire5 of 
the Community relating to the subject of equal 
treatment for women and men has been put in 
place both in the law and in practice. A new 
debate has emerged on the necessity of going a 
step further, by increasing the scope of the actors 
involved. This debate should lead to a new part­
nership contract between the sexes and to new 
forward thinking about the status of women at an 
international level. This renewal should be seen 
as the latest phase in the development of the 
equality heritage in Europe over the past twenty 
years. 
Implementation strategies have not advanced 
at the same pace as awareness of the need for new 
methods and approaches to equal opportunities. 
Mainstreaming gender into all policies and pro­
grammes is along term task which will only grad­
ually yield results. 
This report has found that the diversity of 
women's situations is increasing and that new 
strategies to develop equal opportunities at 
European level will, in the future, have to take 
account of the differences between women as well 
as the disparities between women and men. This 
latter factor will add to the complexity of the 
challenges which must be faced in order to devel­
op an effective gender perspective. 
' Acquis communautaire: A French term relating to basic 
principles of European law. 
nssawz&itxa 
7 

*K<&ïœ-xœœ:^v%œnrmwMmiMmmm 
CHAPTER 1 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP 
IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
MAINSTREAMING 
AND INTEGRATION 
Since its creation, the Community has recog­
nised the principle of equal pay for women and 
men and, on this basis, has developed a consistent 
set of legal provisions aimed at guaranteeing 
equal rights for access to employment, vocational 
training, working conditions and to a large 
extent, social protection. 
In order to contribute to promoting equality in 
practice, the Community has implemented spe­
cific action programmes since the 1980s, which, 
though having limited budgetary resources, have 
had a substantial knock-on effect particularly by 
stimulating further action in the Member States. 
These programmes funded positive actions and 
pilot projects which extended the Community's 
field of action to the reconciliation of family and 
working life, women's role in the decision-mak­
ing process, the participation of women in eco­
nomic life and employment. A determined effort 
must be made to pursue and intensify the action 
already taken. The Essen, Cannes and Madrid 
European Council have stressed that promoting 
equal opportunities for women and men is on a 
par with the struggle against unemployment, as a 
priority of the European Union and the Member 
States. The Union's commitment to this objective 
was also given a practical expression in the active 
role it played at the United Nations Conference 
held in Beijing in September 1995. The Commission 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
has cited the achievement of equal opportunities as one 
of die major considerations in the development of all 
its policies. By so doing, equal opportunities has 
now become a policy which should intersect all 
other policies - a mainstream policy which is to 
be applied by all. 
Action to promote equality requires an ambi­
tious approach. This involves not restricting 
efforts to the implementation of specific mea­
sures to help women, but mobilising all general 
measures and policies specifically for the purpose 
of achieving equality. 
To contribute to these efforts, the Commission 
proposed in July 1995 a new equal opportunities 
action programme.1 The Council Decision2 
establishing this action programme, reinforces 
the aim of better integrating equal opportunities 
into the process of preparing, implementing and 
monitoring all policies, measures and activities of 
the European Union and its Member States. 
The principle of mainstreaming 
This decision was followed in February 1996 
by the adoption of a Commission Communication 
'Incorporating equal opportunities for women 
and men into all Community policies and activi­
ties',3 which makes explicit the mainstreaming 
strategy adopted. It underlines that the promo­
tion of equality does not only require the imple­
mentation of positive measures targeted at 
women, but also measures aimed at adapting the 
organisation of society to a fairer distribution of 
men's and women's roles. It states that 'the princi­
ple of "mainstreaming" does not mean simply 
making Community programmes or resources 
more accessible for women, but rather the simul­
taneous mobilisation of legal instruments, finan­
cial resources and the Community's analytical 
and organisational capacities'. This should act as 
an impetus to take the possible effects on the 
respective situation of women and men (gender 
perspective) into account in all policies, right 
from their planning stage. In this respect, it is 
both necessary and important to base the policy 
of equality between women and men on a sound 
statistical analysis of the situation of women and 
men in various areas of life and in the context of 
the changes taking place in societies. 
10 The Commission has defined mainstreaming 
of equality as the systematic consideration of the 
respective priorities and needs of women and 
men in all policies and measures. Differences in 
the conditions, needs and situations of women 
and men involve differences in status, access to 
resources and development, control of assets, 
decision-making powers and differences in how 
women and men are perceived. Ascertaining the 
existence and extent of such differences is 
described as gender analysis. The development of 
an understanding of such differences and their 
policy implications can be described as a gender 
perspective. 
The strategy to promote this approach consists 
of ensuring that equal opportunities are applied 
horizontally across the widest possible range of 
fields. The strategy simultaneously implies that 
equality concerns figure at each point of the pol­
icy cycle in those same fields. 
Mainstreaming is, in this sense, complemen­
tary to positive actions which have an important 
function in promoting the visibility of women 
and in tackling the gaps between women and 
men in areas such as access to vocational training, 
and employment. Mainstreaming has a role in 
promoting women's involvement in fields which 
were previously thought to be neutral in out­
come, but which in effect have different impacts 
for women and for men. 
The concept and practice of mainstreaming in 
relation to equal opportunities has developed 
gradually. This development was built on the 
work carried out both within the framework of 
the Third Equal Opportunities Action Programme, 
and also from the lessons of Commission action 
in development cooperation. 
It also echoes the introduction of the main-
streaming principle in respect of other Community 
policies, such as environment policies. 
The move to such a global and integrated 
approach to equal opportunities is reflected in 
international organisations concerned with the 
status of women. The United Nations Fourth 
1 COM(95) 381 final of 19.7.1995. 
1 Council Decision of 22.12.1995. OJ L 335 of 30.12.1995. p.37. 
JCOM(96) 67 final of 21.2.1996. 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
BRINGING EMANCIPATION INTO THE MAINSTREAM: 
THE NETHERLANDS 
Gender equality in the Netherlands is discussed in reference to the concept of emancipation. Emancipation in the 
Netherlands has always been seen as a multi-faceted policy. A multi-faceted policy is one which involves viewing all 
government activities from one single perspective. The underlying reason for choosing a multi-factorial policy is 
that emancipation does not merely concern women. It is a process which involves a change in society motivated by 
a critique of the relationship between the sexes. As early as 1976, the Emancipation Council of the Netherlands 
stated in its memorandum that the issue of women is a question which is relevant to all policies. Therefore, an 
emancipation policy had to have a place in all sectors and not be housed in a separate sector of society or in a sep­
arate Ministry. A coordinating management committee was set up and a member of Government was appointed to 
ensure the necessary coordination and adjustment. 
As well as a multi-faceted policy, a sectoral policy was also required. This is a policy which was especially designed 
to support the emancipation process in the community as well as among specific groups of women. This 'twin track' 
policy is still maintained. In 1985 it was stated explicitly that the aim of the multi-sectorial policy was to integrate 
emancipation into everyday policies. The emancipation policy should thus ultimately become superfluous. Until 
this is the case, the coordinating management committee and the designated member of Government will contin­
ue to operate. Their task is to stimulate, develop and advise. 
The 1992 policy programme continued along these lines, stressing the need for an integrated emancipation policy. 
All members of Government involved are responsible for the integration of the emancipation policy in their respec­
tive sectors. Each Ministry issues a report for the policy programme, dealing with emancipation plans and infra­
structure for each sector. It is clear that the process of integration is a difficult one. The ministerial aims and thrust 
of the emancipation policy do not always tie in with the proposals of the coordinating management committee. 
Existing resources such as information, research, departmental memoranda and contracts, an interdepartmental 
emancipation commission are clearly not always sufficient to implement the policy of integration. 
In 1994, a body was set up to evaluate the effect of other policies on women. This body was called Emancipatie 
Effect Rapportage (EER). The EER makes it possible to influence other policies and obliges politicians to take into 
consideration the effect these policies have on both women and the emancipation process itself. On a national level, 
the recommendations of the EER have already been implemented by the Ministry of the Interior in relation to 
reform of the electoral system. In the Ministry of Education they brought about the modification of previous poli­
cies in order to avoid their estimated negative effect. 
In 1996, the infrastructure of all the emancipation policies has been undergoing significant changes. The aim of 
these changes is a stronger integration of emancipation. Up until now, the official Emancipation Council was the 
Government's only advisory body on issues concerning emancipation. The Emancipation Council, like many other 
advisory bodies, was discontinued in order to increase the Government's efficiency. It is still not clear how aspects 
of emancipation will be integrated into new advisory boards. The entire support system for emancipation is being 
thoroughly revised. The new system is intended to work both on specialisation and integration for every policy. It 
is also intended to support general emancipation policy. The future role of the coordinating management commit­
tee for emancipation should involve even more monitoring, stimulation and adjustment of the main policy objec­
tives. 
11 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
FOUR EU PROGRAMMES 
From legal measures to mainstreaming 
The First Community Programme on the Promotion 
of Equal Opportunities for Women (1982-1985) was a 
recognition that while legal measures were important, 
there was a need for additional and complementary mea­
sures in the form of positive action in various fields. 
The Second Medium-term Community Programme 
for Women (1986-1990) continued to develop the imple­
mentation of Directives in a now enlarged Community of 
12 Member States. It widened the scope of equal oppor­
tunities to new spheres of positive action in training, in 
new technology, in the reconciliation of working and 
family life and in local development. 
The Third Medium-term Community Action 
Programme on Equal Opportunities for Women and 
Men (1991-1995) declared itself at a new stage in equal 
opportunities policies by proposing a more comprehen­
sive strategy' for action. 
The Fourth Medium-term Community Action 
Programme on Equal Opportunities for Women and 
Men (1996-2000) advances and focuses on the principle 
of mainstreaming. It proposes that methods, strategies, 
models and studies aimed at integrating the equal oppor­
tunities dimension into policies and activities be devel­
oped and promoted in the Member States. 
The three first programmes were implemented on the ini­
tiative of the Commission. The current programme was 
proposed by the Commission to the Council and estab­
lished by a Council Decision. 
These programmes were supported by other interven­
tions, such as the creation of a complex series of net­
works, which encouraged the work of organisations pro­
moting equal opportunities and helped to identify good 
practices. 
The Community has also continued to further the cause 
of women and remove inequalities between women and 
men through its dialogue with non-member countries, in 
particular through its policies on development coopera­
tion and the promotion and protection of human rights. World Conference in Beijing in 1995 adopted a 
position on the integration of a gender perspec­
tive in legislation, public policies, programmes 
and projects (see Chapter 6 of the Report). This 
proposal was developed and strongly supported 
by the European Union. The application of a 
gender perspective to both development coopera­
tion and dialogue with non-Member countries 
has continued since the UN Conference with 
analytical studies of particular policies. These 
have included human rights (1995),4 emergency 
and humanitarian assistance (1995) and structur­
al adjustment policies (1995). The Council of 
Europe convened a group of specialists on main-
streaming in February 1996 in the context of the 
activities of their Steering Committee for 
Equality Between Women and Men. 
Applying the principle 
of mainstreaming 
Implementing the mainstreaming approach 
requires mobilisation, which is why in 1995 the 
Commission set up a Commissioners' group on 
equal opportunities for women and men under 
the auspices of its President. The function of this 
group is to stimulate debate and ensure that the 
concern for equal opportunities for women and 
men is built into all Community activities in a 
coherent and systematic way. An inter-depart­
mental group has been appointed to prepare and 
monitor this work, taking note of initiatives 
planned or in progress, with a view to identifying 
possible synergies and cooperation between 
them. 
In the above mentioned Communication, 
which results from this work, the Commission 
has identified seven areas for strategic mobilisa­
tion of Community policies to foster equal 
opportunities: employment and the labour mar­
ket; the status of women entrepreneurs; assisting 
spouses in SMEs; education and training; peo­
ple's rights; external relations; information; and 
the Commission's personnel policy. 
The application of the strategy of mainstream­
ing to general policies, programmes and projects 
4 Commission Communication on the external dimension of 
human rights policy. COM(95) 567 final of 12.11.1995. 
12 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
FROMWOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT TO GENDER 
AND DEVELOPMENT 
The Women in Development (WID) approach, developed in the 70s, concentrated on identifying the sit­
uation of women, providing information about women's lives and mobilising women's groups at field level 
all over the world. In its initial phase, the Women in Development (WID) analysis led to a proliferation of 
women only projects' or women's components' in sectoral, sub-sectoral or multi-purpose projects. 
'Equal-but-outside characterised these strategies. The initiated projects often neglected men's crucial posi­
tion in the control of assets and in decision-making; beside, they were too often small size, marginal, wel­
fare-oriented and linked to ministries and executing agencies that lacked the financial and technical 
resources to enable self-sustaining development beyond the project context. The inadvertent result of such 
projects was largely to perpetuate women's isolation on the periphery of main development efforts. 
Analysis tools have been gradually refined, leading to the Gender and Development (GAD) approach. 
GAD focuses on the interdependent relations between women and men (gender relations), rather than on 
women per se. The term gender' refers to socially acquired and culturally specific attributes distinguishing 
women and men, while the term 'sex' refers only to physical distinctions. As gender differences are histor­
ically determined and culturally specific, they vary across countries and regions and change over time. 
Gender analysis in programme/project planning seeks to distinguish the resources, activities, potentials and 
constraints of women relative to men in a given socio-economic group. The aim is not only to address dis­
tortions and disparities between women and men but also to ensure maximum efficiency in pursuing devel­
opment goals. 
Following the further marginalisation of women deriving from the strict women-only project strategy, the 
need was recognised for a more global approach. Mainstreaming was thus developed as a new strategy, 
which aimed at integrating a gender perspective in all mainstream development policies, programmes and 
projects. 
Mainstreaming does not exclude the need for positive action measures, programmes and projects oriented 
to the disadvantaged party (generally women) in areas where gender gaps are particularly strong, such as, 
for example, education and training, access to credit, or areas which, by their nature, especially concern 
women. These differ from the earlier women-only' approach in being designed for maximum strategic 
effect, implemented on an appropriately large scale and intended as important temporary measures to 
bridge major gender gaps and bring the disadvantaged party to a threshold level from which it can enter 
into mainstream tendencies. 
The Directorate-General for Development (DG VIII) considers these new approaches to have major 
importance for its policies and actions. 
Source: Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Integrating Gender Issues in 
Development Cooperation, COM(95) 423 final of 18.9.1995. 
13 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
Policy level 
Design of Policy 
Revision 
Implementation 
Administration 
Monitoring CHART 1: LEVELS OF APPLICATION 
OF MAINSTREAMING STRATEGIES 
Methodology 
• The development of impact analysis systems 
• Organisation of gender sensitive consultation mechanisms 
• Prepare gender-disaggregated data 
• Risk assessment analysis 
• Awareness plans 
• Staff/personnel information, distribution 
Evaluation and Follow-up • Agreement on appropriate monitoring indicators 
• New criteria 
• Collection of gender-disaggregated data 
• Analysis of interaction and coherence with other goals 
• Use of monitoring data 
is a complex process, posing new questions at 
each stage in the cycle of policy, from policy 
design, through implementation to evaluation 
and review. It is all the more complex in that 
many policies appear gender-neutral at first sight. 
Evidence of the differential impact of policies on 
women and men may only come to light gradu­
ally, as a consequence of studies which reveal dif­
ferential access or usage. The relative ease or dif­
ficulty of applying a strategy to implement main-
streaming depends on a range of factors. These 
may include the depth of inequality to be 
addressed between women and men in the field 
of application; the range of methods available to 
apply the strategy; the structures and funds avail­
able for its implementation and the links estab­
lished with women in decision-making bodies. 
Other factors which may have a bearing on appli­
cation are the gender balance between decision 
makers; the availability of gender-disaggregated 
data for analysis and the historical investment in 
awareness-raising of the issues, to mention just a 
few. Chart 1 illustrates the levels of policy-making 
at which a mainstreaming strategy can be applied 
and the implications for each level. 
14 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
STRUCTURAL FUNDS AND 
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES 
Structural policies constitute the main 
Community instrument for promoting cohesion 
and solidarity and for improving employment 
and integration prospects. Increasing the contri­
bution of the Structural Funds (European 
Regional Development Fund, European Social 
Fund and European Agricultural Guidance and 
Guarantee Fund) to promote equal opportunities 
is therefore of great political significance. The 
incorporation of equality into structural policies 
is, firstly, a response to the need to reduce the 
inequalities which exist between women and men 
with regard to the rate of employment, the level 
of training, access to the labour market and 
involvement in the decision-making process. But 
it is also part of a desire to promote sustainable 
development, by combining job and wealth cre­
ation with quality of life and preservation of the 
cultural and natural heritage. 
The European Social Fund was the first fund to 
take the issue of equal opportunities into consid­
eration. All Structural Funds have become pro­
gressively involved in the promotion of equal 
opportunities. 
All actions supported by the funds can con­
tribute - at least indirectly - to the promotion of 
equality and most of these actions are designed to 
be of equal benefit to women and men. However, 
general measures are not necessarily gender neu­
tral. 
The 1989-1993 programming 
period 
The Single European Act led to reform of the 
Structural Funds to make them more efficient 
and better coordinated. The 1988 reform 
brought new definitions- for the remit of the 
funds. Five objectives were fixed: 
• Promoting development and structural adjust­
ment of the regions whose development is lag­
ging behind (Objective 1); • Providing support for regions seriously affected 
by industrial decline (Objective 2); 
• Combating long term unemployment (Objec­
tive 3); 
• Facilitating the occupational integration of 
young people (Objective 4); 
• Adapting agricultural structures (Objective 5a) 
and rural development (Objective 5b). 
The equal opportunities dimension was not 
referred to in the definition of these objectives. 
However, all objectives did potentially concern 
women, as they are numerous among the con­
cerned target groups and areas. 
This reform strengthened the intervention of 
the ESF with regard to equal opportunities. The 
ESF had been funding specific measures for 
women since 1978, in particular training 
schemes. The guidelines adopted for the imple­
mentation of the 1988 regulation introduced a 
specific reference to women as being among those 
encountering special difficulties on the labour 
market. 
Actions implemented as part of all ESF gener­
al measures to train and help young people and 
the long-term unemployed find employment 
made it possible to improve the situation of 
women with regard to employment. In addition, 
it should be noted that five per cent of ESF 
appropriations under Objective 3 and 4 (that is 
ECU 380 million) were earmarked specifically 
for operations to help women. 
The other Funds (ERDF, EAGGF) have con­
tributed in an indirect and less concentrated 
manner to the promotion of equality, firstly by 
their general support for development and sec­
ondly, where appropriate, by funding training 
infrastructures of complementary social facilities. 
From 1991 onwards, the persistent segregation 
between women and men on the labour market 
and the will to give more visibility to the promo­
tion of equal opportunities led the Commission 
to launch a specific initiative - NOW (New 
Opportunities for Women) - with a Community 
budget of ECU 156 million.5 The innovative 
measures taken under this initiative, as well as its 
sOJC 327 of 29.12.1990. 
?&$$$&$&&&&&&» 
15 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
<$WSfSS8&lfSM8fiSSl9lSIS&&8$SR<S$ 
transnational nature, complemented those imple­
mented in the Member States under the CSF 
(Community Support Frameworks). They 
emphasized certain types of measure for which 
the participation rates of women were particular­
ly low: measures involving the setting up of com­
panies, for example. Through NOW, the European 
Regional Development Fund (ERDF) became 
involved in the question through its funding of 
childcare facilities. 
Within the Member States themselves, NOW 
contributed to the desegregation of interventions 
in favour of women by mobilising a wide range of 
operators including ministries, local govern­
ments, professional associations, women's organi­
sations, local development agencies, universities 
and others. Eight hundred projects were backed 
by the NOW initiative and all of them had a 
transnational dimension. 
The 1994-1999 programming 
period 
The reform of the Structural Funds enacted in 
1993 was of crucial importance for equal oppor­
tunities. It marked a step forward in the level of 
awareness of the issue by the ESF, but more 
importantly, it positioned equality as one of the 
central themes running through all the European 
Funds, including the ERDF and the EAGGF. 
In its provisions concerning the necessary com­
patibility between the measures financed through 
Structural Funds and other Community policies, 
the new standard regulation introduced for the 
first time an explicit reference to equal opportu­
nities. 
Article 7 of the new Regulations stated: actions 
funded by the Structural Funds or the EIB or any 
other existing financial mechanism must conform to 
the content of the treaties and acts and rulings relat­
ing to them, as well as Community policies, includ­
ing those relating to rules governing competition, the 
according of public contracts and the protection of 
the environment, along with the respect of the prin­
ciple of equal opportunities between women and 
men !" 
In addition, the reference to equal opportuni­
ties was reinforced by the Regulation relating to 
all operations implemented with ESF assistance. For the application of Objective 3 measures in 
particular, the Regulation required a priority 
intervention, 'to promote equal opportunities for 
women and men on the labour market, in partic­
ular in those employment sectors where women 
are under-represented, and for those women 
without professional qualifications or who are re­
entering the labour market after a period of 
absence'. 
Finally, the principle of equal opportunities is 
mentioned in documents which serve as the basis 
for different Community initiatives such as the 
three strands within the 'EMPLOYMENT' ini­
tiative (NOW, HORIZON, Youthstart); the 
ADAPT programme, within which particular 
attention is to be paid to measures which seek to 
promote equal opportunities in favour of 
women; and through the URBAN programme, 
one of whose objectives is to set up actions pro­
moting equal opportunities in problem areas. In 
the small and medium sized companies initiative 
(SMEs), one objective is 'to promote employ­
ment for women in small and medium sized 
companies and to take into account their special 
training needs'. 
Objectives 3 and 4 
During the present programming period 
(1994-1999), the promotion of equal opportuni­
ties between women and men is referred to in all 
ESF programming documents, especially those of 
Objective 3. They all include the equality princi­
ple as a transversal guideline for all actions put 
forward. 
In most countries, this concern has also given 
rise to the definition of a specific policy .axis iden­
tifying priorities for the use of funds available 
within the framework of Objective 3 (Germany, 
Belgium, Spain, Greece, France, Italy, 
Luxembourg, Denmark, the UK) and within the 
'human resources' component of Objective 1 
(Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Greece, the UK and 
Denmark). This transversal approach often 
results in aims such as ensuring that women's par­
ticipation in the measures proposed will reach a 
proportion that is at least equal to their represen­
tation amongst the ranks of the unemployed (51 
•Regulation 2081/93 of 20.7.1993. OJ L 193 of 31.7.1993. 
16 
per cent in Denmark, 50 per cent in Finland, 
Sweden and the Netherlands and 57 per cent for 
Flevoland in East Netherlands). Such quantified 
objectives have not, however, been fixed in all 
countries and for all objectives. 
Those countries that have set a specific axis 
have, for the most part, dedicated a limited bud­
get to it, thus demonstrating that this specific axis 
is considered a complement to transversal orien­
tation, presenting the advantage of visibility at 
least. The choice of the transversal approach, 
however, can in some cases be accompanied by 
special measures providing childcare facilities (the 
Netherlands, Belgium and the UK). 
The introduction of the concept of pathways 
to integration as a result of the experience gained 
under the NOW initiative and the relaxation of 
the criteria for programme eligibility, have made 
it possible to formulate 'packages' of personalised 
measures aimed at integration or reintegration 
into the labour market. 
Specific measures aimed at women have been 
developed through the provision of care for 
dependants and to develop their level of compet­
itiveness and employability. These measures have 
included: the establishment of specific training 
measures; business start-up training; dissemina­
tion of information; and, in certain cases, 
through actions which aim to change the atti­
tudes of parents and daughters in schools, by 
encouraging them to pursue subject areas which 
are not traditionally reserved for women. Specific 
training modules for teacher training should play 
a decisive role in this type of change. 
Objectives 1, 2 and 5b 
There are no documents monitoring the equal 
opportunities situation within the framework of 
Objective 1 or Objective 5b. In Objective 2, a 
questionnaire was sent out to Member States at 
the end of 1995. It is concerned with all the pri­
orities put together for this Objective, but one 
specific series of questions concerns equal oppor­
tunities. The answers demonstrate a number of 
diverse trends. 
Many Member States made no explicit refer­
ence to equal opportunities within the frame­
work of the Objective. Whilst other Member 
States did not specifically include the promotion BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
of equal opportunities amongst their stated 
objectives, they do ensure that it is taken into 
account through some of the actions they under­
take. 
Denmark and Sweden take equal opportunities 
as a transversal principle common to all actions 
funded within the framework of Objective 2. In 
Denmark, reference to this principle is explicitly 
written into the different programmes imple­
mented. On the basis that women are more often 
affected by lack of skills and unemployment, ESF 
funding is presumed to be of more immediate 
interest to them and this, most especially, within 
the framework of Objective 3. 
For the new programming period of interven­
tions in regions undergoing industrial restructur­
ing (1997-1999) the Commission has made an 
explicit reference to equal opportunities in an ori­
entation note addressed to the Member States in 
April 1996. On the occasion of the negotiations 
aimed at the adoption of the programmes, the 
Commission will strive to ensure that, besides an 
agreement in principle, it will be given real effect. 
In Sweden, the promotion of the principle of 
equal opportunities between women and men 
(and between the young and the old) is taken 
into consideration for Objective 2 programmes, 
in the identification of selection criteria for pro­
jects or through the inclusion of specific measures 
aimed at women. Measures encouraging business 
start-ups, vocational training and the provision of 
counselling adapted to the needs of women are 
part of the programme. 
Furthermore, Sweden has included the princi­
ple of equal opportunities in all its objectives. In 
this way, Objective 6, which covers the very 
sparsely-populated regions of the north, is 
designed to maintain the presence of women in 
the area. One of the two strategic objectives is to 
'preserve the viability of local communities with a 
special emphasis on the need to re-train women 
and young people in the area'. Other examples 
also exist under Objectives 4 and 5b. Some 
approved actions include specific component 
activities, but all of them must include quantifi­
able objectives in terms of equal opportunities. 
17 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
BELGIUM -WOMEN IN THE ANTWERP COMMUNITY 
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 
The Community Development Association in Antwerp is for the local residents: the education and 
employment projects, the business centre, the rent-a-tool service for building equipment, the job cen­
tre, the community newsletter, the technology centre... they're all there for everyone, for the entire 
neighbourhood. The CDA has no special projects for women. However, ATEC, the Antwerp 
Technology Centre and one of many CDA initiatives, does have programmes especially designed for 
women, which are co-financed by the ESF. 
Technology is fun for women 
One of the most successful ATEC programmes' is the PC technician course. Whoever attends this 
course, finds a job afterwards, but very few women sign up. That is why ATEC makes a special effort 
to persuade women to do so. Staff members address women directly, ATEC publishes advertisements 
and articles in magazines - and it appears to be working: in every group of 12 students, two or three 
are now women. And these women immediately find jobs on finishing. 
Hence a long term initiative to attract young girls' and young women's attention in technology was 
developed. ATEC organises Technical Ten Projects' for the 10 to 14 year old age group, in coopera­
tion with 'Youth and City'. Teenage girls learn to dismantle and reassemble computers, or they con­
struct an automatic watering device for plants. In short, young girls learn that technology can be fun. 
This approach will, perhaps, only bear fruit in the long term, but one has got to start somewhere. 
Apart from all this, there are of course the programmes that are traditionally popular with women: 
retraining and further training for those who wish to be employed as a secretary, telemarketing cours­
es, administrative clerk courses. 
ATEC created a technician's administration clerk training programme, especially designed for women 
of ethnic minorities. Not only Turkish and Moroccan women, but also women from Asia, Africa or 
Eastern Europe attend this course, says Leen Verbist, who is responsible for the programme. 
The training programme, which is co-financed by the ESF has been in operation for three years now 
and the results are beginning to show: 50 per cent of the trainees have since found a job or are taking 
part in further job training. The group consists partly of very young women (18-21 years old) and part­
ly of somewhat older women (from 27 years old onwards). 
18 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
It should be noted that a determined effort is 
being made to obtain a greater coordination of 
the various Funds' interventions. Particular atten­
tion has to be paid in this respect, for example to 
combined operations by the ESF, ERDF and 
EAGGF, which can help in carrying out measures 
and providing facilities which make it possible 
for women to reconcile their working and family 
life better (crèches, kindergartens, after-school 
activities, adaptation of transport in sparsely pop­
ulated areas). Measures which are directly linked 
to the provision of infrastructure for business 
areas and the creation or maintaining of jobs may 
be of direct benefit to women entrepreneurs and 
assisting spouses, as well as to the female employ­
ees of the enterprises supported. Generally speak­
ing, operations relating to the adaptation of pro­
duction activities, local development and 
improvement of the quality of life do not concern 
solely women but may have a more direct impact 
on promoting equality on account of their prox­
imity effects. 
Besides addressing equal opportunities at a 
transversal level in the regionalised programmes, 
which is a matter primarily for Member States in 
the framework of follow-up of interventions and 
selection of projects, the conduct of specific 
actions remains essential. 
This is why the Structural Funds, through 
community intiatives and pilot projects con­
tribute to the development of such actions. 
Community Initiatives 
and Pilot Projects 
The new EMPLOYMENT Initiative was 
launched in 1995 with a specific strand on the 
basis of the experiences derived from NOW. 
Employment NOW will involve 700 projects in 
its first phase. All projects have a transnational 
dimension and promote exchange of information 
and often transnational contacts between 
women. 
Other community initiatives, including 
URBAN, LEADER and INTERREG, or pilot pro­
jects funded within the framework of Article 10 of 
the ERDF, are also tools to be used to move things 
along and launch new practices. LEADER PROGRAMME CREATES 
JOBS FOR G REEK WOMEN 
IN AGRICULTURAL AREAS 
The participation of Greek women in 'local action 
groups' which implement programmes of agricultural 
development is significant. 
With the LEADER programme, 26 local development 
companies were created by which women's cooperatives 
could be active in the sectors of agricultural tourism, 
small and medium size enterprises, the improvement of 
agricultural products, traditional handicraft and the pro­
tection of the environment. 
In the village of Velvendos in Greece, the women's coop­
eratives produce traditional cakes. This cooperative was 
established in 1985 and today has developed noteworthy 
activities. It produces jams, marmalades and compotes 
and distributes them under their own name to food 
stores throughout the country. The products have a tra­
ditional character, in line with modern dietary require­
ments and are competitive with regard to their industrial 
counterparts. The cooperative has its own facilities and 
employs 20 women of the village. 
The cooperative has been involved in the following activ­
ities supported by the LEADER programme: market 
research, participation in fairs, study of identity-logo, 
study and designing of packing. 
The training seminar for members for the Women's 
Handicraft Cooperative of Velvendos was part of the 
LEADER programme. It concerned the creation of com­
petitive products, the importation of innovative produc­
tion practices and the increase of sales. 
Another women's cooperative operates in the village of 
Agios Georgios. In this small community, more than 20 
women make traditional foods, mainly noodles 
(petoura). These foods are produced with modern 
mechanical equipment. 
The community allotted the cooperative a deserted 
building which was restored for them. The project con­
stitutes an important economic and social factor in the 
village. 
19 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
The Commission has requested that particular 
emphasis be placed on the theme of equal oppor­
tunities in the URBAN II programme. 
The LEADER II initiative should also bring 
new opportunities, taking into account the expe­
rience of LEADER I initiative which had given 
women opportunities to undertake local projects 
aimed at rural development: tourism, production 
and marketing of local specialities, the develop­
ment of small and medium sized companies and 
the growth of craft and artisanal activities. 
Among the pilot projects financed under 
Article 10 of the ERDF Regulations, the 
RECITE IF programme, in relation to the 
encouragement of inter-regional cooperation 
projects, has a budget which amounts to ECU 
110 million. The programme has, among its 
other objectives, the aim of 'the creation and 
development of resource centres to increase the 
value of the work and the integration of women 
into economic life'. 
The orientation section of the EAGGF pro­
vides for Community co-funding of pilot pro­
jects. A special programme for pilot projects 
aimed to encourage a greater degree of female 
participation in rural development is being set up 
under Article 8 of EAGGF. The programme is to 
receive ECU 20 million of funding for the peri­
od 1997-1999, and each year will include a spe­
cial priority area. 
A seminar on Structural Funds 
and Equal Opportunities 
In its Communication on mainstreaming of 
1996, the Commission stated clearly that 'the 
Structural Funds may have an effective contribu­
tion towards implementing the Union's and its 
Member States' priorities of combating unem­
ployment and promoting equal opportunities for 
women and men'. 
On 7 and 8 March 1996, a seminar on 
'Structural Funds and Equal Opportunities' 
jointly organised by the Belgian government and 
the Commission was held in Brussels: it brought 
together representatives of the different depart­
ments responsible for the management of funds, 
along with representatives of the Member States 
and local authorities, as well as various experts and practitioners. The meeting revolved around 
the general theme of 'mainstreaming'. 
The general conclusion of the seminar on 
'Structural Funds and Equal Opportunities' (7-8 
March 1996) offers a summary of Community 
possibilities for the future. 
The sharing of good practices is one of the 
fundamental components of the added value the 
Community has to offer. 'The dissemination of 
experiences has to be pushed to the forefront, as 
has their transfer between the Member States, 
better coordination between pilot projects, 
Community initiatives and the actions undertak­
en within the framework of the CSFs... and an 
enhanced level of interaction between the funds 
and for actions involving more than one fund...' 
The combination of Article 10 of the ERDF, 
Article 6 of the ESF and Article 8 of the EAGGF 
was encouraged in order to promote new ideas 
for the launching of pilot actions along with 
awareness and information operations. 
The participation in the Monitoring com­
mittees for actors involved in the promotion of 
equal opportunities has been emphasised: an 
active partnership arrangement is necessary for 
the training and awareness-building of actors 
involved in equal opportunities, to ensure the 
transmission of information concerning experi­
ences on the ground to the decision-making bod­
ies. The Monitoring committees have a strategic 
role to play in the way these funds are allocated. 
Evaluation is an essential condition in provid­
ing quality follow-up. The Commission wants to 
set up a work group to look into the issue of eval­
uation so as to develop methodological proposals 
with the help of experts which will serve actors 
involved in Structural Fund initiatives in their 
evaluation approach. 
Following this seminar the Irish Presidency 
proposed to the Council a Resolution on Equal 
Opportunities and Structural Funds. It was 
adopted by Council on 2 December 1996. 
7 OJC 326/9 of 31.10.1996. 
20 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
PRIORITY AREAS IN EMPLOYMENT-NOW 
An initial analysis was carried out on the basis of information provided in the EMPLOY­
MENT-NOW Project Directory (March 1995). 
Business start-ups: 
Nearly half of the projects concern one or other of the facets of setting up in business. 
Promotion of access to business start-ups, support services, training and follow-up can be 
included in this section. More than 60 per cent of projects in Austria, Greece, Italy, Spain and 
Sweden are involved in this activity. 
Vertical desegregation: 
46 projects are concerned specifically with the promotion of equal opportunities at the level 
of company directorship. 22 projects target women who are seeking to occupy a higher posi­
tion within their company, and seven projects develop positive action programmes. In addi­
tion, 44 projects refer to equal opportunities training where target groups include trade union 
representatives, company managers and personnel training managers from the public and pri­
vate sectors. 
Horizontal desegregation: 
Particular attention is paid to sectors which are expected to remain stable or which present 
growth potential, such as the construction sector, transport or technologies. Many EMPLOY­
MENT-NOW projects take into consideration the use of telecommunications technology and 
computer technology (73) or the creation of teleserVices (21). 
Validation of women^s skills: 
The projects tackle this question from differing standpoints. Some of them develop method­
ologies which recognise the skills acquired by women outside their basic training or their jobs 
(validation of previous skills-learning). Within this section, we should include those skills that 
are inherent in responsibilities within the family, such as the handling of multiple tasks, super­
vision and budget management. Certain projects seek to revalue women's work by developing 
training programmes which recognise women's skills and operate recognised qualification 
training in the appropriate sectors (27 projects). Other projects identify new employment sec­
tors and develop professional profiles which also serve to improve the status of the woman (39 
projects). 
21 
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP IN A CHANGING SOCIETY 
SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND 
SOCIAL PARTNERS 
The social dialogue at European level brings 
together the social partners in a regular and struc­
tured way. At inter-professional level, the three 
major European organisations involved in the 
Social dialogue are: the European Trade Union 
Confederation (ETUC), the Union of Industrial 
and Employers' Confederations of Europe 
(UNICE) and the Centre for European 
Enterprises with Public Participation (CEEP). 
The social dialogue is also developed at sectoral 
level. The Commission also consults these and 
other organisations concerned with European 
Union social policies. Social dialogue was legiti­
mated by the Single European Act which states 
that: 'the Commission shall endeavour to develop 
the dialogue between management and labour at 
European level which could, if the two sides con­
sider it desirable, lead to relations based on agree-
ment'(artll8B). 
The Social Protocol bears witness to the grow­
ing importance of the role being played by the 
social partners. Within the framework of the 
Protocol, UNICE, CEEP and ETUC reached an 
agreement on parental leave on 14 December 
1995, which led to a Council Directive on 3 June 
1996.* Other dossiers are being or will be debat­
ed: the flexibility in working time and security for 
employees, the reversal of the burden of proof in 
equality cases and sexual harassment. 
The social dialogue is becoming a new area of 
mainstreaming. In the Fourth Medium-Term 
Community Action Programme, the social part­
ners are cited as actors who can contribute to 
equal opportunities policies. The social partners 
feature centrally in the objectives of the 
Programme which stress the importance of ensur­
ing that the equality dimension is adequately 
reflected throughout the layers of the social dia­
logue. 
As a measure of action, the Commission com­mitted itself to providing technical and financial 
support to the social partners, should they agree 
to develop European networking and exchanges 
on equality, which may involve the appointment 
of new officers for the purpose. The Commission 
also undertook to monitor equal opportunities 
initiatives in the framework of the social dia­
logue. Numerous Joint Opinions have been pro­
duced by the social partners, including one on 
'Women and Training'. 
The social partners can contribute to the 
Commission's integrated policy for the promo­
tion of a gender balance in decision-making by 
improving women's participation both in terms 
of quantity (increasing the number) and quality 
(increasing women's influence) in policy-making 
at European level (see Chapter 4 ). 
Besides these, the social partners at European 
level have been invited to sit as full members on the 
new Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunities 
for Women and Men. It is therefore of real impor­
tance that women and women's concerns be 
thoroughly represented in social partner 
organisations and social dialogue processes. 
OJL 145 of 19.6.1996, p.4. 
KBœessssîSîîassïSSSftï 
22 
CHAPTER 2 
WOMEN AND MEN 
IN A CHANGING 
ECONOMY 
EQUALITY AND ECONOMY 
In a context of change in both the level and the 
composition of employment within the 
European Union, the economic situation of 
women has undergone significant transforma­
tion. Women have increased their role in the for­
mal labour market. Most of the growth in 
employment and unemployment which has 
taken place over the last decade in the European 
Union has taken place among women. As the 
labour force of the European Union has become 
increasingly feminised, it has also continued to 
undergo structural change. Service employment 
has become even more significant and, at the 
same time, jobs have become more casualised and 
working time more fragmented. 
Patterns of employment and non-employment 
vary extensively between countries, between 
women and men and also between different 
groups of women. Key factors, such as age, moth­
erhood and educational qualifications, are linked 
to significant variations in patterns of activity 
rate, especially among women. Women tend to 
occupy and move between a range of economic 
situations at different stages of the life cycle and 
according to changing economic and social con­
ditions. Traditional definitions of employment 
and unemployment are not in themselves suffi­
cient to analyse the complex and fluid economic 
positions of many groups of women. 
23 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
Underlying new patterns of economic activity 
among women, as well as important demograph­
ic and social changes, are evident. Reduced fertil­
ity rates, an ageing population, smaller and dif­
ferent kinds of households are all being influ­
enced by, and influence the way in which, 
women participate in economic life. As these fac­
tors take effect, new variations emerge between 
different generations of women both within and 
between Member States. 
While patterns of changes are evident, there is 
also much continuity. On the labour market, job 
segregation is pervasive and persistent. Women 
tend to be crowded into a narrow range of occu­
pations and areas of employment, primarily with­
in the services sector. 
Women are a key factor 
for growth 
During the second half of the 1980s, a rising 
employment level within the European Union 
coincided with a further shift in favour of the ser­
vices sector. This employment growth was not 
sustained and, in the early 1990s, recession brought a decline in the employment rate from 
62 per cent in 1990 (of the working age popula­
tion of 15 to 64) to 59 per cent in 1994 - almost 
a return to the 1985 rate of 57 per cent. A period 
of recovery since 1994 has resulted in job growth 
but, against a background of an increased popu­
lation of working age, the impact on the employ­
ment rate has been minimal. 
Growth in the size of the labour force has been 
a striking feature of change on the labour market 
of the European Union over the last fifteen years. 
But the workforce of the European Union is not 
just growing, it is also changing. A very high pro­
portion of the increase is accounted for by 
women and has translated into a significant 
increase in women's unemployment and employ­
ment. Women now account for over 40 per cent 
of the labour force of the European Union. Every 
Member State has experienced a disproportionate 
growth in the numbers of women within an 
expanding workforce, but it has been an especial­
ly strong feature of those economies with rela­
tively low rates of recorded female participation, 
for example in southern Europe. 
Variations in the rate of employment have been 
accompanied by a continuing shift from industri-
TABLE l 
ACTIVITY RATE OF WOMEN (15-64 YEARS) IN THE EUROPEAN UNION <%), î^û AND m$ 
100-
1995 
1990 
80-
60-
40-
20-
SSSMfcWSSftM&SfciSfiîj 
24 0 
B DK D GR E F IRL I 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) AND ILO (A, FIN, S). 
NOTE: D 1990 EXCLUDING NEW LANDER. NL FIN S UK EU 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
Activity Rates - 1994* - Female 
•^K^^ U***UX \ 
<<>;»; t»». 
EUR15 = 44.8% 
ID > = 50% 
ID 45-50% 
[~] 40-45% E3 <40% 
D no data available * IRL: 1993 
*A: 1993 
STATISTICS: EUROSTAT 
MAPS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: GISCO 
al and agricultural employment towards services. 
The proportion of jobs in services has risen to 
almost two-thirds of the total, while industry 
accounts for approximately 30 per cent and agri­
culture for only five per cent of employment 
within the European Union. This concentration 
in service employment is particularly a feature of 
women's employment (79 per cent), as both 
industrial employment (17 per cent) and agricul­
tural employment (four per cent) have fallen. 
The employment rate within the European 
Union is relatively low compared to other coun­
tries. This arises from a combination of factors: 
lower levels of activity rate, higher rates of record­
ed unemployment, higher rates of participation 
within the educational system and early retire-10 eurostat 
ment. Patterns of activity rates have changed sig­
nificantly over the last fifteen years. Reduced par­
ticipation rates amongst younger and older age 
groups have paralleled higher participation rates 
amongst women. Emphasis on educational qual­
ifications on the job market has been reflected in 
an extended period within the educational system 
among younger people. A more widespread 
application of a formal retirement age, coinciding 
with a decrease in self-employment and agricul­
tural employment generally, has reduced partici­
pation rates amongst the older age groups. 
These overall trends in employment, however, 
often conceal variations occurring on a gender, 
region and country basis. Against a background 
25 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
of fluctuating employment, women- have 
achieved a stronger presence in paid employ­
ment. For example, the period from 1985 to 
1995 has seen consistent growth in women's 
employment rate. Employment growth among 
women has been tied to increased rates of partic­
ipation rather than reduced unemployment. 
Womens employment 
hard to categorise 
To varying degrees across the European Union, 
womens economic activity displays particular 
characteristics. Women tend to move between 
categories of employment, unemployment and 
recorded inactivity to a much greater degree than 
men. Traditional categories of employed or 
unemployed often fail to capture the underlying 
nature of the situation of European women. 
Unregistered employment and unemployment, 
involuntary inactivity, underemployment, irregu­
lar and precarious employment are all features of 
women's economic position. And these character­
istics are particularly marked in those economies 
which record a low female activity rate. Activity rates in the European Union show 
strong variations between women and men, 
between countries and between different groups 
of women. Inter-country variations are less 
marked among men. 
A concentration of womens employment in 
the services sector is a feature of all European 
Union Member States, with the highest concentra­
tions evident in Luxembourg, the Netherlands, 
Sweden, the UK, Belgium and Denmark - almost 
all countries with relatively high rates of partici­
pation generally among women. Where agricul­
tural employment represents a higher proportion 
of employment, for example in Greece and 
Portugal, the concentration in services is corre­
spondingly lower. Employment in industry 
accounts for 20 per cent or more of women's 
employment in only three Member States: 
Germany, Italy and Portugal. 
The generation difference 
among women 
Strong variations between different age groups 
can be seen in activity rates generally, but they are 
nv^v-:;:-:-r TABLE 2 :-r-
POPULATION OF THE MEMBER STATES Of THE EUROPEAN UNION, 1995 
UNITS: MILLIONS 
100 
80-; WOMEN 
IH MEN 
TOTAL 
60-
40-
26 20-
o-Q-: 
B DK D GR E 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT _ _ D _ D _. I j:m J.I . 
F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
particularly marked amongst women. Inter-gen­
erational shifts in the economic situation of 
women in the European Union have intensified 
within the last decade. A core age group (15-64), 
characterised by higher activity rates, has always 
been a feature of womens labour market repre­
sentation. Nearly 70 per cent of women of prime 
working age, (20-60) are now in the labour force. 
All Member States have recorded a rise in 
female activity rates in the core or prime age 
group and this has accounted for over two-thirds 
of recent labour force growth in the European 
Union. In contrast, male activity rates declined 
through most of the 1980s, although the rate of 
decline has slowed over the last five years. 
Women over-represented 
in unemployment 
The rise in employment within the European 
Union has been taking place in parallel with a 
high rate of unemployment. The level of unem­
ployment among women since the early 1980s 
has been high and rising. Unemployment rates 
among women in the Community continue at a level significantly above that of men, despite the 
fact that women have dominated new employ­
ment growth. High unemployment rates among 
women have occurred in Member States where 
participation rates of women are relatively low 
(such as Spain, Italy and Ireland), reflecting 
womens strong demand for greater integration 
into paid employment. But high unemployment 
is not confined to low participation economies. 
France and Finland, for example, also record high 
rates of female unemployment. 
Long-term unemployment, as a proportion of 
all female unemployment, has risen over recent 
years. In 1990, 41 per cent of women who were 
unemployed had been unemployed for over one 
year. By 1995, nearly 50 per cent of unemployed 
women in the European Union had been unem­
ployed for over one year. Long-term unemploy­
ment is rising among both women and men. 
Comparing long-term unemployment between 
women and men, a higher proportion of unem­
ployed women (50 per cent) are long-term unem­
ployed compared with men (48 per cent). 
Measures of unemployment tend to under-
record the level of unemployment among 
TABLE 3 
ACTIVITY RATE OF WOMEN AND MEN (t^H YEARS) IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (%), W5 
100-
WOMEN 
MEN 
27 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
women. Under a system of self-categorisation, as 
is used in the Labour Force Survey, there is evi­
dence that a significant proportion of women 
who desire paid employment, classify themselves 
as engaged in 'home duties'. Low levels of regis­
tration of unemployed women also contribute to 
an underestimation of the level of female unem­
ployment. 
Non-employment 
a labour market challenge 
A significant proportion of women outside the 
formal labour force may be seen as constituting a 
hidden labour supply. Flows of women between 
categories, such as unemployed, engaged in 
'home duties', partially employed and employed 
reveal a fluid and changing picture of women's 
economic position. To get a better picture of the 
economic situation of women, different kinds of 
non-employment (inactivity and unemployment) 
can be explored. 
Patterns of non-employment differ significant­
ly between women and men, between Member 
States and between age groups. Within the 
younger age group, 15 to 24 years, female non-
employment (65 per cent) is significantly higher 
than male non-employment (56 per cent). Less 
than ten per cent of these are recorded/registered 
as unemployed. Full-time participation in educa­
tion accounts for between 30-40 per cent of the 
non-employed in this age group, but this still 
leaves a significant level of recorded inactivity 
among young people. Young women account for 
the majority of those young people recorded as 
'fully inactive'. 
Ineligibility for unemployment payments, 
linked to under-registration as unemployed, may 
account for varying amounts of this 'inactivity'. 
In other instances, unregistered or illegal employ­
ment may be taking place. It is also likely that 
discouragement from the labour market and 
from the educational and training system has 
resulted in long-term inactivity. 
In the middle age groups, non-employment 
levels are lower, but gender differences are more 
marked. It is likely however, that unpaid, unregistered 
and illegal paid work is being carried out by some 
women who are statistically recorded as 'inactive. 
The level and extent of this is impossible to esti­
mate. Irregular paid work for varying hours and 
time periods carried out by women and also by 
young people, frequently lies outside the scope of 
statistical data. In addition, significant numbers 
of women are engaged in unpaid community and 
voluntary work, as well as unrecorded participa­
tion in homeworking, family-based enterprises 
and extended family and community support sys­
tems. 
Younger women 
seize educational advantages 
A marked fall in economic activity rates has 
taken place in the younger age group (under 25 
years) as educational participation has risen. 
Among young men a clear fall in activity rates is 
evident, while among young women a rise in 
both education/training participation and activi­
ty rates have taken place at the same time. 
Reflecting a rising activity rate among women of 
all ages, this dual tendency is particularly evident 
in Member States where activity rates have tradi­
tionally been low. 
The influence 
of the demographic factor 
A pronounced feature of labour force change in 
the European Union over the period 1980 to 
1995 has been the decline in activity rates among 
the older age group. The rate of decline has 
decreased significantly in the latter part of the 
1980s and early 1990s, to the point that small 
increases have begun to occur in individual coun­
tries, such as Italy. The greater part of this decline 
is accounted for by the fall in the numbers of 
men who made up the large majority of those in 
the workforce aged over 65 years. 
Among the group between 50-64 years, non-
employment rates are generally higher. Two out 
of every three women and one out of every three 
men in this age group are recorded as not in paid 
employment. Inter-country variations are very 
pronounced. 
28 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
NON EMPLOYMENT AND INACTIVITY RATES OF WOMEN AND MEN 
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (%), 1994 
TABLE 4 
AGED (15-24 YEARS) 
I TABLE5 
AGED (50-64 YEARS) 
DK D GR E F IRL I L. NL A P FIN S UK EU12 B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P Fin S UK EU12 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) 
NOTE: NON EMPLOYMENT: UNEMPLOYMENT AND INACTIVITY AS SHARE OF WORKING 
AGE POPULATION. WOMEN NON-EMP 
WOMEN INACTIVE MEN NON-EMP 
MEN INACTIVE 
AOWHY RATE OF WOMEN AND M 
TABLE 6 
AGED (15-24 YEARS) TABLE 7 
AGED (50-64 YEARS) 
DK 
D 
GR 
E 
F 
IRL 
I 
L 
NL 
A 
P 
FIN 
S 
UK ; 
EU15 ' II 
MHMMMMMMNMNMmMMMMMaMHM 
1 • :•.•.•.:>. 
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmÊmmmmmmmmm 
«••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••I 
A ' 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) WOMEN 
MEN 
?9 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
<wiw—nrwnn—nnniiiinfinnnn-nTir- r " 
Importance of educational 
attainment 
Variations in employment and non-employ­
ment rates within countries and among different 
groups of women are linked to other factors as 
well as age. Different levels of educational attain­
ment are often reflected in different patterns of 
activity rates among women in the European 
Union. Higher rates of educational attainment 
are generally matched with higher rates of eco­
nomic activity. In all Member States women who 
left school after completion of the lower cycle of 
secondary education have below average activity 
rates. At the other end of the spectrum, above 
average activity rates occur among women with 
university education in all Member States. 
Taking the critical age group, 25 to 64 years, 
the pronounced impact of educational attain­
ment among women may be discerned. 
Women returning to the workforce 
Prolonged absence from the formal labour 
market, during a period of profound economic change and high unemployment, may discourage 
or make it difficult for women to re-enter the 
paid registered workforce. For women with spe­
cific skills and higher levels of educational attain­
ment, this transition is more easily accomplished. 
Low grade service employment is the more likely 
option for women without such qualifications or 
alternatively further involuntary inactivity, per­
haps combined with some unregistered employ­
ment. 
Structural economic change has had a negative 
effect on the employment rate of the 50-64 age 
group. High unemployment levels linked to 
widespread redundancies have been a feature of 
employment change over the last ten years. Early 
retirement schemes may also have encouraged 
older workers to leave the labour market prema­
turely. Difficulties of re-entering the labour mar­
ket are particularly acute among older workers 
who have fewer opportunities for retraining and 
tend to be less mobile. In this respect, older 
workers (both male and female) share some com­
mon problems with women in re-entering fast 
changing labour markets. 
' •. :."•.:.':••:': "• :-:";'TABLE Ô•';••:. 
ACTIVITY R£TE OF WOMEN BY LEVEL OF EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT 
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (%), 1095 
B 
I DK 
D 
I GR 
I E 
P ' 
I IRL 
I I 
L ' 
I NL 
I A 
P 
FIN 
I 
S 
UK 
EU 15 
0 20 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) 40 60 80 100 
WëÂ UNIVERSITY ; : UPPER SECONDARY LOWER SECONDARY 
30 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
The gender influence 
on employment status 
The vast majority (over 86 per cent) of women 
in employment in the European Union are 
employees. Just under ten per cent are self-
employed, around four per cent are family work­
ers. A significant agricultural sector is the key 
variant in differences between Member States. 
An emphasis on labour market flexibility has 
brought with it an increase in atypical jobs with­
in the European Union, a trend which has been 
particularly evident since the mid-1980s. 
Atypical employment has been a feature of 
employment growth within the services sector, in 
particular where women account for a large 
majority of part-time and casual workers. 83 per 
cent of part-time workers, 70 per cent of family 
workers and 50 per cent of temporary workers in 
the European Union are women. By contrast, 75 
per cent of self-employed workers are men (see 
Chapter 3). 
Highest rates of part-time employment occur 
in the Netherlands and the UK, where 67 per 
cent and 44 per cent respectively of women work &x&si&?,-zM','msm 
part-time. Lower rates of part-time employment 
are found in Belgium, France and Ireland and the 
lowest rates in southern countries. Part-time 
work is most prevalent in female-dominated and 
lower-paid jobs. Women part-timers are fre­
quently also on fixed term contracts, an employ­
ment status which is also on the increase among 
women workers. 15 per cent of women employ­
ees were on fixed term contracts in 1995, com­
pared to ten per cent in 1985. The incidence of 
fixed term contract employment is particularly 
high in Spain and low in Luxembourg and 
Belgium. 
Persistent occupational segregation 
Occupational segregation on the job market 
continues to be very pronounced despite changes 
in the structure and level of employment. Gender 
divisions on the labour market persist, and in 
some instances intensify, in parallel with the 
increasingly service-dominated nature of employ­
ment in the European Union. Manufacturing 
employment traditionally separated women and 
men into distinct sub-sectors and this has tended 
to combine with gender division in the job struc-
. TABLE 9 
ACTIVITY RATE OF WOMEN AND MEN (25-64 YEARS), HAVING ATTAINED 
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN EUROPE (%), 1995 
100-
80 
60 — 
20— it— :.i—;•;• 
0 — B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK N 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) N: NORWAY 111 WOMEN MEN 
ÏAWœAa&WS*»* 
31 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
ture itself. The growing services sector also reveals 
both new and traditional gender demarcation 
lines between different occupations. 
The key occupations for women workers with­
in the European Union as a whole are: service 
workers, clerical (and related) workers, sales 
workers and professional, technical (and related) 
workers. All of these are service occupations and 
women account for at least half of the workers in 
these categories, ranging from 50 per cent of pro­
fessional and technical workers to 66 per cent of 
service workers. Other occupations are strongly 
male dominated; 84 per cent of production, 
transport, labourers (and related) workers, 77 per 
cent of administrative and managerial workers 
and 66 per cent of agricultural and related work­
ers. 
Statistical data for southern Member States 
reveal a strong gender mix in agricultural employ­
ment, although men are more likely to be self-
employed compared to women. Women are far 
more likely to be family workers, for example in 
Greece, where two-thirds of women agricultural 
workers are family workers (compared to 15 per cent of men). A large portion of these are likely to 
be unpaid. A different picture is apparent in 
Ireland, where women hold only ten per cent of 
agricultural jobs. Yet some common patterns are 
evident: over 40 per cent of women agricultural 
workers in Ireland are family workers, compared 
to only ten per cent of men. It is also likely that 
unrecorded economic activity as family workers 
occurs in Ireland and in all countries with a sig­
nificant agricultural base. 
Female job growth has been concentrated in 
two occupational areas: professional jobs and 
clerical jobs. Increases in female production jobs 
took place in those countries in which women 
increased their representation in the industrial 
sector: Portugal, Spain and Greece. Female shares 
of clerical work have been rising in southern 
Member States while women's representation in 
professional jobs has risen in a range of different 
countries. Improved qualification and skill levels 
have opened up new opportunities for some 
women in professional employment but manage­
rial and administrative jobs remain overwhelm­
ingly male. Public sector employment is a key 
source of professional job opportunities for 
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF &OMEN AND MEN IN THE EUROPEAN U 
100-
\ WOMEN 
MEN 
80 
60 
40 
32 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
women, although gender-based patterns of 
employment occur here also. For example, teach­
ing jobs are largely female in all countries, 
accounting for as much as 70 per cent of the total 
in Italy and Portugal. 
Continued growth in services 
The service industry is the most important and 
growing sector of female employment in the 
European Union. As women across the 
Community have increased their share of 
employment over the last decade, their employ­
ment has become even more strongly concentrat­
ed in services. Job losses in agriculture, together 
with only marginal job growth in manufacturing, 
have resulted in a greater reliance on opportuni­
ties in services among the growing numbers of 
women seeking access to paid employment. Over 
70 per cent of women's jobs are in the services 
sector, ranging from just over 50 per cent in 
Greece to nearly 90 per cent in Luxembourg and 
the Netherlands. Nearly half of all service jobs in 
the European Union are today carried out by 
women, although there is considerable variation 
between Member States. Women account for just over a third of service employment in Greece, but 
over half of service employment in Denmark. 
Service sector jobs have the highest rate of part-
time employment across all occupational groups. 
Nearly one third of the women employed in ser­
vice jobs in the European Union are part-timers 
and in certain countries the picture is even more 
marked. For example, in the Netherlands 68 per 
cent of all service jobs are filled by part-time 
women workers. But not all female-dominated 
jobs have such high rates of part-time employ­
ment. Clerical work has a much lower percent­
age (28 per cent) of part-time jobs although it is 
the most feminised of all the occupational 
groups. 
The changing composition of female employ­
ment reflects the wider process of employment 
restructuring within the European Union. 
Agricultural employment has declined, more or 
less consistently, since the early 1970s. Over the 
last ten years, the fall in women's agricultural 
employment has been most marked in Finland, 
Spain and Portugal. But it is those economies 
with an above average proportion of women agri­
cultural workers, for example the southern States, 
mm-m^,:-- :- " TABLE2*' 
WOMEN IN EMPLOYMENT BY PROFESSIONAL STATUS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (%), 1995 
100-
80 
60-
40-
20-
o-lllilllllililii 
B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK EU 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) FAMILY WORKERS EMPLOYEES SELF EMPLOYED 
33 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
jwiiinwiiMfiMnnMiMiifiniriiTvr "•"—""""" 
where the impact of agricultural job loss is the 
most significant. For example, agricultural jobs 
account for one in four women workers in 
Greece, one in eight in Portugal and one in 14 in 
Spain and Italy. In Greece and Portugal, agricul­
ture is more important as a source of female than 
of male employment. In Spain and Ireland, agri­
culture is a more significant employer of men 
than of women. 
Recent changes in female industrial employ­
ment show great variation, as well as contrasting 
trends, between Member States. In a number of 
countries, female industrial employment has 
grown over the last decade, notably Spain, 
Ireland, Belgium, . Denmark, Germany, the 
Netherlands and Portugal. The rate of increase 
over the period has been particularly striking 
(over 20 per cent) in Germany, Ireland and the 
Netherlands. In others, such as France and Italy, 
it has declined. Industrial employment growth 
among women has occurred in Member States 
with a below average level of women's industrial 
employment as well as those with relatively high 
industrial employment; in countries with above 
average female activity rates as well as those with 
below average activity rates. Selected occupational groups 
A greater inter-country variation occurs among 
the craft and related trades, which are 29 per cent 
female in Portugal but only four per cent female 
in Luxembourg. Ireland, Italy and Greece also 
reveal relatively high representation (over 15 per 
cent) of women employed among craft and relat­
ed trades workers. Most countries have fairly 
similar proportions of female legislators and 
managers, between 20 and 30 per cent, except for 
Italy where the representation of women is par­
ticularly low at 15 per cent. 
Little change 
in the gender pay gap 
Despite the fact that many more women are in 
paid employment in the European Union today 
than was the case a decade ago, there have been 
only slight variations in the gender pay gaps in 
different countries. On the basis of harmonised 
but very limited data provided by EUROSTAT, 
women in Europe earn, on average, about 20 per 
cent less than their male counterparts. Although 
women have increased their share of administra-
TABLE iz 
EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF WOMEN AND MEN IN AGRICULTURE 
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (%), 1995 
100 
80 WOMEN 
MEN 
TOTAL 
60 
40 
20 
34 SELF-EMPLOYED EMPLOYEES FAMILY WORKERS 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
tive, technical and managerial jobs which are rel­
atively well paid, a large proportion of the grow­
ing numbers of women in employment are in 
low-paid casualised service jobs. Consequently 
womens average pay levels have remained low 
and the gap between male and female earnings 
persists. 
Gender pay differentials exist to different 
degrees in every Member State and in both man­
ufacturing and service employment. They reflect 
the unequal position of women and men in the 
labour market. Across the European Union, 
among manual workers, women earn between 65 
per cent and 90 per cent of men's average pay. 
The gender pay gap is narrowest in Sweden, 
Finland and Denmark and widest in Austria, 
Ireland, Luxembourg and the UK. Among non-
manual workers (for which data is more limited), 
the gender pay gap is wider. 
A concentration of women in low paid jobs 
and the occupational segregation on the labour 
market are two key factors which contribute to 
the persistence of the gender pay gap across the 
European Union. Women are between two and 
three times more likely to be low paid than men. 
Between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of full-time women workers are recorded as low paid in the 
different Member States. Clothing, textiles, 
banking and retailing are all examples of sectors 
which are important employers of women, but 
where women earn, on average, only 63 per cent 
of male earnings. 
The scale of low pay among women is a result 
both of their concentration in low paid jobs and 
also of the level of low pay in the different coun­
tries. In those Member States where strong statu­
tory protections exist, for example a minimum 
wage, the pay gap between women and men 
tends to be narrower (for example Sweden, 
France and Italy). In those countries without 
such protections, the pay gap tends to be much 
wider, for example in the UK and Ireland. Other 
factors also play an important role, such as the 
nature of pay bargaining systems and pay struc­
tures, the implementation of equal pay policies 
and different legal and administrative structures. 
WOMEN AS A PROPORTION OF OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS 
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (%), *9?$ 
100-
80-LEGISLATORS AND MANAGERS 
CLERICAL WORKERS 
SERVICE WORKERS 
: CRAFT AND RELATED WORKERS 
60. 
40-S 
20 
B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK EU12 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) 
35 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
Conclusion 
Gender lines on the labour market are reflected 
in the level of female participation, the influence 
of factors such as age and motherhood, as well as 
the kinds of jobs women do. Womens activity 
rates vary much more significantly through the 
life cycle than male participation. Combining 
economic, family and social roles is a feature of 
women's situation to a greater or lesser degree in 
all Member States. Consequently, patterns of 
employment are more irregular and uneven than 
those of men. 
Recent trends in employment show a consis­
tent growth in the proportions of women who are 
integrated into the formal labour market and a 
decline in the proportions of men. The European 
Union labour force has become concentrated into 
a narrower age range, from 25 to 60 or 65 years, 
despite the ageing of the population as a whole. 
Lack of employment growth and job loss in agri­
culture and industry have had a negative impact 
on male employment, while the growth in service 
employment has resulted in more opportunities 
for women. A disproportionate share of recent job growth has been accounted for by a growth in 
part-time employment, much of which has taken 
place in the services sector and is carried out by 
women. 
THE EUROPEAN 
EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY 
AND NATIONAL 
MULTIANNUAL 
PROGRAMMES 
The European 
employment strategy 
Unemployment is the major challenge faced by 
the Union and the Member States. During 
recent years, progress has been made towards the 
adoption of a European employment strategy. 
The Essen process launched at the European 
THE EARNINGS GAP; WOMEN MANUAL WORKERS, AVERAGE HOURLY EARNINGS 
AS A PERCENTAGE Of MEN'S, EUROPEAN UNION, 4990-19^ 
100. 
80. 1994 1990 
60J 
40J1! _i§ 
20. 
36 B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT- HARMONISED STATISTICS OF EARNINGS 
NOTE: DATA FOR FRANCE 1991, LUXEMBOURG 1989, AUSTRIA. FINLAND, SWEDEN 1993. FIN S UK 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
KSJ8» 
TABLE 15 
ACTIVITY RATE BY AGE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (%), 1995 
ACTIVITY RATE BY AGE 
100. 
80 
60 
40 _ 
20 _L I '••$ 
B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN'S UK EU S UKEU15 
ACTIVITY RATE OF WOMEN BY AGE 
100. 
80. 
60. 
40_ 
20_ »__' 
0_Ji 
B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK EU15 
ACTIVITY RATE OF MEN BY AGE 
100. 
80 
60_ 
40 _ 
0.1 
B DK D GR E 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT (LFS) F IRL I L NL A 
15-19 20-24 P FIN S UK EU15 
55-59 60-64 
37 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
ESSEN PRIORITIES 
The extent and consecjuences of unemployment in Europe gave rise to the White Paper 'Growth, 
Competitiveness and Employment'1 which proposed measures in the fight against unemployment. Based on 
proposals in this White Paper, Heads of State and governments of Member States at the Council of Essen 
in December 1994 identified measures to be taken in five key areas to improve the employment situation. 
THE FIVE PRIORITIES OF ESSEN:2 
• Improving employment opportunities for the labour force by promoting investment in vocational train­
ing. To that end a key role falls to the acquisition of vocational qualifications, particularly by young peo­
ple. As many people as possible must receive initial and further training which enables them through life­
long learning to adapt to changes brought about by technological progress, in order to reduce the risk of 
losing their employment. 
• Increasing the employment-intensiveness of growth, in particular by: 
- more flexible organisation of work in a way which fulfils both the wishes of employees and requirements 
of competition; 
- a wage policy which encourages job-creating investments and in the present situation requires moderate 
wage agreements below increases in productivity; 
- finally, the promotion of initiatives, particularly at regional and local level, that create jobs which take 
account of new requirements, for example, in the environmental and social services spheres. 
• Reducing the non-wage labour costs extensively enough to ensure that there is a noticeable effect. Non-
wage labour costs can only be resolved through a joint effort by the economic sector, trade unions and the 
political sphere. 
• Improving the effectiveness of labour-market policy: the effectiveness of employment policy must be 
increased by avoiding practices which are detrimental to readiness to work and by moving from a passive 
to an active labour market policy. The individual incentive to continue seeking employment on the gen­
eral labour market must remain. Particular account must be taken of this when working out income-sup­
port measures. 
• Improving measures to help groups which are particularly hard hit by unemployment. Particular efforts 
are necessary to help young people, especially school leavers who have virtually no qualifications, by offer­
ing them either employment or training. 
The fight against long-term unemployment must be a major aspect of labour market policy. Varying labour-
market policy measures are necessary and must accommodate the very varied groups and requirements of 
the long-term unemployed. Special attention should be paid to the difficult situation of unemployed 
women and older employees. 
European Commission, Office for Official Publications, Luxembourg, 1994, ISBN 92-826-7423-1. 
! European Council: Meeting of 9 and 10 December 1994 in Essen, SN 300/64. 
38 
Council (December 1994) made it possible to 
strengthen cooperation between Member States 
on this issue. To reinforce this approach and to 
involve all interested actors, the President pro­
posed a Pact of Confidence Action for Employment in 
Europe. 
The multiannual programmes 
of the Member States 
The Essen European Council urged the 
Member States to transpose these recommenda­
tions in their individual policies into a multian­
nual programme having regard to the specific fea­
tures of their economic and social situation. It 
requested the Labour and Social Affairs and 
Economic and Financial Affairs Councils and the 
Commission to keep close track of employment 
trends, monitor the relevant policies of the 
Member States and report annually to the 
European Council on further progress in the 
employment market. 
Accordingly, the Council and the Commission 
jointly prepared a single report on employment 
which was submitted to the European Council of 
Madrid in December 1995. 
Each Member State has drawn up a multian­
nual employment programme in which each 
country has set out the policies which it has 
developed and implemented within the frame­
work of the priorities of Essen. This joint effort 
for fighting unemployment is a particularly inter­
esting initiative in that it enables priorities iden­
tified by the different countries to be singled out 
and national sensitivities in the interpretation of 
those priorities to be better appreciated. 
In this first round of programmes, the issue of 
equal opportunities for women and men has not 
been developed as a core theme and the accent 
has been clearly placed on the struggle against 
unemployment. 
Certain countries have not tackled the subject 
of equal opportunities even though they have 
active policies in this area to which it would be 
easy to make reference. This applies to the 
French, Belgian, Danish or Finnish programmes. 
Seven countries refer to policies in favour of WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
THE CONFIDENCE PACT ACTION FOR 
EMPLOYMENT IN EUROPE' 
The European Pact of Confidence 'Action for Employment in 
Europe was presented to the Florence Council in June 1996. It 
aims in particular 'to fully mobilise all the actors in a compre­
hensive strategy', to make better use of the multiplier European 
effect' and to 'incorporate the fight against unemployment in a 
medium and long-term view.' 
With regard to employment systems, the Commissions proposals 
refer in particular to: 
The reform of national employment administration systems 
(Member States) 
- simplify recruitment and company-formation support schemes: 
one-stop shops and re-employment vouchers; 
- personalised support for job-seekers by placement services. 
Mobilisation of local actors (Commission, Member States, local 
authorities) 
- decentralise employment systems; 
- promote local initiatives for development and employment. 
Employability of young people 
- joint initiative by social partners on integration of young people 
(social partners); 
- development of scheme based on Youthstart and Leonardo 
(Commission, Member States). 
Greater coherence between direct taxation and replacement 
income 
- debate and common policy on the future of the social protec­
tion (institutions, Member States, social partners). 
and to major projects on the future of work: 
New forms of work organisation 
- commitment by social partners to establishing a European con­
tractual framework for organisation of work and flexibility (social 
partners); 
- structured debate on organisation of work and working time 
(institutions); 
- Green paper on social and societal aspects of information soci­
ety (Commission). 
Education and training as key to the door of employment 
- proposal on the lifelong access to and validation of skills; 
- development by social partners of a reference framework for 
access to skills (social partners); 
- action plan on learning in the information society (Commission); 
- development of an Erasmus apprenticeship scheme (Commission); 
- development of a system of European articles of apprenticeship 
(Commission, Council, social partners). 
ssassassstss» 
39 
CHART2: MEASURES CONCERNING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MULTIANNUAL PROGRAMMES 
Country 
Belgium 
Denmark 
France 
Finland 
Ireland 
Greece 
Luxembourg 
Netherlands 
United Kingdom 
Spain 
Germany 
Italy 
Portugal 
Austria 
Sweden 
o Priority I-Training 
-apprenticeship measures favouring the inclu­
sion of women 
-women returning to work 
-promoting equality 
-training in office technology for women 
returning to work 
-special measures for women 
-acceptable access in terms of timetable and 
location 
-major role in braking sex differentiation in 
the labour market 
-public sector: programme to develop skills of 
women Priority II-Employment/Growth 
-measures to assist mothers and fathers; 
maternity leave, part-time flexible time 
-working hours 
-low income linked widi part-time work 
-impact of pan-time work widi pensions 
-income 
-reduce the income gap between women and men 
-loans to women entrepreneurs Priority EI-
Secondary 
costs Priority IV-
Active Policies 
-equal opportunity 
projects to widen 
the labour market 
share available to 
women Priority V-Target Groups 
-grants for creating 2,700 jobs for women aged 18/64 
-women returnees 
-ministry for women's promotion 
-combining care duties and paid jobs 
-improve the position of women in companies 
-participation of women in technical education and trades 
-flexible work-patterns 
-training for women returnees 
-lone parents 
-EO legislation 
-promotion of women in full-time, part-time and temporary employ­
ment 
-subsidies to go back to work or enter professions where there are 
few women 
-Employment Promotion Law/women must be supported in accor­
dance with their share of the unemployed 
-Objective III of the European Social Funds 
-training 
-incentives: increase of 20% of the sum paid for recruiting women 
into occupations where they are under-represented 
-local development initiatives 
-measures in vocational training 
-flexible training measures 
-qualified part-time jobs 
-support for women with care duties 
-reduce career breaks taken by women to reduce income differences 
. • f 1 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
women: Greece, Luxembourg, the UK, the 
Netherlands, Spain and Germany. In the Italian 
programme, there is a big emphasis on equality in 
the introduction. 
A third group of countries looks at the issue of 
equal opportunities for women and men in the 
different parts of their submissions: Ireland, 
Portugal, Austria and Sweden. The long-term 
proposals of Austria and Sweden differ markedly, 
showing a more'active concern with equal oppor­
tunities. 
In the introduction to the Swedish programme, 
the following statement is presented: 
'The labour market situation "of women has 
improved in Sweden over the past three decades 
and has become more equal with men. In partic­
ular, there has been a greater increase in women's 
participation in the labour force and in the activ­
ity rate. Despite a considerable decrease at the 
beginning of the 1990s, it remains at a very high 
level compared with other countries. In 1994, the 
activity rate difference between women and men 
in Sweden was only 1.5 per cent. This trend has 
been supported by deliberate policy moves such 
as active labour market policies, comprehensive 
child-care facilities, favourable parental insurance 
and separate taxation for husband and wife.' 
Improving employment 
opportunities for the labour force 
by promoting investment 
in vocational training 
All Member States mention several training 
programmes which include in-service training as 
well as continuous education. These are often tar­
geted at young people. No country makes the dis­
tinction between young women and young men, 
although the former experience special problems 
for which there should be specific policies. 
Austria and Ireland are the only countries 
which supply a gender perspective in their voca­
tional training programmes. The Austrian pro­
gramme states: 'Employment training has the fol­
lowing key aims: • stimulating a shift in workforce structure 
towards 'high skills', white collar' work, 'non-
manual employment'(particularly for women). 
• measures for specific target groups (women, 
older people, long-term unemployed, disabled 
persons)'. 
In addition, steps are required to create train­
ing opportunities with acceptable access (in terms 
of timetables and locations). 
In Ireland, the programme for investment in 
vocational training includes special initiatives to 
support increased participation of women in 
apprenticeship, it also deals with women return­
ing to work and the promotion of specific equal­
ity measures. 
Increasing the employment -
intensiveness of growth 
In this section, one finds two approaches, that 
of the UK on the one hand and Luxembourg on 
the other. 
In the UK programme, the approach high­
lighted is one of getting rid of'unnecessary barri­
ers to job creation'. The approach of Luxembourg 
is more cautious, not confusing flexibility and 
deregulation and reads as follows: 
'The notion of flexibility cannot be used as a 
pretext to challenge social protection. In the 
spheres where the unions and management agree, 
however, on elements of flexibility, without at the 
same time, undermining social protection, the 
Government will not oppose such collective 
agreements'.3 
In the Austrian programme, the same reserva­
tions can be found: 'Experience in Austria sug­
gests that the employment effect of measures to 
increase the flexibility of working time is uncer­
tain, given that flexible employment of labour 
can also reduce employment opportunities for 
other workers. The current discussion in Austria 
on expanding the opportunities for choice in leg­
islation governing working time will, in any 
event, need to balance worker and employer 
interests.' 
1 Avis du comité de coordination triparrirc du 8 mars 1994. 
41 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES 
In 1995 the Commission published a Communication 
on a European Strategy for Encouraging Local 
Development and Employment Initiatives (LEI).4 
Seventeen areas of employment were listed, the 
development of which is linked to contemporary 
factors examined by a working party set up to con­
sider these questions. The principal areas are sum­
marised below: 
Services at home 
Childcare 
New information and communication technologies 
Assistance for youth with problems needing to 
be reintegrated into society 
Housing improvements 
Security 
Local public transport 
Redevelopment of public urban spaces 
Local shops 
Tourism 
Audiovisual techniques 
Cultural heritage 
Local cultural development 
Waste management 
Water management 
Protection and maintenance of green areas 
Pollution regulations and controls and related 
equipment. A more flexible organisation 
of work 
Policies regarding working time vary little from 
one country to another. They are based on the 
need to develop part-time work. Certain coun­
tries mention progressive early retirement and 
reduction of overtime as possible strategies. 
Uniform reductions of the working day are less 
prominent. Certain innovations with regard to 
job sharing appear in the Belgian and French pro­
grammes. 
Several countries are embarking on deregula­
tion of part-time work. This is happening in 
Spain where '...notable amongst the measures 
adopted in the reform to improve market flexi­
bility are the modifications made to the part-time 
contracts so as to promote its use ... greater flexi­
bility in the working day, reduction in social 
security in activities not exceeding 12 hours per 
week or 48 hours per month.' 
Austria makes a special point of emphasising 
the risks to which workers who engage in part-
time work are exposed: 'In the Austrian view, 
although further encouragement may bring 
about' a statistical reduction in unemployment, 
this is at the cost of an increasing number of jobs 
that do not provide sufficient income to live on. 
The labour law legislation accompanying the 
pension reform introduced statutory protection 
for part-time employees to guarantee equivalence 
with full-time employees.' 
A wage policy which encourages 
jo b~creating in vestm en ts 
In Luxembourg, generalised measures are not 
proposed. There is confidence that unions and 
management will exercise restraint in the sphere 
of salaries where this is found to be necessary. The 
UK advances ideas concerning the removal of 
centralised collective bargaining and the idea that 
wage levels should reflect economic conditions. 
In Sweden, 'measures have been adopted to 
make life easier for new companies' which 
include special loans for women entrepreneurs. 
4OJC265ofl2.10.1995. 
42 
The promotion of initiatives 
These are sparsely covered by the proposals, 
except for Belgium and France where there is pro­
vision. In Luxembourg, a working party is look­
ing into the possible effects of teleworking and 
working from home on work creation as well as 
the more negative social aspects. 
In Germany many measures were taken to pro­
mote local employment initiatives in the fields of 
environmental protection, social services and 
child and youth welfare activities. Since January 
1993, there has been the opportunity to support 
the employment of jobless persons in the above 
mentioned fields by means of lump-sum wage 
subsidies in the new Lander. Since January 1995 
this measure has been extended to unemployed 
persons in the western part of Germany. In 
Denmark, pool jobs will be used to activate 
unemployed persons in the fields of care of elder­
ly persons, sick persons, small children as well as 
for improved environmental protection activities. 
In Ireland, there is insistence on the development 
of local development initiatives on jobs. 
Environmental protection and management 
without references to the creation of specific jobs 
are of major concern in the Swedish and Finnish 
programmes. 
Other Member States consider support for 
enterprise creation and independent and self-
employment under this heading. 
Reducing non-wage labour costs 
Under this heading, the burden of taxation and 
contributions which fall on the individual are dis­
cussed. Sweden maintains that its individualised 
taxation system has contributed greatly to the 
high degree of equality between women and men 
observed in that country. Taxes levied for the pur­
pose of environmental protection are seen as 
measures designed to balance public finances. 
Other countries propose measures designed to 
reduce indirect employment costs: those targeted 
being the young, the older unemployed, long 
term unemployed or those on low wages. WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
MUNICIPALITY OF MADRID - SPAIN 
WHEN CITIES UNITE THE FORCE OF WOMEN 
Women experience huge difficulties in getting a job in a 
country like Spain where the unemployment rate beats all 
records. A number of towns in the region of Madrid have 
grouped themselves into a project on the subject. 'Red 
Local' (local network) aims to support the occupational 
integration of women of the region by a training policy 
adapted to the needs of the different town partners. 
The towns involved are Arganda del Rey, Rivas 
Vaciamadrid, San Fernando de Henares, Très Cantos and 
La MISCAM (a consortium of local authorities of the 
south east of Madrid). Red Local is supported by the 
EMPLOYMENT-NOW Initiative. 
One of the features of this project is that it wants to posi­
tion itself as close as possible to the women of the area. 
The first stage was the launch of a sociological study 
designed to analyse the situation town-by-town and 
detect all the barriers to hiring. 
Parallel to this, a walk-in centre was set up in every local 
authority area to enable women to come individually and 
review their job prospects. 
From this point on, training plans were developed within 
the traditional structures of INEM (National Employ­
ment Agency). 
'First of all we use what already exists and then comple­
ment this with specific courses,' explains Gloria Reguero 
of the Red Local project. 'We adapt what exists to 
women's demands, but also, and this is an important 
point, to local niche markets in employment. What is the 
point of good training if it does not help women to get a 
job in their own area? This is how we have guided some 
of the 120 women who are being supported, towards 
occupations linked to the environment like recycling and 
gardening, just as in the same way we support businesses 
started up by women.' 
The strength of the municipal authorities who make up 
Red Local was to know how to group themselves togeth­
er to be stronger overall while at the same time staying 
close to the daily lives of women. This is why jobs in the 
future will try to take account of the family needs of 
women by adjusting, for example, working hours. 
s&an&ms&tm 
43 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
MAJOR EFFORTS IN THE FIELD 
OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
AT EUROPEAN LEVEL 
EDUCATION 
Various actions in the field of education can con­
tribute to the promotion of equal opportunities for 
women and men: public awareness, teacher training, 
educational and curricular material in order to elim­
inate sex stereotyping, diversification of choice in 
field of study and career. 
The SOCRATES5 programme of educational coop­
eration attributes priority to projects that take 
account of equal opportunities for women and men. 
However the implementation of the principle of 
integrating equal opportunities is a long term 
process which demands increased efforts in raising 
of awareness among actors promoting Community 
projects, and at the same time it requires a deeper 
understanding of the principle of equality in the 
framework of coherence between Community poli­
cies and evaluation in the sphere of education. 
TRAINING 
An imbrovement in women's qualifications is 
important for equal opportunities. The European 
Commission has decided to be more pro-active 
towards equal opportunities in the projects to be 
funded under LEONARDO DA VINCI.6 The 
Commission actively encouraged the project appli­
cants to develop positive action projects intended to 
encourage women (or men) to participate in areas 
where they are traditionally under-represented as 
well as in those which are open to women and men. Improving the effectiveness 
of labour market policy 
In this section are set out a range of different 
measures. Some measures promise to amend leg­
islation acting as a restraint on jobs; others sup­
port policies which put in place systems favour­
ing the matching of supply and demand on the 
job market by the setting up of more effective 
employment services. 
Regarding amendments to social protection 
measures, the reservations of the Luxembourg 
government are set out: 'The Luxembourg gov­
ernment rejects the notion of undifferentiated 
deregulation as being the miracle cure for unem­
ployment. There is no evidence to suggest that 
dismantling employment legislation by means 
{inter alia) of a reduction in the number of 
redundancies, or by the abolition of legal mini­
mum wages, would create jobs. On the contrary, 
the Luxembourg experience shows that strict 
social legislation in no way prevents job creation 
even during times of economic recession'.7 
Improvement in the performance of public ser­
vices is addressed by a Luxembourg proposal on 
the obligation to advertise job vacancies and to 
notify lay-offs/redundancies publicly. This idea 
has been taken up by Greece as well and merits 
further study as it may help to reveal gaps exist­
ing on the job markets. The fight against the 
irregular or underground economy and geo­
graphical mobility are other themes covered in 
this section. 
Improving measures to target 
specific groups 
Five countries do not mention women among 
the groups particularly affected by unemploy­
ment. 
These initial plans have focused on unemploy­
ment and have left equal opportunities between 
women and men to one side even in countries 
where such policies are being actively pursued. 
* Council Decision of 14.3.1995, OJ L 87 of 20.4.1995 p.10. 
'Council Decision of 6.12.1994. OJ L340of 29.12.1994 p.8. 'La politique de l'emploi au Luxembourg à l'Horizon 2000. 
Ministère de l'Emploi et du travail, Luxembourg, 1995. 
44 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
BERLIN-WOMEN GO INTO BUSINESS 
The biggest business centre for women entrepreneurs in Europe is being built in the eastern 
part of Berlin in Germany. A former cosmetics factory of 5,500 square metres floor space on 
six floors, plus a new building, are the foundations for fifty planned business enterprises, that 
are to be managed by women exclusively. Thirty four of these enterprises have already been set 
up, including: a school for electronic data processing, an organisation and business consultan­
cy, an advertising agency, a travel agency, cafés and underwear and stocking shops. 
To combine working and living in a satisfactory manner, thirteen apartments were built in the 
summer of 1996 for the members of the cooperative, called Weiber Wirtschaft eG (Business 
Cooperative). The project is to set an ecological example: workplaces, leisure and shopping 
facilities have been integrated under the same roof; cutting down on wasteful travelling time. 
Special care facilities for the children of working mothers have been provided for as well, since 
social issues are an integral part of the economy, according to the founders of the co-operative. 
The-building offers affordable and stable rents for business women, the joint use of technical 
equipment, joint advertising and a centre for conferences, seminars and fairs. 
One thousand women of all ages and social backgrounds from all over Germany and from 
abroad have already joined up as members of this business enterprise that has been co-funded 
by the European Union. One can sign up for the venture by investing as little as DM 200—. 
With membership one also becomes a co-owner of the business centre - even though one 
might have to wait a while before getting a share of the profit! This is because women with a 
stake in the centre have not yet succeeded in putting up the DM 300,000 share capital required 
for securing the mixed funding of the new buildings. This is despite funds raised through bank 
loans, through the backing of the City of Berlin, Federal Government subsidies and the equi­
ty the women have raised themselves and despite the supports of funds coming into the pro­
ject from Brussels in the form of support from the European Social Fund. 
The project, which will represent a total investment of DM 34 million - of which DM 12.5 
million was the purchase price for the premises to be paid to the Treuhandanstalt - has been 
one of the biggest business ventures founded by the feminist movement in Europe. 
45 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
THE INFORMATION SOCIETY 
The adoption and widespread use of information 
and communication technologies offers a huge 
potential for wealth creation and higher standards 
of living. Many people, including women, are also 
concerned about the impact of the Information 
Society on their lives. In its Green Paper 'Living 
and Working in the Information Society: People 
First'8 the Commission mentioned the key social 
challenges raised by the transition to the 
Information Society. It examines how information 
and communication technologies (ICT's) are 
reshaping production and work organisation and 
are transforming peoples lives. The Green Paper 
acknowledges the fact that people are worried 
about the social and economic upheaval and rapid 
change which is taking place in the wake of the 
introduction of ICT's. 
The ICT's also have important implications on 
people's need for more appropriate training and for 
continuing updating of skills. This counts for both 
women and men. Three factors are affecting equal 
opportunities for women and men in particular: 
• the need for lifelong learning; 
• the necessity to combat exclusion of those 
(including women) who are not able to take part 
in the Information Society; 
• the importance of reconciliation of family and 
work for both women and men as the 
Information Society raises the issue of time spent 
at work, on education/training and on domestic 
activities.. 
The White Paper 'Teaching and Learning: Towards 
the Learning Society'9 as well as the European Year 
of lifelong learning and training (1996)10 have 
addressed the debates on these questions. An examination of the Essen multiannual pro­
grammes shows that they are not neutral for 
women and equal opportunities. Detailed evalu­
ations are undertaken at the request of the 
Council. A more general reading allows for some 
preliminary observations. 
Some interesting propositions for women are 
put forward by certain countries: 
• In Greece and Portugal, subsidies are granted 
for the employment of women in the areas 
where they are under-represented. 
• In Germany, employment law requires that 
women are taken into account in employment 
policies in proportion to their numbers among 
the unemployed. 
• In Austria, the fixing of hours and locations 
allow women to undertake training. 
• Also in Austria, there is a willingness to increase 
the skills-levels for work which is part-time. 
• In Austria, there is a desire to reduce the num­
ber of career interruptions in order to reduce 
the differences in earnings between women and 
men. 
• In Sweden, specific support is available for 
women entrepreneurs. 
• In Luxembourg, there are specific training 
measures available for women returning to 
work. 
The second round of the programmes (1996) 
shows that Multi-Annual Programmes are not 
explicit about the policy choices undertaken by 
Member States with the aim of promoting equal 
opportunities on the labour market. Specifically 
targeted measures have been implemented in the 
UK, Austria, Sweden and Germany to improve 
childcare facilities or achieve a more balanced 
participation oî women in training. However, 
only a few (eg Sweden) make an effort to main­
stream a gender perspective in general policies 
throughout the MAP. 
" COM(96) 389 of 237.1996. Supplement 3/96, European Union Bulletin. 
' COM(95) 590 final of 29.11.1995. 
"'COM(95) 124 of 31.3.1995. Active policies 
on equal opportunities 
Reorientation in professional and educational 
choice is a key element of equal opportunities 
policies. It is a necessary, yet insufficient, condi­
tion for equality. 
46 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
Active policies are necessary so as to do away 
with discrimination in recruitment and personnel 
management. Efforts are not supposed to be 
focused only on training policies which assume 
that segregation in employment and unemploy­
ment originate from an unbalanced supply of 
women workers. Demand side policies are also 
important, as is including equal opportunities in 
company wage agreements for the sector or sub-
sector. 
Active policies of equal opportunities, 
increased female participation in general pro­
grammes, reorientation of professional and edu­
cational choices, removal of fiscal and material 
obstacles, and also adopting directives and mea­
sures on community, national and regional scales, 
which ensure basic entitlements and guarantees 
for all workers are crucial measures. Such mea­
sures avoid the risk of increasing recruitment of 
women at a cost of increased inequality between 
women themselves. 
Conclusions 
The multiannual employment programmes are 
a particularly interesting initiative in providing 
incentives to countries to develop coordinated 
employment policies. The first programmes con­
centrated on unemployment; issues of equal 
opportunities are not specially visible, even in 
those countries where active policies in relation to 
equal opportunities are being implemented. 
The principle of integrating equal opportuni­
ties policies into general employment and plan­
ning policies pose questions and options con­
cerning implementation and administrative co­
ordination at a high and complex level in each 
Member State. While the tendency to apply the 
principle of equal opportunities using the 
method of 'target group' is a strong preference, 
some Member States have moved away from the 
exclusive use of this option to explore others. 
Presenting a synthesis of the multinannual pro­
grammes, the Single Report to Madrid already 
emphasised the need for intensifying efforts 
regarding action in favour of groups particularly 
hit by unemployment: SWEDEN- SPECIAL LOANS 
FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS 
Despite the fact that Sweden is considered a country with a 
high degree of gender equality, women as owners of SMEs 
are less represented than men. Less than 20 per cent of all 
SMEs are owned and run by women. In June 1994, the 
Swedish Parliament agreed a new loan facility in order to 
help potential female entrepreneurs to start their own firms 
and also to stimulate female owners of existing SMEs to 
expand and develop their businesses. 
During the first year and eight months, more than 2,000 
women started or expanded their own business with the 
support of loans totalling 16.5 million ECU (139 million 
SEK). The average loan is 8,000 ECU (67,000 SEK). Very 
small enterprises in trade and service dominate the picture. 
Only seven per cent of the women borrowed money to start 
or develop a manufacturing industry. 
Recent interviews with women who have borrowed money 
within this programme show that, more than 78 per cent of 
the participating women are very optimistic about the 
future possibilities to develop their enterprises. The inter­
views also reveal that 58 per cent of the women concerned 
did not have any employment when they decided to apply 
for a loan. Furthermore, 19 per cent of the women said that 
they started their own business as a direct alternative to 
being dismissed from their present jobs. 
Roughly 3,500 jobs have been created. So far the results of 
the scheme are good, women showing increasing interest in 
starting their own business. ALMI Fôretagspartner AB is a 
group consisting of a parent company owned by the state 
and 22 Regional Development Companies and offers con­
sultation, financing and information to persons planning to 
start a new business. It is involved in the programme and 
provides business advice, training, networks and mentor-
ship programmes to women. 
47 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
• Young people: Member States and manage­
ment and labour should ensure a proper path­
way to their integration on the labour market. 
All young people should be provided with the 
level of education, training and work experi­
ence needed to make them employable; 
• The long-term unemployed: Membet States 
and management and labour should engage in 
a more active policy for the prevention of long-
term unemployment. All unemployed people 
should have the opportunity of retraining or 
reintegration before reaching the point of long-
term unemployment; 
• Older workers should be given a chance to 
make full use of their work experience and 
potential. They should have the opportunity to 
undertake training and be encouraged to do so; 
•Women: Through the promotion of equal 
opportunities in the context of all public poli­
cies affecting employment, an active policy of 
desegregation of the labour market using a 
renewed approach to part-time working as a 
transitional measure and the reconciliation of 
family and working life for women and men. 
The Single Report to be presented to the 
European Council in Dublin will include refer­
ence to the ongoing analysis of womens position 
in the labour market. ^^ 
BUSINESS AND WOMEN 
ENTREPRENEURS 
Fewer than 30 per cent of small and medium-
sized companies in Europe are run by women 
and women are responsible for only one third of 
business start-ups. 
And yet the business start-up sector of the 
economy is of substantial interest for the future 
development of the European economy, since 
small and medium-sized companies are a prima­
ry source of new jobs. Setting up in business -
even if this means creating a job just for oneself-
is a positive solution to unemployment. Today, 
9.6 per cent of women in the European Union 
are working as independent operators or running 
their own businesses, whilst the equivalent statis­
tic for men is 19.9 per cent. And there are some 
striking differences from one Member State to 
another: between three per cent and six per cent 
of women in the north of Europe are self-
employed, whilst this figure can be as high as 20 
per cent in the countries of the south. 
For many women, setting up in business is the 
preferred option to the job search problem on a 
labour market. 
Setting up in business can also be a source of 
personal development in a system which is still 
dominated by men and where women's skills are 
not recognised to the full. Many women are com­
ing up against the so-called 'glass ceiling', which 
is halting their promotion within organisations 
and preventing them from accessing positions of 
highest responsibility. 
Community initiatives have been taking the 
issue of women setting up in business seriously 
for the past ten years, through the instigation of 
programmes. The first initiative of relevance in 
this field would be Local Employment Initiatives 
for Women (LEI), which was set up in 1987 
within the framework of Community policy in 
favour of employment for women. 
48 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
Two new sources of creation were targeted. The 
first was intended to promote innovatory ideas, 
the second to promote the creation of jobs for 
women within companies which had themselves 
been set up by women, during the first two years 
of business. Estimates suggest that 1,300 jobs 
were created through the programme in the sec­
ond phase of operations, over the period 1994 to 
1995. The LEI programme was a driving force in 
the sense that it allowed for the development of 
innovative initiatives, in particular through busi­
ness advice and access to credit, but also because 
it helped develop an entrepreneurial spirit 
amongst women. 
The NOW Initiative, benefiting from the 
experiences of the LEI programme, was spurred 
on to support a large number of projects aimed at 
setting up businesses or working in support of 
that objective. In the majority of cases, this 
entailed helping women without jobs for whom 
the creation of employment meant an alternative 
to unemployment. In many cases, it was simply a 
case of helping women to create their own jobs. 
To the extent that these women were very often 
under-skilled and as such, not particularly well-
prepared for entering into a business start-up 
project, some of the major thrusts of the different 
operational programmes involved training 
actions, psychological preparation and entrepre­
neurial project development and follow-up. 
Enterprise creation supported 
by the European Union 
EMPLOYMENT-NOW has added some 
refinement to this process. Initial analyses of pro­
jects show that 44 per cent of them are involved 
in some way in the development of the entrepre­
neurial spirit and preparation for setting up in 
business. Most projects insist on the creation of a 
business as the primary solution to the current 
shortage of jobs, but some of the projects are 
aimed at women who are already highly quali­
fied. This can include women graduates from 
higher education backgrounds with substantial 
work experience who turp to the solution of set­
ting up their own businesses when the road 
upwards within their present organisation seems 
to be blocked. Women entrepreneurship 
in regional policies 
Female entrepreneurship was on the agenda of 
a 'Europartenariat' in June 1996 in Luleâ, 
Sweden. At this event, discussions held and state­
ments made, reveal a strong interest in going 
beyond the framework of experiences from the 
past and in moving increasingly towards business 
start-ups. Such a process would involve bringing 
them into the wider development context with 
the support of the Structural Funds in particular 
and also taking into account the concerns 
expressed by women setting up their own busi­
nesses through general policies designed to sup­
port and aid companies generally. 
The discussions *and views expressed by 
women entrepreneurs show a diversity of situa­
tions, and at the same time a concentration of 
concern on specific issues. These latter can be 
broadly divided into three categories: 
• psychological support designed to reinforce or 
develop the entrepreneurial spirit in women. 
This phase includes the search for specific skills, 
the setting up of a parrnership initiative and the 
process of selecting partners or employees; 
• technical assistance in the development of a 
business project, training per se, financial man­
agement and marketing support; 
• guidance through the development phase. 
The first area meriting involvement at the very 
outset would be that of funding. The search for 
share capital and the availability of operating 
funds, an issue for anybody setting up in busi­
ness, can be doubly problematic for a woman, to 
the extent that the providers of funding, the 
banks, are not used to dealing with women entre­
preneurs. The provision of grants and financial 
support specifically targeted towards women, can 
provide the extra impetus that brings the project 
to fruition. Successful examples of this situation 
were outlined during the meetings. The LEI pro­
gramme itself has run its own initiatives in this 
direction. The meeting in Luleâ is to be followed 
up by another event initiated by the Commission 
for the creation of financial mechanisms, involv­
ing high-street banks and savings banks, in a 
campaign to help women set up their own busi-
49 
WOMEN AND MEN IN A CHANGING ECONOMY 
nesses. In more general terms, it is important to 
help women enttepreneurs to use the facilities 
made available to them within the framework of 
Community actions in favour of small and medi­
um-sized companies, such as the measures in 
favour of women entrepreneurs and assisting 
spouses foreseen in the Third Multiannual 
Programme for Small and Medium-sized 
Enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union 
(1997-2000)". The creation of European net­
works and enterprises by women as well as train­
ing and information initiatives will be among the 
priority activities, as decided by Council in 
November, 1996. 
Another action plan involves the creation of 
national and transnational networks and the set­
ting up of partnership programmes with key 
actors, companies, social partners, local authori­
ties and training and employment services. 
Identification of new niches is one of the pri­
mary areas of activity: according to NOW's expe­
rience, promoters have identified growth areas in 
personnel services, tourism and ecology-based 
markets. Furthermore, it seems that a research 
strategy for both local and regional potential 
markets has developed. Agricultural activities 
have often been associated with environment-
protection activities, such as the development of 
organic foods and tourism. 
11 Council Decision of 9.12.1996 - OJ (to be completed) 
50 
CHAPTER 3 
COMBINING WORK WITH 
HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
THE EFFECT OF CHILDREN 
ON PARENTS' EMPLOYMENT 
In recent decades, European labour markets 
have changed significantly. The European popu­
lation of working age is declining and the struc­
ture of the labour force has changed considerably. 
The increasing labour market participation of 
women is one of the most important develop­
ments. Related developments are the growing 
number of dual-income households and lone-
parent families in some countries. 
However, the increasing participation of 
women in the labour market is not without its 
problems. Equal opportunities for women and 
men are not yet within reach. Women work pre­
dominantly in the part-time and temporary 
labour market, although not all do so out of 
choice. Responsibility for young children is often 
seen as an important obstacle to women attaining 
equal opportunities, since the care for children is 
predominantly the responsibility of women. 
Hence, there is a growing awareness that mea­
sures should be taken to facilitate the combina­
tion of paid work and care, for both women and 
men. There is an increasing demand for opportu­
nities to combine (paid) labour and (unpaid) care 
and to provide for more flexibility in working 
arrangements. Important methods to achieve 
such flexibility are childcare services and 
(parental) leave facilities. Within the context of 
51 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
the growing participation of women in European 
labour markets, the focus of this chapter is on 
measures taken at different levels to facilitate the 
combination of work and care for children. 
The levels of mothers' participation in the 
labour force differs considerably between coun­
tries, while total male labour force participation 
rates are very similar across the European Union. 
However, the participation ptofiles seen in each 
Member State can be very differently affected by 
the number of children in the family. 
In some countries, regardless of the presence of 
children, the participation profiles of mothers 
remain at a high level. This appears to be the case 
for the Scandinavian countries, Sweden, 
Denmark and Finland. The second pattern exists 
in countries like Germany, Ireland, the 
Netherlands, Greece, Spain and the UK, where 
the participation rate is strongly affected by the 
presence of children. Here, the participation of 
mothers with one child is considerably lower 
than that of women without children. Moreover, 
as the number of children increases, mothers' par­
ticipation declines further. A third profile occurs in Italy and Portugal. In these countries, the pres­
ence of children also affects the participation of 
mothers. But here, the influence of the second 
child is the key factor; the participation of moth­
ers with one child being similar to the participa­
tion of women without children. Finally, a fourth 
pattern is found in France and, to a lesser extent 
in Belgium. Only mothers with three or more 
children have very different participation profiles. 
Further differences arise if we compare partici­
pation rates of fathers and mothers with children 
under age ten. Besides the high levels of employ­
ment for fathers, the different share of part-time 
work between fathers and mothers is striking. In 
most countries, fathers are less likely to work 
part-time, while part-time work for mothers is of 
much more importance though not all women 
with part-time jobs have these by choice. 
Part-time work plays a different role for moth­
ers and fathers. Its importance for mothers varies 
across Member States, but in several, it has con­
tributed to the growth in women's participation. 
In the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, part-
time work is usual for mothers with young chil­
dren and is also common in Belgium, in 
TABLE 16 
EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF MOTHERS WITH CHILD AGED 0*10 YEARS, 
[H THE EUROPEAN UMON, (%) 1993 
TOTAL 
FULL-TIME 
PART-TIME B 
I I DK 
I I D 
I I 
GR , 
I I 
E I I 
F I I 
IRL , 
I I 
" I I 
NL > 
I I I 
A I I I 
P I I I 
S 1 
I I I 
UK ' I 
I i I 
EU 12 I 
1 I I 
0 20 40 60 80 100 
NOTE: AUSTRIA; INFORMATION IS FOR MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN UNDER 15; SWEDEN INFORMATION IS FOR MOTHERS 
WITH CHILDREN UNDER 7 YEARS 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION NETWORK ON CHILDCARE AND OTHER MEASURES TO RECONCILE EMPLOYMENT AND 
FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES 
52 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFK 
Denmark, Austria and Germany. In contrast, in 
the southern Member States, Greece, Italy, Spain 
and Portugal part-time work is less common. 
A comparison of the employment of mothers 
from 1985 to 1993 shows a considerable rise of 
employment. With the exception of Denmark, 
which has high employment rates for mothers, in 
all countries the employment of women with 
young children rose, with the growth in female 
employment being particularly high in the 
Netherlands, Ireland, the UK and Belgium. 
Finally, some remarks should be made about 
the unemployment rates of parents throughout 
the European countries. In most countries, the 
unemployment rates of mothers are at a higher 
level than the unemployment rates of fathers. 
However, a large proportion of mothers in the 
Member States are not active in the labour mar­
ket at all. In Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy, 
Luxembourg and the Netherlands, around 50 per 
cent of mothers do not have a job. In contrast, in 
the Scandinavian countries and Portugal, 25 per 
cent of mothers are unemployed. 
A few conclusions emerge from this analysis. 
The most important conclusion is that children do make a difference for women's labour market 
participation. Generally, the participation of 
women without children is considerably higher 
than the participation of women with care-
responsibilities for children. In contrast, the par­
ticipation of men is unaffected by the presence of 
children. 
However, this pattern is not consistent across 
all Member States. In the Scandinavian countries, 
the participation rate of mothers is hardly affect­
ed by the presence of children. Also, in some 
countries the age of children proves to be an 
important factor for the participation levels of 
mothers in the labour market. In most Member 
States, the labour force participation rates of 
women increase with the age of their youngest 
child. 
These differences between countries suggest 
that the current situation is not fixed. Moreover, 
the fact that participation patterns are so diver­
gent, suggests that labour market behaviour is not 
an exogenous fact, but sensitive to the organisa­
tion of the economy and social system adopted 
by countries. In the following sections, attention 
is given to the organisation of social provision. 
PE&tEKBGE Of mRT^TIME EMPLOYMENT AMONO 
MOTHERS AND I^HEftS IN M 
MOTHERS 
FATHERS B 
DK 
D 
GR 
E 
F 
IRL 
I 
L 
NL 
A 
P 
FIN 
S 
UK :.:•:,.:.:•:•:•:•»;•:•,:•:•:•:•;,„ 
I 
EU12 | I 
0 20 40 60 80 100 
NOTE: LUXEMBOURG FATHERS: NUMBER IN SAMPLES TOO SMALL 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION NETWORK ON CHILDCARE AND OTHER MEASURES TO RECONCILE EMPLOYMENT AND 
FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES 
53 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
Childcare services 
in the Member States 
In March 1992, the Council of Ministers 
adopted a Recommendation on childcare.1 In this 
Recommendation, Member States are encour­
aged to 'take and/or progressively encourage ini­
tiatives to enable women and men to reconcile 
their occupational, family and upbringing 
responsibilities arising from the care of children.' 
More specifically, the Council Recommendation 
identified four areas where initiatives should be 
taken: leave arrangements for parents; making 
the workplace responsive to the needs of workers 
with children; supporting increased participation 
by men in the care and upbringing of children; 
providing childcare services for parents who are 
working, undertaking training, or seeking 
employment or training. In Article 3 of the 
Recommendation, which deals with childcare 
services, some important qualifications of these 
services are identified. They should: 
• be affordable and available in all (rural and 
urban) areas; 
• combine reliable care with a pedagogical 
approach; • be accessible to children with special needs; 
• be flexible and diverse, while preserving coher­
ence between different services; 
• be staffed by workers whose training is in 
accordance with the importance of their work. 
To what extent do these qualifications meet the 
reality of the childcare services in the European 
Member States? An initial answer to this question 
is offered by the 1996 report2 published by the 
'European Commission Network on Childcare 
and other Measures to reconcile Employment 
and Family Responsibilities'. This report reviews 
all services providing 'safe and reliable care for 
children under ten. The focus is on all childcare 
services such as nurseries or family day care, but 
also on childcare services provided by other insti­
tutions like schools and kindergartens. 
Chart 3 gives an overview of some of the main 
results of the review. It shows the diversity of the 
' OJ L 123 of 8.5.1992, p.16. 
1 A review of services for young children in the European Union 
(1990-1995), European Commission Network on Childcare 
and other Measures to reconcile Employment and Family 
Responsibilities, European Commission, DG V, January 
1996. 
r' •••;]: ;-^ • TABLE W :f,; 
ftHMIME AND PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT OF MOTHERS WITtt CHILD AGED>t* YEARS, 
IH THE EUROPEAN UNION, (%) 1985 AN& Î993 
B 
DK 
D 
GR 
E 
F 
IRL 
I 
L 
NL 
A 
P 
FIN 
S 
UK 
EU 12 1985 
1993 
20 40 60 80 100 
NOTE: AUSTRIA INFORMATION FOR MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN UNDER IS: SWEDEN INFORMATION FOR MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN UNDER 7 
YEARS 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION NETWORK ON CHILDCARE AND OTHER MEASURES TO RECONCILE EMPLOYMENT AND FAMILY 
RESPONSIBILITIES 
54 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
services for young children and the levels of ser­
vice provision. For example, the level of public 
provision for children under three is high in 
Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France and Finland, 
but low in Spain, Ireland, the UK and Greece. 
Services for children between three and six years 
old are on a more advanced level compared to the 
level of services for 0-3 year-olds. This arises 
mainly from pre-primary schooling (kinder­
garten) and early admission to compulsory 
schooling. In France, for example, nearly all chil­
dren in the age group attend l'école maternelle 
from the age of three. In the Netherlands pre-pri­
mary schooling does not exist, but children are 
admitted to primary schooling before compulso­
ry school-age, at the age of four. However, major 
differences remain: Portugal, Finland and Ireland 
have the lowest levels of public funded provisions 
for children in the age group 3-6 and France, 
Belgium and Italy the highest levels. 
Data on services for children between six and 
ten years, outside school hours, is limited and dif­
ficult to interpret. Information on childcare for 
school-age children before and after school, dur­
ing lunchtime and on days off, is difficult to col­
lect, because of the number of organisations and groups involved. However, from Commission 
estimates of the levels of provision for this age 
group, it becomes clear that care for these chil­
dren outside school hours is limited. Most chil­
dren appear to be provided care in ways other 
than through public funded services. Information 
suggests that in most countries such provision is 
available for less than ten per cent of this popula­
tion. Exceptions to this are Sweden and 
Denmark, where nearly two-thirds of the popula­
tion is cared for by such services and to a lesser 
extent, France, where 30 per cent of children 
between 6-10 are cared for in a childcare service 
that provides care and recreation. 
Monitoring childcare services 
To what extent do these services meet the prin­
ciples set down by the Council Recommendation 
on childcare? Is childcare affordable and avail­
able, does it combine reliable care and a peda­
gogical approach? And what about flexibility, 
diversity and coherence? It is clear from the chart 
that this question cannot be easily answered at a 
European level. There are two major reasons for 
this: 
RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND INACTIVITY OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS, WITH CHItO 
AGED oio YEARS, IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, {%) t$n 
B 
DK 
D 
GR 
E 
F 
IRL 
I 
L 
NL 
A 
P '•: 
I 
FIN ':: 
I 
s ": 
I 
UK 
I 
EU 12 ':: i 
0 MOTHERS U> EMPLOY. 
MOTHERS IN ACTIVE 
FATHERS UN MPLOY. 
FATHERS INA:TIVE 
80 100 20 40 60 
NOTE: AUSTRIA INFORMATION FOR PARENTS WITH CHILDREN UNDER 15; SWEDEN INFORMATION FOR MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN UNDER 7 
YEARS. 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION NETWORK ON CHILDCARE AND OTHER MEASURES TO RECONCILE EMPLOYMENT AND FAMILY 
RCSPONSIQILITICS 
55 
es 
Wgmm^ CHILDREN, SCHOOL-AGE AND LENGTH OF SCHOOLDAY 
Country3 
Belgium 
Denmark 
Germany 
East 
West 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Ireland 
Italy 
Luxembourg 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Portugal 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom Year/data 
1993 
1995 
1990 
1993 
1993 
1993 
1993 
1991 
1991 
1993 
1994 
1993 
1994 
1994 
1993 Publicly funded*» services for children (%) 
0-3 years 
27 
48 
50 
2 
3 
2 
23 
2 
6 
6 
8 
3 
12 
21 
33 
2 3-6 yearsd 
95 
82 
100 
78 
64 
84 
99 
55 
91 
91 
71 
75 
48 
53 
72 
60 School-age 
6 
7. 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
5 
6 
6 
7 
7 
5 Length of school 
day in hours 
7 
3-5 '/>d 
4-5 
4-5d 
5 
8 
4.40-5.40d 
5'/>-6 
8 
7 
4-5 
6 
4-5 
2!4-6d 
6'/i Proportions in publicly funded services for children 
6-10 yearsc 
-
62% + all six year olds in pre-primary education 
85% 
5% 
<5% (estimate) 
-
± 30% 
<5% (estimate) 
-
-
<5 (estimate) 
6% 
10% 
5% +60% of six year olds in welfare and education 
system services 
64%+ some six year olds in pre-primary schooling 
<5% (estimate) 
Source: A review of services for young children in the EU 1990-1995, European Commission Network on Childcare and other Measures to reconcile Employment and Family Responsibilities, 1996. 
Notes: 
a Information on levels of provision need to be interpreted as follows: places available in Belgium and France (for children aged 0-3, except for two year olds in pre-primary schooling), Germany, Italy (for children 
aged 0-3), the Netherlands, Portugal and the UK. Children attending for Belgium and France (two year olds in pre-primary schooling and 3-6), Denmark, Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy (for children aged 3-6), 
Austria, Finland and Sweden. 
b 'Publicly funded' means that more than half of the total costs of a service arc paid from public sources, and usually between 75 per cent and 100 per cent. 
c This figure does not include children in compulsory schooling; it is confined to services providing care and recreation. 
d Schoolhours increase as child grows older. 
- No information. D O 
S 
z 
z 
o 
I 
H 
X 
X o c 
m 
X o 
r* 
a 
*T1 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
Basic data is inadequate. There is no uniform sys­
tem for collecting standard information across 
Europe. Information on other arrangements, 
such as family day care, may be covered in occa­
sional reports, but is not provided on a regular 
basis. The most serious gaps come in statistics on 
private, non-subsidised services, like in-home 
care and care by relatives. 
Basic data needs interpretation. Data on provisions 
need interpretation, beyond the broad aggregates, 
because there are large differences in the volume 
of the services offered. Another more complicat­
ed aspect of interpreting cross-national statistics 
is that differences in quality have to be taken into 
account. y#&)&Zii£iiSM$m 
PARENTAL LEAVE right to parental leave should in principle be 
granted on a non-transferable basis. In addition 
to parental leave, workers should be entitled to 
time-off from work, on grounds of force majeure 
for urgent family reasons in cases of sickness or 
accident making the immediate presence of the 
worker indispensable' (Clause 3). The Member 
States will have two years following adoption to 
implement the Directive. There is a 'non-regres­
sion' clause, which specifies that Member States 
can maintain or introduce more favourable pro­
visions. 
As long as the minimum requirements are met, 
the character of parental leave is to be determined 
by the individual Member States and/or social 
partners. The Directive also states that all matters 
relating to social security' are for consideration 
and determination by Member States and 
remains silent on contentious areas like the pay­
ment to workers on leave. 
In June 1996 a Directive on Parental Leave3 
was adopted by the Council of Ministers. This 
Directive rounds off a discussion ongoing since 
1983, when the Commission put forward pro­
posals for a legal instrument in relation to 
parental leave. In December 1995, negotiations 
between organisations of trade unions and 
employers led to a Framework Agreement on 
Parental Leave in which ETUC, UNICE and 
CEEP participated. Pursuant to Article 4 of the 
Agreement on Social Policy, the signatory parties 
requested the Commission to put forward a pro­
posal4 for a Council act implementing the agree­
ment. 
In the Directive the minimum requirements 
for a parental leave provision for the European 
Union are outlined. According to Clause 2, the 
parental leave provision entitles women and men 
to an individual right to parental leave on the 
grounds of the birth or adoption of a child to 
enable them to take care of that child, for at least 
three months, until a given age up to eight years 
to be defined by Member States and/or social 
partners'. With the intention of promoting equal 
opportunities and equal treatment between 
women and men, Clause 2 also states that the Parental leave arrangements 
in Member States 
Chart 4 presents an overview of the provisions 
for parental leave in the fifteen European Union 
countries. It appears that, with the exception of 
the UK, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and 
Luxembourg, parental leave is a right of workers 
in all European Union countries. For Ireland and 
Luxembourg, the Directive implies the introduc­
tion of parental leave. Belgium does not have a 
parental leave scheme, but the career break 
scheme' can be used for various reasons, includ­
ing the care of a child. Originally, Denmark had 
a parental leave scheme, but this scheme has been 
developed for broader use, in a similar way to 
Belgium. 
Parental leave can be organised on a family or 
an individual basis. The former means that both 
parents have a shared right to the leave. An indi­
vidual based leave gives parents a non-transfer­
able and reserved right to (some part of the) 
leave. Workers in most countries have a family 
right to parental leave. Originally, parental leave 
was set up as an extended maternity leave, for 
'OJ L 145 of 19.6.1996 p.4. 
4 COM(96) 26 final of 31.1.1996. 
57 
00 §l§ii§i^^ 
Country 
Belgium3 
Denmarkc 
Germany 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Ireland 
Italy 
Luxembourg 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Portugal 
FinlandS 
Sweden 
United Kingdom Duration 
Maximum 
None 
10 weeks + 
3-9 months 
36 months 
3 months 
36 months 
36 months 
None 
6 months 
None 
6 months 
part-time 
24 weeks 
6 months 
Max: 24 months^ 
36 months 
Until child is 
three years 
18 months 
None Boundaries 
None 
Until child is 
nine years 
Until child is 
three years 
Until child is 
twoVS years 
Until child is 
three years 
Following m.l.d 
Until child is 
four years 
Until child is 
four years 
Following m.l. 
Following m.l. 
Until child is 
three years 
Until child is 
eight years Transferability 
Individual 
Family 
Individual 
Family 
Individual 
Family 
Family 
Family 
Individual 
Family 
Family 
Family 
Family 
Family Benefits 
Rate 
Flat-rate with higher payment 
for two and three children 
Flat-rate: 80 per cent of 
unemployment benefit 
Income-related 
Unpaid 
Unpaid 
Flat-rate, from second child 
Income-related 30 per cent 
of earnings 
Unpaid 
Flat-ratee 
Unpaid 
Income-related: 66 per cent 
Flat rate 
Income-related: 80 per cent 
(ten months) and 90 per cent 
(two months); flat-rate (three 
months) Period 
Weeks 
Weeks 
Weeks 
Until child is 
three years 
Until child is 
three years 
Weeks 
Weeks 
Weeks 
Weeks Flexibility 
Part-time 
Yesb 
No 
No 
Yesb 
No 
No 
Yes 
No 
Only 
Yesb 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
. Fractioning 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes Restrictions in coverage 
On employer's agreement 
None 
None 
Companies 100 workers 
and eight per cent claims 
None 
None 
Farmers/self-employed/ 
domestic services 
None 
Prov.govern. Workers 
and agriculture/forestry 
None 
None 
None Conditions 
12 months of 
service 
No 
4 wks of service 
12 months of 
service 
No 
12 months of 
service 
No 
12 months of 
service 
No 
12 months of 
service 
No 
6 months of 
• h service n o 
CD 
o 
73 
7<. 
* 
H 
X 
X o c 
u~. 
m 
X 
O 
Source: Leave arrangements for workers with children, European Commission Network on Childcare and other Measures to reconcile Employment and Family Responsibilities, (1994, update 1995). 
Notes 
a No parental leave, but career break' of 6 to 12 months per worker subject to employer's agreement. 
b Only with employer's agreement. 
c Leave can also be used for other reasons, such as training: workers taking leave arc not guaranteed their jobs d M.l.= maternity leave. 
c Higher for single parents or low income families. 
f Portugal: maximum of 24 months to be taken in special circumstances. 
g B: basic parental leave; E: extended 'child-care' leave. , . r 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
mothers. A shared (family) right to parental leave, 
for both fathers and mothers, was developed 
later. In many countries, the right to parental 
leave for fathers is still a derived right: the father 
is only entitled if the mother is also entitled and 
waives her right to leave. Individual rights to 
parental leave have only recently been imple­
mented (Greece, the Netherlands). Some coun­
tries have made changes in their legislation and 
split the leave in two parts with both an individ­
ual and a family right to parental leave (Sweden, 
Denmark). 
There are wide variations across Member States 
in the duration of leave. In some countries the 
leave is limited to three months (Greece) or six 
months (Italy, the Netherlands), while in others 
the maximum leave period is set at 36 months, 
for example, until the child is three years old 
(Germany, France). 
In four countries, parental leave is unpaid dur­
ing the whole period of leave (Greece, Spain, the 
Netherlands and Portugal). However, in most 
countries there are some benefits, at least for a 
minimum period of the leave. 
The extent to which leave can be taken in a 
flexible way varies. Central issues are part-time 
work and the possibility of dividing the leave. 
Part-time work during the leave period is not 
possible in every country: only in France, Finland 
and Sweden do parents have a right to work part-
time. In Belgium, Germany and Austria part-
time work is possible, under the condition that 
the employer agrees. In contrast, part-time work 
is the only possibility for parents in the 
Netherlands, where workers may lower their 
work week to 20 hours. The purpose is to stimu­
late parents to combine work and care responsi­
bilities for children while keeping parents in the 
labour market. Staggering the leave, rather than 
taking the whole leave period at once, is possible 
in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Finland and 
Sweden, while in other countries leave should be 
taken in a single period. Parental leave is most 
flexible in Sweden, where it can be staggered and 
taken part-time without the employer's permis­
sion. 
The eligibility conditions to take leave are 
attached to the period of service of the worker in 'tss&sMMSsmtsssms&t 
SCHOOL-AGE CHILDCARE: 
A GROWING NEED5 
Childcare services focus on services for young children of pre­
school age, which are, of course, essentials for conciliation 
between work life and household life. But school-age child­
care is also important as emphasised by a report of 
the European Network for School-age Childcare. 
School-age childcare fills the gap at the end of the school day. 
It may also be needed for other periods such as the time 
before school opens in the morning, during school holidays; 
during school half-days; and when schools are closed for other 
reasons. 
In different countries within the European Union, these ser­
vices have different names and different emphases. In some 
Member States they are well established, with a respected 
place in social policy towards families. In others there is cur­
rently some development, but school-age childcare services 
are not yet in any way systematic. In still others they do not 
yet figure on the social agenda; and while individual parents 
acknowledge their own daily problems in combining work 
and family responsibilities, the very concept of 'school-age 
childcare' may still sound strange to those who shape public 
policy. 
As the proportion of women employed with a child under 15 
is significant and rising (from 81 per cent in Finland and over 
70 per cent in Denmark, Sweden and Portugal, over 60 per 
cent in Austria, Belgium and France, over 50 per cent in 
Germany and the UK, to 34 per cent in Ireland and Spain 
and under 50 per cent in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, 
Greece), school-age care has importance both for reconcilia­
tion of work and family life and for the social and cultural 
development of young children. 
Parents, especially mothers, who either cannot seek employ­
ment or, if they do so, are dependent on informal childcare 
arrangements, are vulnerable to dismissal, unless employers 
are prepared to overlook absenteeism and the lack of punctu­
ality. School-age childcare services can be instrumental in pro­
moting social cohesion. They can help children and parents to 
mix with others from different ethnic backgrounds and they 
can allow children with a disability to share their free time 
with the non-disabled; in short, they can be a local commu­
nity resource with benefits beyond simple childcare. 
' School-age Childcare in the European Union, European Commission Network 
on Childcare and other Measures to reconcile Employment and Family 
Responsibilities, 1996. 
59 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
LUXEMBOURG- EQUALITY FOR 
PART-TIME WORKERS 
In Luxembourg, a law passed in February 1993 guaran­
tees equality in the private sector between those who hold 
a part-time and those who hold a full-time job. The law 
confirms that a part-time job should attract the same 
advantages and benefits as those recognised for a full-
time job. Thus, the pay of a part-time worker should be 
proportional to that of another worker who holds a full-
time job in the same company with the same skills. 
Moreover, when the part-time worker is called on to 
work beyond the working hours written into his/her con­
tract, such hours are considered as overtime hours and 
give entitlement to an increase in pay equivalent to that 
envisaged legally and contractually for overtime hours. 
This is one of the measures introduced by the 
Luxembourg State in favour of reconciliation between 
working life and family life, namely by the guarantee of 
absolute equity in the case of part-time work. 
In addition, the State takes on responsibility for the social 
protection of parents who are entided to what is called 
'the baby year', a leave period which the mother or adop­
tive parent may take after the birth or adoption of a 
child. This maternity year has just been extended to two 
years, during which period the State pays for the social 
contributions of the wage earner on the basis of the pre­
vious salary. 
These measures are intended to benefit everyone includ­
ing men. However, 80 per cent of all part-time workers 
in Luxembourg are women. Up to recently the majority 
of unpaid leave requests came from women. Analysis will 
show whether the new measures are achieving their aim 
of better reconciling work and family life. his/her particular employment. In five countries 
there are no conditions for access to the leave 
(Denmark, Spain, Italy, Austria and Finland), but 
in five others, 12 months of service with the 
employer is required (Belgium, Greece, France, 
the Netherlands and Portugal). Variations are 
found in Germany (four weeks of service) and 
Sweden (six months). Restrictions in leave do 
occur; in some countries certain groups are 
excluded. For example, small companies in 
Greece can object to the leave when eight per 
cent of the workers in the company take parental 
leave in a year. 
Monitoring parental leave 
From an equal opportunities point of view, it is 
important to know if the parental leave arrange­
ments are designed (implicitly or explicitly) as an 
extended maternity leave, stimulating mainly 
women to take the leave, or if they are an incen­
tive for men to take up parental leave. The differ­
ent variations in parental leave schemes prove to 
be very important factors in stimulating parents, 
mothers and fathers, to take up leave. 
It remains rather unclear to what extent parents 
use parental leave arrangements. An important 
explanation for this is that household and labour 
force surveys do not collect data on the specific 
reasons for leave of absence, such as parental 
leave. With the exception of labour force surveys 
in the Netherlands and Sweden, national surveys 
do not distinguish parental leave from other rea­
sons for leave. 
There is some data available on the extent to 
which parents use parental leave. It makes it clear 
that the take-up rates of parents vary enormously 
between countries and that parental leave is wide­
ly used by mothers when it is paid. In addition, it 
is clear that take-up rates of fathers are in sharp 
contrast with those of mothers. Even in countries 
where the conditions for leave are relatively well 
developed (in terms of payment and flexibility), 
fathers do not take parental leave to a large 
extent. An exception to this is Sweden, where the 
combination of flexibility and the high level of 
payments lead to relatively high take-up rates by 
both mothers and fathers. More structured 
research is necessary to gain more insight into the 
60 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
'take-up behaviour* of mothers and fathers and 
the factors that affect the decision of parents to 
take up leave. 
In identifying reasons for taking parental leave, 
the preferences of parents and the availability of 
other solutions are also important. In addition, it 
can be assumed that preferences of parents vary, 
not only between countries, but also on a region­
al level. Parents can opt for different profiles' of 
care for their children. Formal and informal 
childcare services, part-time work and/or flexible 
working arrangements of parents to ensure care 
of their children by themselves, are some of those 
possibilities. Moreover, people can choose to 
make a combination of different options. The 
extent to which parents can make a choice 
between these options, between the availability of 
alternatives, is influenced by state policies and 
infrastructures. 
Part-time work and temporary 
jobs as a means of conciliation 
Job flexibility can be regarded as a risk, to the 
extent that it generates situations of job insecuri-Sftmttm&Ztmxiïm 
ty, low incomes and gaps in social protection. But 
so-called atypical jobs are also a means of access 
to employment from which women benefit and 
in particular women returning to the labour mar­
ket after a long period of absence or inactivity 
related to family life or the rearing of children. 
Part-time working has been the area of working 
where job creation has grown most strongly and 
consistendy during both the period of overall 
employment growth between 1987 and 1990 and 
perhaps more significantly, during the period of 
downturn, 1990-94. Part-time employment is 
thereby accounting for an increasing share of 
total employment. 
While the total number of jobs fell by over 
three per cent, in the Union as a whole, during 
the period 1990-94, the number of part-time 
jobs increased by some nine per cent, in itself 
adding nine per cent to total employment and 
partly compensating for the decline in full-time 
jobs, of almost six per cent. 
Given that over 80 per cent of those working 
part-time are women - although they account for 
a minority of the labour force - this represents a 
major expansion. By 1994, 30 per cent of all 
TABLE 20 
WOMEN'S PART-TIME AND TEMPORARY WORK AS A SHARE 
OF TOTAL EMPLOYMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, (%) 1994 
B 
DK 
D 
GR 
E 
F 
IRL 
I 
L 
NL 
A 
P 
FIN 
S 
UK 
EU15 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT(LFS) PART-TIME WORK 
TEMPORARY WORK 
20 40 60 80 100 
61 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
female jobs in the Union as a whole (EU 15) were 
part-rime, up from 28 per cent in 1987. Part-
rime working is significantly less important 
amongst men and reached almost five per cent of 
total male employment by 1994. 
Despite its widespread growth, part-time work­
ing remains a much more pronounced feature of 
northern Member States, whereas in the south, it 
accounts for between only eight per cent (Greece) 
and 16 per cent (Spain) of female employment. 
Part-time working among both women and men 
is particularly common in four Member States: 
the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and Denmark. 
The growth of part-time working has been heav­
ily concentrated among women. Indeed women 
filled 95 per cent of the additional part-time jobs 
created between 1987 and 1990 and one third of 
all the extra jobs for women which emerged were 
part-time. 
If the development of part-time work seems to 
be a specifically female phenomenon, analysis of 
temporary contract working (fixed duration con­
tracts) shows a more subtle change, better bal­
anced between women and men. Although the prevalance of temporary working 
in the Union is not as great as that of part-time 
employment and indeed accounts for only 
around half as many jobs as part-time, it is still an 
important area of employment growth. In 1995, 
temporary jobs accounted for only around 14 per 
cent of jobs in the Union. Moreover, there 
appears to be less of a bias towards women than 
in the case of part-time employment, even 
though there are more women than men in tem­
porary employment in the Union as a whole and 
in each Member State. In 1995, around 13 per 
cent of men and 15 per cent of women were 
employed in temporary posts, the proportion 
ranging from 33 per cent of men and 38 per cent 
of women in Spain (by far the highest figures in 
the Union), to six per cent or less of men and 
under ten per cent of women in Belgium, 
Luxembourg, Italy, Austria and the UK, five 
countries with very different employment legisla­
tion. Apart from the latter five countries and 
Spain, the scale of temporary employment did 
not diverge very far from the Union average in 
1994 in any of the Member States. 
A special mention has to be made of part-time 
temporary jobs. Those contracts have a lower 
TABLE 21 
TOTAL FERTILITY RATES M THE EUROPEAN UNION TOR i?8e, 1985,1994 
B 
DK 
D 
GR 
E 
F 
IRL 
I 
L 
NL 
A 
P 
FIN 
S 
UK 
EUR15 
0.0 0.5 1.0 
SOURCE: EUROSTAT DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY >t<,*' ÎWCX- s ~ •.if'"' ' -.,'. ? '•.',- *' " (III 
1 " ' 1 1 ' 1 
, * -1 1 
v> ' , ' '- 1 
.'•''-' '1 ' «'- 1 
1 '" ' %* ')"->'" '' \'- ' )' 
. - " * c-* <-' 1 
1 r ' 1 1 
1 1 1 r 
• '' 1 1 i 
>. . , . 1 1980 
1985 
1994 
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 
62 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
degree of employment protection. As might be 
expected, the share of women working on part-
time temporary contract is much higher than for 
men. In 1995, around 39 per cent of women 
employed in temporary jobs worked part-time, 
slightly higher than the share of part-time work­
ing in permanent employment. 
Why women accept non-standard 
employment contracts 
It is interesting to examine the reasons which 
lead women to accept non-standard employment 
contracts and in particular part-time work. Are 
these ways to reconcile family and working life? 
The data collected by the European Labour Force 
Survey gives some indications and allows an 
assessment of the extent to which part-time work 
is a voluntary choice or not.' 
On average, six out of ten part-time workers in 
the Community in 1994 stated that their prima­
ry reason for taking a part-time job was that they 
did not want a full-time one. While two-thirds of 
women working part-time did not want a full-
time job, this was the case for only a third of men 
in part-time employment. 
There are various reasons why women appar­
ently prefer part-time work. Principal among 
these is the need to reconcile the demands of 
home and work. For women in particular, the 
lack of availability of childcare and the operation 
of the education system can be obstacles to this 
reconciliation. 
This concentration of women among part-time 
workers in many Member States has other effects. 
Because part-time work is associated with partic­
ular sectors and occupations it also tends to rein­
force the tendency towards occupational segrega­
tion between the genders in the labour market 
which is increasingly recognised as a major factor 
against flexibility. 
The same analysis can.be undertaken for tem­
porary work. Although reliable data exists for 
only nine Member States, it is evident that in 
general more women than men were working on 
a contract for limited duration in 1994 because 
they did not want a permanent job. ITALY 
A REGIONAL FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMME 
IN EMILIA-ROMAGNA 
In Italy, many women now have the good fortune to be 
able to go out to work without having to worry about 
leaving their children. Such has been the case since 1991, 
when the region of Emilia-Romagna saw the start of a 
regional family support programme. The main objective 
behind this programme was to reduce the gap that exist­
ed between the role of the mother and the father, which 
still exists to a krge extent today across Italy. 
Now five years old, the programme is running success­
fully. One of the more successful aspects has been the set­
ting-up of crèches, which have helped place the Emilia-
Romagna region at the top of the national table for the 
concentration of services for children (21 per cent con­
centration against a national average of around five per 
cent). 
It all began in 1989, when one of the Emilia-Romagna 
regional board advisers seized the opportunity to put into 
action a project he had been keeping under consideration 
for some time: to create a law regulating all types of fam­
ily and women's support schemes and favouring social 
integration policies. 
A particular effort has been made to encourage the pres­
ence of fathers in an attempt to lighten the load of 
women and bring a better balance to family relations. 
And it works! Half of the total regional expenditure on 
family aid programmes has been used to finance the "tra­
ditional" crèches. The other half went to the other initia­
tives. At this time, only one other Italian region, Venetia 
has followed in the footsteps of Emilia-Romagna, 
approving a similar law but which is still awaiting appli­
cation,' said Anna Rossetti in charge of programmes for 
schools and pre-school structures. 
63 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
CHART 5: INDIVIDUALISATION OF INCOME TAXATION 
Classification according to tax unit 
Separate taxation 
Austria 
Denmark 
Finland 
Greece 
Italy 
Sweden 
The Netherlands 
United Kingdom Aggregation 
Belgium6 
Ireland 
Spain Splitting Family Quotient 
Germany 
Luxembourg 
Portugal France 
THE INDIVIDUALISATION 
OF RIGHTS 
The individualisation of rights has been a 
recurrent theme in recent Commission policy. It 
is referred to in the Commission's White Paper 
on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment 
(1993)7 in relation to reinforcing equal opportu­
nities between women and men by the elimina­
tion of all potentially discriminatory social and 
fiscal measures likely to discourage the labour 
force participation of women. The White Paper 
on European Social Policy 'The Way Forward for 
the Union' (1994)8 presented some proposals for 
the elimination of potentially discriminatory 
policies in social protection and fiscal policy. The 
White Paper referred to the need to undertake a 
comparative analysis of actual inequalities 
between women and men in social security. The 
Fourth Community Action Programme on Equal 
Opportunities for Women and Men (1995)9 
included the individualisation of rights as one of 
a number of areas which should be studied in 
order to reduce the segregation of the labour mar­
ket. This is to be undertaken by an analysis of the 
impact of current taxation and social security 
regimes on women's autonomy and labour mar­ket opportunities. This latter would contribute to 
appropriate actions in the field. 
The question of individualised rights has arisen 
on three different fronts. In the first instance, 
enormous changes in the labour market over the 
last thirty years have not always been reflected in 
taxation and social security regimes. Some of the 
latter are still based on a profile of a family in 
which the male is the principal breadwinner. 
Secondly, with the increase in the proportion of 
women entering and remaining in the labour 
market, many commentators have observed that 
fiscal and social security measures can have a neg­
ative, neutral or positive effect on the supply of 
women's labour, or on its orientation towards 
particular forms of work, such as self-employ­
ment or part-time work. Changes in the struc­
tures of families, of households, their size and 
related demographic issues have raised questions 
concerning the autonomy of women and men 
within taxation and social security regimes. To 
examine some of these issues, a series of compar­
ative 15 country studies on the individualisation 
* The legislation states that income for both spouses should 
be aggregated, but two adjustments have been voted, stipu­
lating that if both spouses have income, then they should be 
taxed separately and in case of a sole earner family, 30 per 
cent of the income can be transferred to the other spouse. 
7 Supplement 6/93 - Bull. European Commission. 
•COM{94) 333 final of 27.7.94. 
'COM(95)381 final of 19.7.95. 
64 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
of social and fiscal rights and equal opportunities 
between women and men are being made. 
Within the large variety of taxation and social 
security systems in the Member States there is no 
pure system of individualised rights. All systems 
contain a combination of derived and individual 
rights. So in social security for example, derived 
rights to benefits for a person outside the labour 
market may originate by relationship to a person 
who is economically active and who is entided to 
have direct access to benefits of different types. 
The relationships may vary according to country, 
to social security regimes, by age or by other fac­
tors. The relationships may be those of parent­
hood, of marriage or of cohabitation. In addition, 
universalised systems of social rights co-exist and 
interact with contributory systems. 
In the field of social security, family relation­
ships play a role in conferring benefits accrued by 
the main beneficiary on other family members. 
The proximity or distance of family links (moth­
ers, wives, grandchildren) varies between benefits 
and between countries. Family relationship can 
also have the effect of easing strict entitlement 
conditions to benefits. Thus the presence of chil­dren in a family (with no entitlements) may 
enable a widowed mother (derived entidement) 
to benefit from her former husband s (principal 
contributor) social contributions. 
Chart 6 makes a descriptive comparative analy­
sis of retirement benefits across 15 countries in 
terms of the family effect* on enridements and 
rights. The chart illustrates the substantial scale of 
derived rights which may be conferred on benefi­
ciaries in retirement and widowhood. A large 
proportion of the derived enridements appear to 
be intended for women and children. xxwjsMmxmmmmmmmimim 
TABLE 22 
COMPOSITION OF PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS EU12 {%) 1094 
5 PERSONS OR MORE 8% 
1 PERSON 2&% 
4 PERSONS 16% 
3 PERSONS 18% 
2 PERSONS 30% 
SOURCE:EUROSTAT(LFS) 
65 
£ 
O» CHART & IAMILYLINKED DERIVED RIGHTS IN RETIREMENT SYSTEMS IN EUROPE 
ipftff: 
Belgium 
Denmark 
Germany 
Greece 
Spain Old age pension 
*Permitted increase in remunerated employment in case of 
dependent children. 
Nont 
""Mothers and fathers are allowed three working years to raise 
their children (but do not pay contributions) 
*The period of education for children up to the age of ten is 
taken into consideration when calculating the total years of con­
tribution, the reference salary being 75 per cent of the average 
salary of insured persons as a whole. 
""Increase for dependent child (not a fixed sum but a percentage 
of the pension) 
*For mothers having at least three children and 20 years of insur­
ance contribution, retirement age may be brought forward by 
three years per child, or to the age of 50. 
""Retirement age of 50 for women having under-age children and 
20 years of insurance contributions. Survival pension 
Termitted increase in remunerated employment in case of dependent children. 
""Orphans are entitled to a survival pension (up to the age of 18). 
The condition of age falls if there is a dependent child. 
""Permitted increase in remunerated employment (without cancellation of the 
pension) in case of dependent children. 
""Orphan's pension for children's education if the divorced spouse is deceased, if the 
holder is raising his/her own child, if the spouse has not remarried (adherence condi­
tion also apply). 
*Increase in maximum income giving entitlement to a survival pension of 20 per cent 
per dependent child. 
""Orphan's pension: 25 per cent of the deceased parents pension, if one parent is 
deceased, 50 per cent if both parents are deceased. The total pension for an orphan 
cannot exceed 100 per cent of the pension of the deceased. 
""Orphan's pension (attributed to children of the deceased, adopted children and 
children of the surviving partner, if they were dependent on the deceased). The 
amount of the pension cannot exceed 100 per cent of the basic pension 
(including widow's pension). 
""Pension for grandchildren, brothers and sisters, children of a deceased father, who are 
under 18 and handicapped. 
""Widowed mothers and grandmothers, women who are single or married and 
separated, if the husband is handicapped or is over 60. 
""Fathers and grandfathers over 60 or handicapped. 
*Children, brothers and sisters of a retirement or invalidity pension holder who are 
single, widowed, separated or divorced, who are over 45 and who are entitled through 
having nursed the holder. 
*If there is no surviving partner, the pension awarded to the children, grandchildren, 
brothers and sisters increases. 
""Children and brothers and sisters over 18 who are single, separated or divorced wid­
ows, having lived with the deceased, who are not entided to a public pension but lack maintenance 
resources from parents receive a temporary allowance (20 per cent of the basic over 12 months). 
Gentry Old age pension Survival pension 
France ""General system for mothers. There is an increase of two years of 
insurance per child raised. 
""Increase often per cent in pension for every person having raised at 
least three children. 
""There is an old age pension for mothers whose contributions were 
paid through the family allowance. 
""System for executives increases the total points by ten per cent in 
calculating the pension if there are three children, and by five per cent 
for each additional child. 
System for employees 
""Increase for children raised. "The condition of age is dropped if there is a dependent child. 
*Increase of ten per cent in pension for every person having raised at least three 
children. 
""Increase for dependent child under 16. 
*In certain situations a pension of 20 per cent of the basic amount of the old age 
pension may be awarded to grandchildren, brothers, sisters, parents and grandpar­
ents of a retirement or invalidity pension holder. 
*In certain situations, a temporary allowance (12x20 per cent of the basic pen­
sion) may be paid to children, brothers and sisters aged between 18 and 45. 
The sliding scale widows allowance (see below) is awarded for raising or having 
raised at least one child. 
Ireland 
Italy 
Luxembourg ""Increase for dependent children. 
Netherlands 
Austria *A career break (for 24 months) to raise a child is regarded as a 
working period. 
N ""Higher pension for single-parent families than for single persons. 
""Career breaks to raise a child are considered as a working period with 
regard to contributions for a period of up to 48 months. If the assimi­
lated period overlaps the period of contribution, the basic amount for 
children's education is added to the basic amount of revenue. 
"ITiere is a supplement for dependent children under 18 and an increase in the 
minimum pension if there are dependent children. ""Increase for dependent children and pension for orphans of deceased mother and 
father. 
*20 per cent of the pension per child with a maximum of 40 per cent if the sur­
viving partner does not receive a pension: 40 per cent per child, but not more 
than 100 per cent. Parents, brothers and sisters: 15 per cent of the pension if there 
are no other survivors. 
""Having a child means exoneration from certain conditions of entitlement to a 
survival pension. 
*Having dependent children can increase the threshold where the pension may be 
added to another income. 
""If there is no surviving partner, entitlement to a survival pension may be open to 
direct relations, collateral relations and under-age adopted children according to 
age and, especially, whether they lived with the deceased or not. 
""There is an orphan's pension. 
""Having a child means exoneration from age conditions of entitlement to a 
widows pension. 
""There is a national orphan's pension in case of deceased mother or father 
There is an orphan's pension within professional pensions. 
*Orphan's pension is 40 per cent of the widow's pension, if both parents are 
deceased it is 60 per cent. 
""Age limit does not apply if there is a child. 
Portugal 
Finland ::lgc peasiott 
'Increase in national pension if there are children. 
""Increase in professional pension. Survival pernio». 
""Children and similar persons are entitled to a pension (maximum 80 per cent of 
the teference salary). 
* Ascendants, if they were dependent (maximum 30 per cent of the reference 
salary). 
*Death allowance for children and/or ascendants. 
""The age limit does not apply if there are dependent children. 
""Increase in national pension if there are children. 
*Age limit does not apply if there are children. 
""Orphan's pension, professional pension: increased for children. 
""Professional pension: the rate (17 to 50 per cent of the pension of the deceased) 
depends on the number of children. 
""Having children means an increase in life insurance. 
Sweden ""Career breaks (6 years minimum, 15 years maximum) to raise a 
sick or handicapped child, a supplement is added to the 
pension. 
""Supplement for dependent child under 16 for persons 
entitled before 1989. *Basic pension and professional pension: there is an orphan's pension. 
*The transition pension is paid as long as there is a dependent child under 12. 
United Kingdom ""Basic pension: increased for dependent children. 
""Attribution of a year's contribution for child's education. ""There is a widowed mother's pension. 
""There is an allowance paid for a child who was totally or partially dependent on 
the deceased husband or ex-husband. 
""Increases for dependent children are not subject to tax. 
""Allowance for orphans whose parents are both deceased. 
Source: DUBLEA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1996. 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
THE SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR A THIRD CHILD IN FRANCE 
Only 15 per cent of French households have three children. One difference between the sup­
port systems of France and other countries is that France has concentrated substantial family 
support on the third child. Families who have a third child receive additional monthly 
allowances which are disproportionately large compared to those received by families with two 
children or fewer. Indeed, the increase is equivalent to 125 per cent of the allowances for two 
children. 
The number of dependent children lowers the threshold level of resources that are disregard­
ed for the purposes of other benefits. Thus, with three children it is easier to become entitled 
to back-torschool allowances and housing benefit. 
As a result the total amount of family allowances makes up 11 per cent of income in a two-
child family but 30 per cent in a three-child family. 
Apart from family allowances, households with three children also benefit from indirect sup­
port: reduced income tax and a range of cheaper services, such as child care services. Another 
additional benefit accrues to women: they are allowed longer maternity leave. 
A third child and women's employment - are they compatible? 
Is this support system efficient? Apparently not, in that not all the families who want three 
children actually have them. A recent survey revealed that one out of every two French peo­
ple is attracted by the idea of a family of three to five children. The fertility rate in France is 
actually only at 1.7 children per woman. 
Many reasons may be advanced for this gap between desire and reality. There are, of course, 
cultural, biological and medical reasons. But two others stand out in analysis, which may be 
a result of social policy. 
First there are financial considerations. Secondly there are employment considerations. Whilst 
74 per cent of women with one or two children go out to work, only 49 per cent of those with 
three children do so. 
mm$ssttittsttm 
69 
COMBINING WORK WITH HOUSEHOLD LIFE 
FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICY AT THE DANISH POST OFFICE 
Reconciliation between family life and working life in Denmark has up to now been based 
on women themselves, on public authorities in charge of childcare systems and, in certain 
cases, on parental leave. 
Companies have an interest in facilitating the lives of women and also of men who can ben­
efit from progress in this field in order to optimise their use of human resources, develop 
productivity and a more flexible organisation of work. The Danish Post Office was one of 
the first to win the European Commission prize for Social Innovation in the field of new 
forms of reconciliation between work and family life. 
The Post Office is one of five companies which are involved in the work of a Danish 
Research Institute into 'Family Friendly Companies'. 
Of the 35,000 employees of the Danish Post Office, 39 per cent are women. Studies have 
permitted the identification of those factors which are likely to worry employees with young 
children. A first survey of 800 employees showed that certain obstacles originated not so 
much in the organisation of work, but rather in the attitudes of other employees with longer 
seniority, who could use this fact to their advantage and restrict the employment opportu­
nities for flexible working time available to employees with young children. 
The Danish Post Office made a unique effort to allow all employees to have variable work­
ing hours and the opportunity for part-time work. Where flexible systems turned out to be 
contrary to production goals, individualised solutions were promoted in specific cases. 
At present, around 70 per cent of employees of the Danish Post Office start and finish work 
outside the opening hours of public sector nurseries. In ten large cities, following a number 
of approaches, the opening hours of crèches were extended. In five large cities, an evening 
and night time care shift was introduced and in two large cities, a 24 hour care shift became 
possible. This latter considerably extended the opportunities for parents in a sector where 
night work, for example in postal sorting, is still essential. 
70 
CHAPTER 4 
PROMOTING 
A GENDER BALANCE 
IN DECISION-MAKING 
THE CURRENT SITUATION 
OF WOMEN 
IN DECISION-MAKING 
The following chapter sets out to discuss the exist­
ing trends relating to women in political decision­
making in the European Union. As such, it provides 
the most recent statistics which are drawn from the 
work of the Network on Women in Decision-
Making, set up by the Commissions Equal 
Opportunities Unit under the Third Medium-Term 
Action Programme on Equal Opportunities for 
Women and Men (1990-1995). On the one hand, 
these figures reflect the persistent under-representation 
of women in political decision-making positions. 
However, they-also indicate some positive trends, 
linked to the various measures at local, regional, 
national and European level which have aimed at 
removing structural barriers, as well as facilitating 
access, for women to political decision-making posi­
tions. 
A number of developments at European level 
point the way forward. There is the Council 
Recommendation on the balanced participation 
of women and men in decision-making of 2 
December 1996. There have been the expert net­
work proposals for an action plan for the equal 
participation of women and men in decision­
making, discussed at the European Conference 
'Women for the Renewal of Politics and Society', 
held in Rome on 16 and 17 May 1996. The lat-
71 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
ter event, culminating in the signing of the 
Charter of Rome, reflects a qualitative change of 
approach to the balanced participation of women 
and men in decision-making. Both the proposed 
Council Recommendation and the Charter of 
Rome recognise that womens full and equal par­
ticipation in political decision-making is not only 
a question of fairness and equality in a democra­
tic society, but also of reinvigorating democracy 
and its mechanisms. The Charter of Rome states 
that a balanced sharing of power and responsi­
bilities between women and men will improve 
the quality of life of the whole population; the 
representation of all parts of society is indispens­
able if the problems of European society are to be 
addressed.' 
Setting the context 
The general international trend over the last 
ten years shows that the number of women in 
decision-making positions has decreased, despite 
an important change in the status, role and con­
tribution of women in society in the second half 
of the century. However, advances have been 
made in the European Union. Womens legal 
rights have been strengthened de jure, especially 
in regard to exercising their democratic rights in 
terms of voting and being elected. Moreover, 
some Member States have introduced special leg­
islation and/or affirmative action in order to pro­
mote women into political decision-making posi­
tions. Nevertheless, women remain under-repre­
sented at national, regional and local levels in all 
Member States of the European Union. 
However, 25 per cent of the Commission itself, 
that is five of the twenty members of the College 
of Commissioners, are women. At the level of the 
European Parliament, the number of women par­
liamentarians has risen from 19 per cent to 27.3 
per cent at the last European elections in 1994. 
The various initiatives and statements reflect 
the importance that is given to women's partici­
pation in politics. The issue is not only a matter 
of social justice, but it touches at the core of the 
debate on democratic development and social 
progress. Women's equal participation in all 
political matters is recognised as essential for 
democratic development and the legitimacy oi existing governments and their institutions. 
While the goal is relatively well-defined, discus­
sions continue over what strategies should be 
used to bring more women into decision-making 
posts. 
Womens participation in national 
assemblies 
Over the last five years, the three Nordic 
Member States have shown a consistent track 
record in bringing more women into decision­
making positions. Sweden elected 40.4 per cent 
women in its parliamentary election in 1994. 
Similarly, Finland has 33.5 per cent women in its 
parliament while in Denmark, women constitute 
33 per cent of the parliamentary assembly. These 
three examples of high representation are fol­
lowed in turn by the Netherlands, Germany and 
Austria. The three countries with less than ten per 
cent of women in parliament are Greece (5.7 per 
cent), France (6.1 per cent) and the United 
Kingdom (9.2 per cent). Overall, across Europe 
of 12 Member States, there was an average 
increase of 4 per cent of women in the lower 
houses between 1990 and 1995 and a 2.6 per 
cent increase in the upper houses, that is, not tak­
ing into account the new Member States in the 
European Union. In Belgium, for example, the 
percentage of women in the upper house grew by 
a noteworthy 3.1 per cent between the two elec­
tions of 1991 and 1995. Spain and the 
Netherlands achieved more than an eight per 
cent increase between 1990 and 1995. All coun­
tries but two increased their percentages of 
women in their representative assemblies between 
1990 and 1995. In Germany, the percentage of 
women in the upper house dropped from 25 per 
cent to 19 per cent and in Finland the percentage 
of women dropped from 39 per cent in 1991 to 
33.5. percent in 1995. 
Womens participation 
in governmental posts 
Overall improvement is evidenced by the fact 
that the average female share in politics in gov­
ernment has risen from 11 per- cent in the second 
half of 1980 to 16 per cent today. 
72 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
The percentages of women in cabinet posts 
mirror womens respective representation in their 
national assemblies. Consequendy, we find that 
Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands 
have the highest percentages of women in cabinet 
positions. In Sweden the government is com­
posed of 50 per cent women and 50 per cent men 
while in Finland, women occupy 39 per cent of 
the governmental positions. Conversely, Greece 
and the United Kingdom have the lowest num­
ber of women in cabinet position with four per 
cent and seven per cent respectively. The average 
proportion of women cabinet ministers in the 
Member States is 16 per cent. However, it should 
be pointed out that women generally occupy 
ministerial positions related to social affairs. 
Almost 19 per cent of women ministers are 
responsible for social affairs, as compared to only 
9.7 per cent in law and justice. 
Of the 24 elected women heads of state world­
wide, Ireland is the only country of the European 
Union with an elected woman president. Womens participation 
at regional level 
At the regional level, Sweden retains its lead 
followed by Germany and Austria. Sweden, in 
particular, has almost achieved parity between 
women and men in its regional assemblies. 
Although data is not available for all Member 
States, data collected by the Network on Women 
in Decision-making Positions reveal that women's 
participation in regional parliaments is slighdy 
higher (2-3 per cent) than in national parlia­
ments, except for Portugal, Austria, France and 
Belgium. These differences would merit further 
research, especially in regard to differences in 
measures applied at national and regional level to 
increase the number of women into decision­
making positions. Similarly, more information is 
needed in order to explain why womens partici­
pation in political decision-making in France is 
so much higher at the regional level (12.1 per 
cent) than at the national level (6.1 per cent). 
TABLE 23 
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLIES 
IN THE EU MEMBER STATES AND UM"-HE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (%) 
100: 
80' 
60' 
1994 
40 
1994 1995 
1994 1995 
1995 1994 
20 1995 1993-5 ^994 
1993 1992 1994-5 
1994 1995 
o----- -------------
B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UKTotaEP 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN EXPERTS NETWORK 'WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING. FACTS AND FIGURES ON WOMEN IN 
POLITICAL AND PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING.IN EUROPE (1996).' NOTE: EP: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT. 
73 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
Womens participation 
in the European Parliament 
The last elections to the European Parliament 
in 1994 raised the number of women in the 
European Parliament considerably. Whereas the 
percentage of women in the European Parliament 
was at 19 per cent prior to the elections, their 
share increased to 25.7 per cent in 1994. Today, 
women hold more than a quarter of all the seats 
in the European Parliament (27.6 per cent). As 
such, this percentage is much higher than the 
average percentage of women in national parlia­
ments of the 15 Member States which stands at 
15 per cent. This is despite the inclusion of the 
new Member States, including Sweden and 
Finland, which have a much higher percentage of 
women in political decision-making than the rest 
of the Member States of the European Union. 
Only four out of the 15 Member States have a 
higher percentage of women in their national 
parliaments. Moreover, countries like France, 
Greece and the United Kingdom have double 
the representation of women in the European 
Parliament compared with their national parlia­
ments. © 
WHYTHENEED FORA 
BALANCED PARTICIPATION 
OF WOMEN AND MEN? 
Democratic societies are built inter alia on the 
principle of the full and equal participation and 
representation of their citizens. As such the for­
mal and informal equality between women and 
men is a fundamental human right which has 
been affirmed and reaffirmed by international 
covenants such as the UN Convention on The 
Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination 
Against Women (1979) and the Beijing Platform 
for Action (1995), to name just two of the most 
recent ones. These international calls were echoed 
at European level, most notably by the Council 
of Ministers in March 1995, when it stated that 
'the objective ofbalanced participation of women 
and men and the sharing of responsibilities 
between women and men in decision-making in 
every sphere of life, constitutes an important con-
TABLE 24 
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS OF THE EU MEMBER STATES 
A'ND IN THE EU COMMISSION (%) 
100; 
80 
60 
1994 
40 
20 1994 1994 
: j 1996 
1995 \ ' \ """I 
|;.::l?94,: u u 
\ 1995 
H 1 I 1994 i 
JLQ1 LUI O 1995 1995 
| 1994 
B DK D GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UKTotalEC 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN EXPERTS NETWORK 'WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING. FACTS AND FIGURES ON WOMEN IN POLITICAL 
AND PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING IN EUROPE (1996).' NOTE: EUROPEAN COMMISSION REFERS TO THE COLLEGE OF 20 
COMMISSIONERS (TWO EACH FROM FRANCE, THE UK. GERMANY. ITALY, SPAIN AND ONE FROM THE OTHER MEMBER 
STATES). IT DOES NOT REFER TO THE COMMISSION'S ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF. 
WWWlWWWMAIWWWVmW^ 
74 
dition for equality between women and men.' In 
that Resolution, the Council invited the Member 
States to 'develop an integrated global strategy for 
promoting the balanced participation of women 
and men in resolutions...' The Resolution laid the 
groundwork for follpw-up in terms of the Fourth 
Action Programme and a Council Recommen­
dation on the balanced participation of women 
and men in decision-making positions, adopted 
on 2 December 1996. 
The reports and communications by the 
European Council, European Parliament and the 
Economic and Social Committee, reaffirm the 
necessity of establishing equality by inter alia pro­
moting a balanced participation in decision-mak­
ing. Balanced participation has thus been estab­
lished as a principle of democracy. Thus, womens 
under-representation in political decision-mak­
ing positions calls into question the legitimacy of 
any given democratic system. If womens values 
and life circumstances are not taken into consid­
eration by the decision-makers, women will tend 
not to identify with the political system. PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
Barriers to womens political 
representation 
Although the reasons for womens reluctance to 
enter political life or their exclusion from politi­
cal decision-making are multifaceted and difficult 
to ascertain, the following factors account for 
many of the reasons why women are so poorly 
represented: 
• Education and socialisation assigning different 
sex roles to women and men. Womens under-
representation is linked to the division between 
the private and the public whereby the public 
domain belongs to men and the private to 
women. 
• Situational constraints such as the division of 
labour within the family, childbearing and car­
ing responsibilities in the largest sense. In this 
context, the time factor becomes crucial, in 
particular as women enter the labour market in 
unprecedented numbers. Some research seems 
to indicate a close correlation between working 
women and participation in politics. 
• Access to education and training, in particular 
access to professions which are closely related to 
political office. In addition, women do not seek 
TABLE 25 
PARTICiPATfON OF WOMEN W THE REGIONAL PARLIAMENTS AND GOVERNMENTS OF THE 
EU MEMBER STATES 
Country 
B 
DK 
D 
GR . 
E 
F 
IRL 
I 
L 
NL 
A 
P 
FIN 
S 
UK 
Total Date 
1995 
1993 
1995 
1992 
1993/94/95 
1992 
1994 
1995 
NON-EXISTENT 
NON-EXISTENT 
1994 
1992 
NON-EXISTENT 
1994 
NON-EXISTENT Regional Parliaments 
%(W/T) 
17.6 
31 
28.9 
APPOINTED BODIES 
19 
12.1 
11.4 
19.6 
9.2 
47.6 
24.9 Regional Government 
% (W/T) 
9.7 
NON-EXISTENT 
25.3 
ATPOINTED BODIES 
NO DATA AVAILABLE 
NO DATA AVAILABLE 
7.1 
19.2 
0.0 
42.9 
26.1 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN EXPERTS NETWORK 'WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING. FACTS AND FIGURES ON WOMEN IN POLITICAL AND PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING IN 
EUROPE (1?96)\ 
NOTE: PORTUGAL, ONLY THE AUTONOMOUS REGIONS OF AÇ.ORES AND MADEIRA HAVE REGIONAL PARLIAMENTS AND GOVERNMENTS. 
75 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
membership of networks and institutions 
which are frequently associated with structures 
and schedules that effectively prevent womens 
participation. 
• Monetary resources. Womens lack of monetary 
resources means that they do not have the 
financial resources to enter into political cam­
paigns. Conversely, women candidates do not 
attract the necessary outside funding and sup­
port as they are not taken seriously as potential 
political office bearers. 
• Techniques of suppression, which express them­
selves in the suppression of information, making 
women invisible and inaudible in meetings, 
and/or the use of ridicule, should not be underes­
timated in terms of disincentive. 
• Political culture is another factor in women's 
lower participation. This includes lack of sup­
port for women party-members, timing and 
places of political meetings as well as the lan­
guage and ethos associated with political life. 
While the reasons above are mainly psycholog­
ical and situational, the type of political system 
also plays a major role in facilitating or prevent­
ing womens access to political decision-making 
positions. The type of electoral system has been 
identified by some researchers as the single most 
important variable in explaining the wide varia­
tions of womens participation in political deci­
sion-making positions. The relatively higher par­
ticipation of women in politics in the 
Netherlands, Sweden and Finland as compared to 
the other Member States of the European Union 
is often explained by reference to their systems of 
proportional representation. 
It should be stressed that the low status of 
women is mirrored in the number of women in 
political decision-making positions. There tends 
to be direct correlation between women's overall 
socio-economic position in a given Member State 
of the European Union and their level of political 
participation. STRATEGIES FOR BRINGING 
MORE WOMEN 
INTO POLITICAL DECISION­
MAKING POSITIONS 
Some of the above barriers are well-known and 
are being addressed at Member State level. While 
the need for action has been recognised, debate 
continues over the most appropriate strategies. 
Parity democracy 
Women's under-representation in decision­
making positions marks a serious democratic 
deficit. As women comprise 51 per cent of the 
population of 370 million in Europe, their con­
spicuous under-representation in positions of 
power is also evidenced by lack of reflection of 
their specific concerns on the political agendas. 
This has led women's organisations to call for 
parity democracy, or the mandatory composition 
of all decision-making bodies with 50 per cent 
women and 50 per cent men. The concept of 
parity democracy, developed by the Council of 
Europe, promotes the idea that society is equally 
composed of women and men and that their full 
enjoyment of citizenship is contingent upon their 
equal representation in political decision-making 
positions. It recognises the fact that humanity is 
composed of women and men with equal dignity 
and value. It implies that democracy can only be 
genuine when it embraces human beings as they 
really are, namely, women and men, and it recog­
nises that both women and men have something 
to offer to society. This concept can be under­
stood as the full participation of women on an 
equal footing with men at all levels and in all 
aspects of the running of a democratic society. It 
implies that the participation of each sex in deci­
sion-making bodies should be on a parity basis, 
aiming at 50 per cent. In order to achieve parity 
democracy at political and public level, it might 
be necessary to pursue certain strategies, such as 
parity thresholds, target figures, and positive 
action measures. Thus, it was proposed to intro-
76 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
duce constitutional amendments which would 
make it mandatory that all political decision­
making bodies should have a'membership of 50 
per cent women and 50 per cent men. 
However, the concept of parity democracy is 
very much disputed as others argue that such leg­
islation would be discriminatory against other 
groups in society. Moreover, opponents argue 
that such a rigid quota based on sex would deval­
ue women's contribution to society. Furthermore, 
a constitutional amendment requiring 50-50 rep­
resentation of women and men would be perma­
nent. Yet, many womens organisations, especial­
ly in the south of Europe, frustrated by the slow 
progress in raising the number of women in pol­
itics, continue to pressure for such a constitu­
tional amendment. They argue that society is 
almost equally composed of the two sexes and 
that parity democracy will ensure that the inter­
ests and needs of both sexes are fully reflected in 
policy-making. Furthermore, it is argued that 
women cannot simply be considered as just 
another interest group in society; women also 
comprise all the various interest groups such as 
the young, old, poor and disabled, among others. 
Quotas in political 
decisio n - making 
Quotas, on the other hand, have been used 
selectively in some Member States. They are 
regarded as temporary measures designed to bal­
ance womens representation in political bodies. 
However, quotas remain controversial as oppo­
nents argue that they are discriminatory and 
interventionist. Quotas have been used more or 
less extensively in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, 
France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. One 
of the most prominent examples of a quota sys­
tem is found in Belgium. The Belgian law of 
1994 requires a minimum percentage of candi­
dates of the same sex. Party lists must have at least 
25 per cent women candidates. This figure is to 
increase to 33 per cent from 1999 onwards. 
Although the quota system does not foresee sanc­
tions if a list does not contain the required num­
ber of female candidates, it stipulates that the 
slots which are legally reserved for women and are 
not filled with women candidates, will remain GENDER BALANCE IMPROVES 
IN FINLAND 
As elsewhere, Government Ministers in Finland have 
usually been men. Admittedly the first woman Minister 
was appointed in 1926, but the next came only after the 
Second World War. The governmeni contained a total of 
three women Ministers for the first time in the early 
1970s and four after the elections of 1987. "Women have 
mainly been in charge of the Ministry of Health and 
Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education. The 
Finnish Prime Ministers have always been men, as had all 
Foreign Ministers until 1995. 
The highest permanent officials in the state administra­
tion have traditionally all been men, until the appoint­
ment in 1995 of a woman as permanent secretary at the 
Ministry of Justice. 
The parliamentary committees and working groups have 
also been dominated so far by men, so that out of a total 
of some 1,300 members of the 136 committees estab­
lished in 1990, one fifth were women. Most of the 
women were members of committees subordinate to the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education 
and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in which 
every third member is a woman. The committees work­
ing under the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the 
Ministry of Transport were highly male-dominated in 
1990. 
Almost 90 per cent of the chairpersons of the committees 
were men, but more than one secretary in three was a 
woman. Most of the chairpersons, members and secre­
taries of the working groups set up by the government are 
usually men and consequendy only about one quarter of 
the members of the 334 working groups established in 
1990 were women, 13 per cent of the chairpersons and 
42 per cent of the secretaries. The revision of the Equality 
Act between women and men which came into force in 
March 1995 established quotas for women in ad hoc pub­
lic committees, for example, in order to ensure relatively 
equal representation in public bodies: 40 per cent - 60 
per cent of either sex. 
Source: Extract from Women and Men in Finland, Statistics Finland, 
1995. 
77 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
blank. In other words, if not enough women are 
put on the list, the number of candidates on that 
list will be reduced accordingly. Belgium is one of 
the two countries in the European Union that 
imposed a direct quota for electoral office. The 
other country is Italy which implemented two 
electoral laws in 1993, which stated respectively, 
that on lists of candidates neither of the two sexes 
may be represented by more than 75 per cent, 
and that male and female candidates will appear 
alternately on lists. The laws, however, were 
declared unconstitutional in 1995 on the ground 
that they violate equal treatment legislation. 
Apart from Belgium and Italy, all other quota 
systems refer to committees or advisory bodies 
where members are usually appointed. One such 
example is Finland which passed a law in 1987 
stipulating that women and men must sit on 
committees, consultative councils and other bod­
ies in as equal a way as possible. In 1995, an 
amendment was added, which specified that at 
least 40 per cent of one or the other sex must sit 
on these committees and consultative bodies. 
The result of this quota was that the number of 
women on these decision-making bodies 
increased from 25 per cent in 1980 to 48 per cent 
in 1996. 
While the Finnish example seems to give a 
clear indication of the potential effects of a quota, 
the results in the other countries in the European 
Union cannot be so easily and directly ascer­
tained. Yet, it seems that quotas are one of the 
most powerful means to ensure a better represen­
tation, provided, however, that they are accompa­
nied by other measures such as awareness raising, 
better education or the provision of childcare. 
Quotas in political parties 
Quotas have been used in particular by politi­
cal parties. Their success is evidenced in particu­
lar in the Nordic countries where women have 
already gained a substantial number of seats or 
positions in the parliaments and governments. 
The Danish People's Socialist Party already intro­
duced quotas in the early seventies stipulating 
that each sex had to be represented with at least 
40 per cent. Similarly, the German Social 
Democratic Party introduced the quota system for both its internal structure as well as for elec­
toral office, 40 per cent and 33 per cent respec­
tively. Quota systems have now become quite 
common in political parties across Europe, not 
least because female membership in political par­
ties, already low, has decreased considerably since 
1985. 
Targets and timetables 
In January 1994, the European Parliament 
approved a report on Women in Decision-mak­
ing Positions by the Committee on Women's 
Rights. Amongst other things, the report called 
for target figures to be set for the number of 
women 'to be appointed by a given deadline to 
decision-making positions whose incumbents are 
appointed by a government body, such as the 
office of mayor, Supreme Court, and so on and, 
if these target figures are not met by the vear 
2000, for a quota system to be introduced." 
Similarly, the Beijing Platform for Action 
(§190) calls on governments to 'commit them­
selves to establishing the goal of gender balance 
in governmental bodies and committees as well as 
in public administrative entities, and in the judi­
ciary, including setting specific targets and imple­
menting measures to substantially increase the 
number of women in all governmental and pub­
lic administration positions.' Some Member 
States have set targets and timetables while shving 
away from a specific quota system. Most notably, 
Sweden adopted a programme in 1987 called 
'The Sharing of Power, Influence and 
Responsibilities between Women and Mu. ,w . 
Spheres of Society'. This programme proposed 
that the goal for representation of women in pub­
lic councils should be set at 30 per cent in 1992, 
40 per cent in 1995, whilst aiming at an ultimate 
50-50 representation. 
While targets and timetables are not mandato­
ry in nature, they serve, however, to raise aware­
ness about the under-representation of women. 
As such, they may help change attitudes and 
increase willingness to consider a woman instead 
of a man for a given position. 
78 
LEGISLATION 
AND INITIATIVES 
AT EUROPEAN LEVEL 
Over the last two years, the Council of 
Ministers, the Commission, the European 
Parliament and the Economic and Social 
Committee have developed their positions on the 
issue of Women in Decision-making. In 1994 the 
Parliament adopted the 'Larive Report' on 
Women in Decision-making, which called for an 
integrated approach to raising the number of 
women in decision-making positions.1 It pro­
posed that there be a package of specific mea­
sures to increase women's share in public deci­
sion-making over the next five years.' The report 
stressed the need for research, better training 
opportunities for girls and information cam­
paigns. It not only addressed the Commission 
and the Member States of the Union, but also the 
two sides of the industry (the trade unions and 
employers organisations), to promote positive 
measures including target figures within their 
own organisations. 
Following the European Parliament's report on 
Women in Decision-making bodies, the Council 
of Ministers adopted a Resolution on the bal­
anced participation of women and men in March 
1995.2 This Resolution in turn precipitated the 
Commission proposal for a Council Recom­
mendation on the balanced participation of 
women and men in decision-making. The pro­
posal for a Recommendation, if adopted by 
Council, will ask Member States to study the 
under-representation of women in all spheres of 
life and to adopt strategies covering the whole 
gamut from incentives to legislation, in order to 
constructively address the persistent imbalance of 
women in decision-making. The proposal for a 
Recommendation not only addtesses womens 
under-representation in politics, but it also urges 
the social partners, the media and NGOs to 
adopt plans of actions to facilitate women's access 
to decision-making positions. PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
In its opinion on the Commissions proposal 
for a Council Recommendation on the balanced 
participation of women and men in decision­
making, the Economic and Social Committee 
largely welcomed the proposal for a 
Recommendation. However, the Committee 
regretted that the proposal for a 
Recommendation limited itself to calling for 
strategies and activities 'to promote' balanced 
participation rather than for strategies which 
could help 'guarantee' it. But all in all, the 
Committee shared the view that actions must 
include education, training and information. 
The above initiatives follow from the various 
actions undertaken by the Commission over a 
period of more than 15 years. Beginning in 1981, 
the Commission adopted and implemented three 
five-year action programmes which set out to 
improve equality legislation as well as promote 
positive measures in relation to equal opportuni­
ties. By the time of the Third Medium-term 
Action Programme, policy had developed to 
include a specific focus on the promotion of 
women in decision-making positions, as being 
one of the prerequisites for establishing gender 
equality. In this action programme, the 
Commission supported both European and 
national actions to promote womens participa­
tion including women in decision-making in 
political and public life, in management, in poli­
cy-making posts, in the trade unions and in the 
education sector. In addition, the Commission 
established the European Network of Experts on 
Women in Decision-making. This Expett 
Network, comprising one expert from each 
Member State, had a three-fold remit: 
• Research: to gather and analyse data pertaining 
to women's participation in politics in all the 
Member States of the European Union. 
• Actions: to organise the first European Summit 
on women in power in Athens in November 
1992; two European Conferences in Brussels 
(1993) and Dublin (1995) and finally the 
1 European Parliament Women's Rights Committee. Women 
in decision-making bodies, Reporter Mrs Jessica Larive, EP 
205.666 of 27.1.1994. 
1 Council Resolution of 27 March 1995 on the balanced par­
ticipation of women and men in decision-making. OJ C 
168 of 4.7.1995, p.3. 
79 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
DECLARATION OF ATHENS 
We, the undersigned, women with experience of high political office, gathered in Athens on 3 November 1992 
at the invitation of the Commission of the European Communities for the first European Summit 'Women in 
Power' have together adopted the following Declaration-, 
We note a democratic deficit 
We note that the current position of women in the Member States of the European Communities as in 
other European countries is still characterised by profound inequality in all public and political decision­
making authorities and bodies at every level - local, regional, national and European. 
We note with concern that women's participation in political decision-making has not improved in a 
number of European countries since the mid-seventies and that recent political developments have result­
ed in a significant decrease in the proportion of women in decision-making, particularly in the legisla­
tive assemblies in some of these countries. 
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 proclaim the need to achieve a balanced distribution of public and political power 
between women and men 
A democratic system should entail equal participation in public and political life by its citizens. 
We underline the need for changes to the structure of decision-making procedures in order to ensure such 
equality in practice. 
We call upon all members of society concerned 
We call upon the Commission of the European Communities and all European and international organ­
isations 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 measures necessary to implement these objectives, in order to 
achieve equal sharing of decision-making posts for women and men. 
We call upon the leaders of trade unions, workers' organisations and adequate employers' associations at 
national and European level to recognise the increasing contribution of women to the labour market by 
ensuring the mechanisms necessary for equal participation by women at all levels of these organisations, 
including decision-making bodies. 
We undertake a campaign to strengthen European Democracy 
These essential changes should accompany contemporary developments in European society, develop­
ments which will be all the more welcome if women are as equally involved in them as men. 
By signing this Declaration we hereby launch a campaign to mobilise all concerned in society to ensure 
balanced participation of women and men in decision-making at local, regional and national level and 
in the European Institutions including the next European Parliament. 
Source: Extract from Declaration Adopted on the 3.11.1992. 
80 
organisation of the Rome Summit 'Women for 
the Renewal of Politics and Society' (1996). 
• Communication: to disseminate information 
on the status of women in decision-making in 
the European Union; to publish brochures with 
statistical data on women in decision-making 
at local, regional, national and European levels; 
to make available studies on the issues involv­
ing women in decision-making positions; to 
provide arguments as to why women must be 
equally represented in decision-making posi­
tions; and to disseminate this information as 
widely as possible. 
The European Commission has taken mea­
sures, internally, to increase the recruitment of 
women graduates to its administrative services 
and to ensure their presence at managerial and 
decision-making levels. 
Actions 
The first European Summit and Conference on 
'Women in Power' in Athens in October 1992, 
organised by the European Expert Network and 
the European Womens Lobby, launched a state­
ment of the principles which underlie the desire 
for a balance between women and men in deci­
sion-making, The so-called Athens Declaration, 
signed by the women ministers and other high 
officials present, noted the stagnation, even the 
decline, of women's participation in decision­
making. Its demands focused on a fair distribu­
tion of power between women and men and the 
establishment of a specific policy to redress the 
democratic deficit. 
The Declaration states five fundamental tenets: 
equality is a fundamental right; equal representa­
tion is a fundamental principle; under-represen­
tation of women translates into a loss of potential 
talent; equal representation guarantees that the 
needs of the whole population will be taken into 
account; a balanced participation by women and 
men in decision-making produces a fairer and 
more balanced world for all. 
The Athens Declaration marked the beginning 
of a comprehensive policy approach to women in 
decision-making. As a document, it gave visibili-PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
ty to the fundamental principles that justify the 
demands for equal representation of women and 
men in decision-making positions. It called on 
individuals and institutions alike to address the 
under-representation of women and develop 
measures which would aim to increase their num­
bers in politics. 
At the Rome Summit 'Women for the Renewal 
of Politics and Society' in May 1996, organised 
jointly by the Italian Presidency and the 
Commission, women ministers of the different 
Member States signed the Charter of Rome 
which is to provide the basis for the expressed 
commitments of the Member States of the 
European Union to commit themselves to a gen­
der balance in decision-making. The Charter 
notes the democratic deficit evidenced by the 
under-representation of women. It calls for a 
renewal of politics and society by ensuring the 
balanced participation of women and men in 
decision-making positions. It declares commit­
ment to the need to recognise equality of women 
and men as a priority of the Union and stresses 
the necessity for concrete action at all levels to 
promote the equal participation of women and 
men in decision-making in all spheres of society. 
As such, the Charter and the proposal for nation­
al action plans together set the framework for 
future action to establish a gender balance in 
political decision-making. 
Communication 
An important part of the work of the European 
Expert Network 'Women in Decision-making' 
has been the dissemination of the data and stud­
ies researched and compiled by the Network's 
experts. The Network not only published an 
inventory and an evaluation of the strategies that 
had been developed to promote women's partici­
pation, but it also organised another key event in 
Dublin in March 1995 on 'Strategies for a 
Gender Balance in Political Decision-making' 
which received wide public attention. The con­
ference resulted in a guide for the implementa­
tion of policies for increasing the participation of 
women in political decision-making (currently 
being prepared for publication). The Network 
also published the brochure 'Women in 
lïSSiSSÏSSSSSSS 
81 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
CHARTER OF ROME 
Women for the Renewal of Politics and Society* 
We, the undersigned, women ministers of different Member States of the European Union, gathered 
in Rome on 18 May 1996 at the invitation of the President of the European Union Council and on 
the occasion of the European summit 'Women for the Renewal of Politics and Society', have together 
adopted the following Charter: 
We note a democratic deficit 
Notwithstanding the evolution of the respective roles of women and men in European society, the gen­
eral statutory recognition of the equality of rights for women and men and the equal opportunities 
policies pursued in the Member States of the European Union, we note that the situation of women 
is still characterised by inequality in most sectors of society. This inequality can be seen in decision­
making bodies and authorities, in politics, economics, social and cultural life; and at the local, region­
al, national and European level, where women are usually in a minority position. 
We welcome the research done by the European Expert Network on 'Women in Decision-making' and 
acknowledge that it greatly contributes to increased visibility in this field and that it thereby consti­
tutes a basis for action. 
Substantial progress has been made since the Declaration of Athens, adopted in 1992 on the occasion 
of the first European summit of women in power. This progress, however, is not yet sufficient. 
In the field of politics, the average female participation in the Member States amounts to 15 per cent 
for the national parliaments and 16 per cent for the governments; 28 per cent of the present Members 
of the European Parliament and 25 per cent of the European Commissioners are women. 
In other spheres of civil society where decisions are taken that have an indisputable impact on the lives 
of citizens, both male and female, female representation at decision-making level can be even lower. 
We therefore cannot but face the fact that political life and decision-making in general are still domi­
nated by men. This impairs the quality of decision-making and of democracy. Democracy will acquire 
a true and dynamic sense when women and men together define the values they wish to uphold in 
their political, economic, social and cultural life and together take the relevant decisions. 
We call for a renewal of politics and society 
The equal participation of women and men in decision-making is an objective that has priority at 
European level. 
This is necessary to reinvigorate democracy and its mechanisms; a balanced sharing of power and 
responsibilities between women and men will improve the quality of life of the whole population; the 
representation of all parts of society is indispensable if the problems of European society are to be 
addressed. The effective implementation of policies to achieve equal participation and partnership 
between women and men is a priority. 
Women, if present in sufficient numbers, contribute to changing politics and decision-making in terms 
of the priorities and content, as well as the practices of decision-making. 
82 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
A renewal of politics and society will be realised with the joint contribution and balanced participa^ 
tion of women and men. This contribution and participation bridge the gap between citizens and 
politicians, revitalise democracy and increase citizen confidence in the institutions of democracy. 
The equal participation of women at all decision-making levels in economic, social and cultural struc­
tures is likewise necessary to guarantee that the needs of women and men are taken into account in all 
policies, programmes and actions. 
We declare our commitment to the need to recognise equality of women and men as a 
priority of the European Union 
The principal responsibility of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), which will revise European 
treaties, as laid down in the Maastricht Treaty, is to reinforce European democracy by bringing the con­
cepts and structures of Europe closer to its citizens. Representatives of national governments, the 
European Parliament and the European Commission have declared this to be a priority. 
More than half of European citizens are female. A democratic European society must therefore be built 
on the effective and real equality of its citizens of both sexes. 
We affirm our commitment to the need of enshrining equality between women and men in the new 
European Union Treaty. We consider it indispensable to integrate a gender perspective into all policies 
of the European Union (mainstreaming). This lies at the heart of European citizenship and its condi­
tions of practice. 
We call on the institutions and organs of the European Union to adopt, urgently, a strategy for achiev­
ing an equal participation of women and men and to set concrete targets to that end. 
We recognise the necessity of concrete action at all levels to promote the equal partici­
pation of women and men in decision-making in all spheres of society 
Where progress has been made, notably in the area of public life (in elected assemblies, in councils and 
consultative committees), this has been the result of putting into force incentives and/or legislatory or 
regulatory measures on the part of governments and political parties. 
An integrated and specific strategy is necessary if equal participation is to be achieved in all spheres of 
society. In this light we welcome the Rome Conference 'Women for the Renewal of Politics and 
Society'. 
We commit ourselves to take action for the urgent empowerment of women and to develop the nec­
essary incentives and/or legislative or regulatory measures. 
We call upon all actors concerned, male and female, to support this commitment by translating it into 
concrete actions to empower women and to achieve an equal participation of women and men in the 
positions of power, influence and decision in all spheres of society. 
Z3 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
Decision-making. Facts and Figures on Women 
in Political and Public Decision-making in 
Europe', available in 11 languages. This brochure 
was updated several times and has been widely 
distributed. The Network closely collaborated 
with women's non-governmental organisations in 
order to ensure that a wide audience receive up-
to-date information on the current status and 
trends in relation to womens participation in 
decision-making. 
WOMEN 
IN DECISIONMAKING IN 
EUROPEAN TRADE UNIONS 
The representation of women inside various 
organisations - political, trade unions and employ­
ers associations - is not neutral in relation to the 
promotion of equality between the sexes. 
Inside the European Trade Union Confederation 
(ETUC), a process of discussion has been launched to promote a better balance inside the 
delegations and its decision-making organs. A 
similar awareness is evident among employer rep­
resentatives, although less visible. This raises 
hopes that the social partners will be a driving 
force in the development of guidelines, practices 
and attitudes. 
Women tend to be under-represented in the 
leadership and principal decision-making bodies 
of trade unions in all Member States. The situa­
tion of women in the ETUC's affiliates is report­
ed in a survey published by the Confederation in 
1995. In the national centres for which figures 
were reported, the proportion of women in the 
membership of 27 centres was 36 per cent. Only 
two out of 27 reported a proportion of women 
congress delegates equivalent to, or higher than, 
the proportion of female members. Of general 
secretaries and/or presidents of 1009 affiliated 
unions only 126 (eight per cent) were female. 
The average percentage of women on national 
executive committees in the case of 30 centres 
was 15 per cent. Only two out of thirty principal 
leaders of national confederations were female. 
Women were notably absent from important col-
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AT NATIONAL LEVEL 
100 
80 TOTAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 
UNIVERSITY LEVEL 
MANAGEMENT LEVEL 
60 
40 1992 
1989 1988 1994 
1991 1991 
1991 
1994 
1989-92 
1993 1993 
1991 1991 
1996 
B DK D GR IRL NL FIN UK EC 
«ftttWSWWSÎWRÎ 
84 SOURCE: EUROPEAN EXPERTS NETWORK 'WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING. FACTS AND FIGURES ON WOMEN IN 
POLITICAL AND PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING IN EUROPE (1996).' 
NOTE: EC REFERS TO THE COMMISSION'S ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF. 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
lective bargaining activities. A positive feature 
was highlighted in the report however: 'women 
fare better as officials of trade union organisations 
at national and European levels than as represen->£:&&&&£Â%K& 
tatives 
Women are slowly making gains however, and 
an improvement over time is evident in the 
ETUC itself. Figures obtained for the years 1994 
and 1996 show the following: women's member­
ship (full and deputy members) of the executive 
committee increased from 14 per cent in 1994 to 
24 per cent in 1996. Women as a percentage of 
those present at the ETUC's 1991 congress (del­
egates and observers together) were 18 per cent, 
while at the 1995 congress they were 24 per cent 
(figures include women in reserved seats). 
NGOs a?id the civil dialogue 
While recognising the special role played by 
consensus and collective agreements between 
employers and trade unions in the European 
social model, the Commission has recognised 
that voluntary and other representative organisa­
tions have a contribution to make to the process of change in Europe. Some of the social problems 
facing Europe, such as social and economic exclu­
sion, poverty, the rise in racism, xenophobia and 
anti-semitism, the ageing of Europe, the situation 
of people with disability and themes arising from 
equality of opportunity between women and 
men, are acute and can be best addressed by a 
range of partners. 
Cooperation between European NGOs and 
networks in the social field began in 1993 and 
was followed by an NGO Forum in Brussels in 
1994 and by joint responses to social policy ini­
tiatives of the Commission. With the increase in 
regular contact with European institutions and 
collaboration between networks, a more formal 
Platform of European Social NGOs was formed 
in 1995. The aim was to establish a broader dia­
logue with European institutions on European 
social policy, beyond the more specific and sec­
toral dialogue which remains of major impor­
tance. By March 1996, the Platform was com­
posed of 19 members. 
Among the 19 Platform members is the 
European Women's Lobby, founded in 1990 and 
which is the largest coalition of women's non-
pARTiàprioH ^w 
100-
80-
60-
40-
20-1994 
1993 1992 
1994 1990/1/2/3 1995 1995 1994 
1994 
1993 1993 
1994 
0 
B DK D GR E IRL I L NL P FIN S UK Total 
SOURCE: EUROPEAN EXPERTS NETWORK 'WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING. FACTS AND FIGURES ON WOMEN IN POLITICAL 
AND PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING IN EUROPE (1996).' 
NOTE: DATA FOR D REFERS TO MUNICIPALITIES WITH MORE THAN 20,000 POPULATION. SEE DATA SOURCE. 
85 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
TABLE a8 
WOMEN AS MEMBERS AND AS LEADERS OF THE AFFÎLÎATEO SECTORAL AND REGIONAL ONIONS 
AND AS CONGRESS DELEGATES OF THE 31 NATIONAL CONFEDERATIONS OF THE ETUC, 35*3 
UNION 
FGTB (B) 
AC(DK) 
LO(DK) 
DAG(D) 
DGB(D) 
CGOO.(ESP) 
ELA/STV(ESP) 
UGT(ESP) 
CFDT(F) 
FO(F) 
GSEE(GR) 
ICTU(IRL) 
CISL(I) 
UIL(I) 
CGT(L) 
CNV(NL) 
FNV(NL) 
MHP(NL) 
UGT(P) 
TUC(UK) 
OGB(A) 
SEK(CY) 
AKAVA-RY(SF) 
SAK(SF) 
ASI(IS) 
CMTU(M) 
LO(N) 
LO(S) 
TCO(S) 
SGB(CH) 
TURK-IS(TR) VKunen 
as proportion 
of membership 
n/k 
29% 
49% 
53% 
32% 
42% 
26% 
29% 
n/k 
n/k 
n/k 
38% 
+- 40% 
41% 
25% 
20% 
22% 
+-12% 
41% 
36% 
31% 
34% 
48% 
45% 
47% 
60% 
42% 
45% 
59% 
13% 
+-10% ^fornen as general 
secretaries and/or 
presidents of 
unions 
0 amongst 25 
3 amongst 25 
2 amongst 22 
0 amongst 1 
1 amongst 16 
n/k 
n/k 
2 amongst 32 
6 amongst 42 
7 amongst 13 
15 amongst 17 
10 amongst 70 
n/kl 
1 amongst 46 
n/k 
4 amongst 1 
4 amongst 19 
0 amongst 3 
n/k 
14 amongst 69 
1 amongst 14 
0 amongst 7 
20 amongst 34 
6 amongst 24 
27 amongst 169 
1 amongst 9 
n/k 
2 amongst 22 
n/k 
n/k 
0 amongst 32 VCbmenasa 
proportion of 
affiliated congress 
delegates' 
n/k1 
29% 
30% 
136% 
22% 
15% 
n/k 
n/k 
21% 
135% 
24% 
29% 
8% 
7% 
11% 
72% 
20% 
9% 
n/k 
22% 
14% 
13% 
35% 
49% 
38% 
19% 
35% 
26% 
43% 
20% 
1% System of 
ensuring female 
repre$entao'onb 
none 
yes 
none 
yes(Q) 
noned 
yes (Q) 
n/k 
none 
none 
none 
none 
yes (A) 
yes (Q) 
yes (A) 
yes (Q) 
none 
yes (A) 
none 
none 
yes (A) 
none 
none 
yes (Q) 
yes (A) 
none 
none 
yes (A) 
yes (A) 
none 
none 
yes (A) 
* Women delegates arc supposed to be proportional to overall proportion of female membership. 
* (Q) = cjuota system; (R) = reserved seats; (A)= other policy 
' u/k: 110c known 
J Ar the most recent Congress. 
j SOURCE: C. BYRNE AND M. BRAITHWAITE, WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING IN TRADE UNIONS, HTUC, BRUSSELS, 1994. 
L____ .—-
86 Abréviations 
FGTB: Fédération Générale des 
Travailleurs de Belgique 
AC: Akademikernes 
Ceiuralorganisationcn 
LO: Landsorganisationen i 
Denmark 
DAG: Deutsche 
Angestellten-Gewerkschalt 
DGB: Deutscher 
Gcwerkschaftsbund 
CC.OO: Confedcracion Sindical de 
Commissiones Obrcras 
ELA: Solidaridad de Tr.ib.ijadorcs 
V.isco 
UGT: Union General de 
Trabajadores de Espana 
CFDT: Confédération Française 
Démocratique du Travaille 
FO: Force Ouvrière 
GSEE: Greek General 
Confederation of Labour 
1CTU: Irish Congress ofTrade 
Unions 
C1SL: Conlederazione haliana 
Sindicaci Lavoratori 
UIL: Unione Italiana del Lavoro 
CGT: Confédération Générale du 
Travail de Luxembourg 
CNV: Cnristeiijk NationaaJ 
Vakverbond 
FNV: Fcderarie Nederl.indse 
Viikbeweging 
MHP: V;ikcenuale voor 
Middelbaar en Hoger 
Pcrsoneel 
UGT: Union General dos 
Trabalhadorcs 
TVC: Trades Union Congress 
OGB: Osterrcichisclicr 
Cewerksrh.il isbimd 
SEK: Cyprus Workers Federation 
AKAVA-RY: Confederation of Trades 
Unions ol University 
Employees 
SAK: Suoinenammatiiliiitojen 
Kcsktisjarejesto 
ASJ: AliJiydnsambiiiid Islands 
Greece 
CMTU: Confederation ol Trade-
Unions Malta 
LO: Landsorganisasjonen i 
Norge 
LO: Landsorganisasjonen i 
SVerige 
TCO: T/.imicmamicm 
Centralorganisaiion 
SGIi: Sebwfizc-nsclK-r 
Gt-werkscbaltsbund 
TURK-IS: Confederation of Turkish 
Trade Unions 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
SWEDEN - A STRATEGY IN DECISION-MAKING 
The total of the Swedish population is 8.9 million of which 4.5 million are women and A A million are 
men. In the population group between the ages of 20-64, the number of women is 2.5 million as com­
pared to 2.58 million men. In this group 79.5 per cent of women are in the work force while 83.9 per 
cent of men are in gainful employment. Universal female suffrage was established in 1919. 
The political system in Sweden 
Sweden is a representative democracy in which parliamentary, municipal and county elections are held 
every four years. The Swedish Parliament is a unicameral assembly with 349 members. Sweden has a pro­
portional system of representation where candidates do not run for election as individuals; instead vot­
ers choose a political party, each with a numbered list of candidates for multi-seat constituencies. 
Women in the Swedish Parliament 
Between 1971 and 1985, the number of women in the Swedish Parliament increased by 7 per cent from 
31 to 38 per cent. There was a blip after the 1991 elections when the female share dropped five per cent. 
However, after the 1994 election, the percentage of women members of Parliament increased again to 40 
per cent. In the Swedish parliamentary committees women are also well represented. 
Women at the Ministerial level 
Sweden has the highest proportion of women at ministerial level where half the 22 Swedish ministers are 
women. Women are poorly represented among senior officials in the ministries where they constitute 
only 29 per cent of this category. 
Women in Municipal and County Councils 
In the last elections to County and Municipal Councils, the percentage of women reached 48 and 41 per 
cent, respectively. 
Research and data collection 
In 1986, the Swedish government created a committee charged with collecting data on women's repre­
sentation on the boards of public authorities. 
Application of targets and timetables 
At municipal and regional levels the proportion of women is even higher than or equal to the proportion 
at national level at around 40 per cent. The Swedish government has established time-specific targets for 
women's greater representation on the boards of public authorities and governmental committees. In 
1993, the proportion of women was 32 per cent. The goal for 1995 was 40 per cent. The final target is 
equal representation by 1998. For this purpose, the government has allocated SEK 5million for project 
activities to support active efforts to increase women's participation in political decision-making posi­
tions. The application of the plan and related activities resulted in the considerable increase of women in 
the public authorities bodies to 40 per cent in 1995. 
87 
PROMOTING A GENDER BALANCE IN DECISION-MAKING 
»S¥*WA^SSS>'*S¥SSS¥!¥ 
governmental organisations in the European 
Union. Its activities include lobbying on draft 
gender equality legislation, monitoring the 
implementation of Directives and action pro­
grammes and voicing its concern on other issues 
of importance to women. Within the Platform of 
European Social NGOs, other members are also 
engaged in dialogues on themes of concern to 
equality of opportunities. The latter include, 
amongst others, the Confederation of Family 
Organisations in the European Community and 
the European Anti-Poverty Network. 
In relation to policies concerning the applica­
tion of gender analysis in development, coopera­
tion and humanitarian relief programmes, the 
Commission has developed a tradition of consul­
tation and cooperation with NGOs working in 
the development field. The large network 
Women in Development Europe has represented 
the concerns of women in developing countries 
and prepared important contributions to the 
development of European policy in these fields. 
In the same manner, the Commission has com­
mitted itself to the protection of human rights, 
including, specifically, those of women. Among 
the methods to be employed to achieve this is the 
promotion of a pluralist civil society through the 
strengthening of appropriate bodies, including 
non-governmental organisations (see Chapter 6). 
The European Social Policy Forum will recon­
vene during 1997 as part of the emerging dia­
logue and collaboration between the organisa­
tions of civil society and European institutions. It 
provides the opportunity for studying the inter­
action of equality policy with other social issues 
such as poverty, racism and issues where women 
are not directly targeted but confront this reality. 
88 
&%mtme&c&t 
CHAPTER 5 
ENABLING WOMEN TO 
EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
© 
EXERCISING RIGHTS 
The legal framework 
The equal treatment principle has developed 
from the isolated provision of equal pay for equal 
work contained in Article 119 EC to a fully 
fledged programme of equality measures. In addi­
tion to Article 119 of the Treaty, the Community 
has enacted secondary legislation in the field of 
equal pay, equal treatment at work, equal treat­
ment in state and occupational social security sys­
tems and equal treatment for the self-employed. 
A number of associated measures have also been 
passed, for example a Recommendation on child­
care1 and a Resolution on the protection of the 
dignity of women and men at work.2 The legisla­
tive programme has been interpreted and clari­
fied by the Court of Justice of the European 
Communities (ECJ), largely through references 
made by the national courts under Article 177 
but also by infringement actions brought by the 
Commission under Article 169. In particular it 
has developed a case law on the concept of direct 
and indirect discrimination in Community law. 
The Community has initiated a number of strate­
gies to make women and men more aware of 
their legal rights by setting up the Network of 
Legal Experts, and by supporting conferences on 
particular subjects of interest. 
1 Recommendation of 31.3.1992, 92/241 EEC. OJ L 123 of 
8.5.1992. 
' Resolution of 29.5.1990. OJ C 157 of 27.6.1990. p.2. Ki&ii&x&sses&isx» 
89 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
The principle of equal treatment is also ïeferred 
to in the Preamble to the Community Charter of 
Fundamental Social Rights For Workers (1989). 
Article 16 is specifically directed at the principle 
of equal treatment for women and men. 
Equalpay 
Council Directive 75/117/EEC provides a legal 
framework for the application of the principle of 
equal pay for the same work or for work to which 
equal value is attributed between women and men. mentation of the principle of equal treatment for 
men and women in occupational social security 
schemes 86/378/EEC. In a recent case,5 the 
Court has built upon its jurisprudence and ruled 
that piece rate work also falls within Article 119 
EC. 
The Commission has taken an interest in the 
effects of collective agreements and infringement 
actions under Article 169 EC have been initiated 
where Member States have failed to take the nec­
essary measures to ensure that the equal pay prin­
ciple is observed. 
Equal Pay Memorandum 
In June 1994 the Commission adopted a 
Memorandum3 which defined the scope and con­
cept of Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value, and 
provided guidance on the criteria to be taken into 
account in job evaluation and job classification. 
This Memorandum was offered for information 
and consideration to interested parties concerned 
with, or involved in, the equal pay issue. It did 
not contain any formal proposals. 
As it announced in the Memorandum on Equal 
Pay for Work of Equal Value, the Commission 
adopted on 17 July 1996 a code of practice for 
use by employers, employees and trade unions. 
This is intended as a practical handbook for those 
involved in day to day problems of implementing 
equal pay. It recommends that information on 
pay should be gathered and analysed to see if 
there is discrimination and strategies deployed to 
combat it, as well as giving guidance on the 
development of non-discriminatory job evalua­
tion schemes. 
Over the years the ECJ has been instrumental 
in explaining the scope of the principle of equal 
pay contained in Community law. It has, for 
example, given a broad interpretation of the con­
cept of pay. One of the most significant rulings is 
the Barber case4 where the Court ruled that ben­
efits paid under an occupational pension fell 
within the scope of Article 119 EC. This has led 
to much litigation in this area. A Protocol 
annexed to the Treaty on European Union 
explains the temporal effects of this ruling. As a 
result the Commission has issued a proposal 
amending the Council Directive on the imple-Equal treatment 
Council Directive 761207I EEC provides a legal 
framework for the implementation of the principle 
of equal treatment for women and men in relation 
to all jobs or posts of employment, vocational train­
ing, promotion and working conditions. 
Council Directive 76/207/EEC applies the 
principle of equal treatment to access to employ­
ment, vocational training, promotion and work­
ing conditions. The ECJ has delivered a number 
of rulings on this directive. The most important 
case in 1995 was the Kalanke case/' 
In this case, the ECJ was asked by a German 
court whether the Land of Bremen was in contra­
vention of Article 2 (4) of Directive 76/207/EEC 
on equal treatment between women and men, 
through its policy of automatically giving priority 
to women candidates for recruitment and promo­
tion in sectors where they are under-represented 
and where a female candidate has the same quali­
fications as a male candidate. 
Article 2 (4) of the Equal Treatment Directive 
states that the Directive shall be without preju­
dice to measures which promote equality of 
opportunity for women and men, in particular 
by removing existing inequalities which affect 
women's opportunities in the areas of access to 
J Memorandum on Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value, 
COM(94) 6 final of 23.6.1994. 
4 Case C-262/88 Barber v GRE [1990] ECR 1889. 
5 Case C-400/93 Royal Copenhagen 11995] ECR 1-1295. 
* Case C-450/93 Kalanke v Ereie Hansestadt Bremen [ 1995| 
ECR I-3051. 
SSKKJSftïSSSÏKS 
90 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
KALANKE COMMUNICATION OP THE COMMISSION7 
On 27 March 1996 the Commission issued a Communication to the Council and the European 
Parliament on the interpretation of Kalanke* putting forward the view that quota systems which fall 
short of being rigid and automatic are lawful. Member States and employers are thus free to have 
recourse to all other forms of positive action, including flexible quotas. It is the opinion of the 
Commission that a wide range of actions to promote access to employment and promotion of mem­
bers of the under-represented sex continues to be legal. 
To illustrate this, the communication comprises a list of positive action measures which are considered 
to be lawful, such as: 
• Quotas linked to the qualifications required for the job, as long as they allow account to be taken 
of particular circumstances which might, in a given case, justify an exception to the principle of giv­
ing preference to the under-represented sex. 
• Plans for promoting women, prescribing the proportions and the time limits within which the 
number of women should be increased but without imposing an automatic preference rule when 
individual decisions on recruitment and promotion are taken. 
• An obligation of principle for an employer to recruit or promote by preference a person belonging 
to the under-represented sex; in such a case, no individual right to be preferred is conferred on any 
person. 
• Reductions in social security contributions which are granted to firms when they recruit women 
who return to the labour market, to perform tasks in sectors where women are under-represented. 
• State funding granted to employers who recruit women in sectors where they are under-repre­
sented. 
• Other positive action measures focusing on training, professional orientation, the reorganisation of 
working time, childcare. 
In order to end the uncertainty surrounding the legal scope of positive action the Commission decid­
ed to propose an amendment of the wording of Article 1(4) of the Equal Treatment Directive so that 
the text will reflect the proper legal position, whilst continuing to permit some forms of positive action. 
The Commission considered that the Court had condemned only the special feature of the Bremen 
law namely: giving women absolute and unconditional right to appointment or promotion. This inter­
pretative amendment reads as follows: 
This Directive shall be without prejudice to measures to promote equal opportunity for women and 
men in particular by removing existing inequalities which affect the opportunities of the under-rep­
resented sex in the areas referred to in article 1(1). Possible measures shall include the giving of pref­
erence, as regards access to employment or promotion, to a member of the under-represented sex, 
provided that such measures do not preclude the assessment of the particular circumstances of an 
individual case. 
'Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and Council on the Interpretation of the.Judgement of the 
Court of Justice on 17.10.1995 in Case C-450 Kalanke v Freic Hanscstadt Bremen, COM (96) 88 final of 27.3 1996, p.93. 
"Sec also the Resolution of the European Parliament 15-19 January 1996 Plenary Session expressing concern over the consequences 
of Kalanke and the call for an amendment of Article 2(4) of the Equal Treatment Directive OJ C 32 of 5.2.1996, p.24, point 20. 
91 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
employment, including promotion, vocational 
training and working conditions and, under cer­
tain specific conditions, social security. This has 
been generally interpreted as meaning that posi­
tive action measures were permitted. 
The Courts ruling made it clear that national 
rules which guarantee women absolute and 
unconditional priority for appointment or pro­
motion, go beyond promoting equal opportuni­
ties and overstep the limits of the positive action 
exception provided for in Article 2 (4) of the 
Directive. 
On 30 April 1996 the Court of Justice deliv­
ered a landmark ruling in the Cornwall case9 by 
ruling that to dismiss a person who had been 
hired whilst a man but had subsequently under­
gone a number of sex-change operations and 
become a woman was discrimination on the 
grounds of sex, falling within the scope of the 
Equal Treatment Directive. 
Statutory social security schemes 
Council Directive 79/7/EEC provides a legal 
framework for the implementation of the principle 
of equal treatment for women and men in statutory 
social security schemes. 
The Court has delivered a number of rulings 
on this Directive relating to state social security. 
The Court considers that the Directive includes 
within its ambit a social security benefit paid to 
carers,10 and free prescriptions under the United 
Kingdom health service available to people over 
the pension age." A case has been decided con­
cerning free transport allowances granted by local 
councils.12 However, housing benefit13 paid to 
people on low income and an income supple­
ment14 have been excluded from its scope. The 
Court has nevertheless allowed the Member 
States to justify certain forms of discrimination 
where it can be shown that such discrimination is 
objectively necessary to avoid disrupting the 
complex financial equilibrium of the State's social 
security system.15 
Two important cases in 1995 concerned the 
exclusion of low paid part-time workers from the 
German state social security scheme." The 
scheme was challenged in the German courts as creating indirect discrimination - which is cov­
ered in Council Directive 79/7/EEC - since it 
affected more female workers than male workers. 
The state argued that the scheme was justified on 
the basis that there was a social demand for what 
was termed minor employment' which could 
only be fostered by excluding it from compulso­
ry insurance. Coverage of such employment 
within a compulsory scheme would lead to an 
increase in unlawful employment and circum­
venting devices. This defence was accepted by the 
Court since the measures chosen reflected a legit­
imate social policy on the part of the Member 
State whose legislation was at issue and the mea­
sures taken were appropriate to that end and were 
necessary.17 
Similarly the Laperre case" required the gov­
ernment of the Netherlands to justify a social 
security scheme which was designed to guarantee 
beneficiaries income at the level of the social min­
imum. The scheme was subject to conditions 
relating to previous employment and age, irre­
spective of whether the claimant had any 
resources. Even though it was established that the 
scheme had a disparate impact upon women, it 
was accepted that the government had shown 
that the scheme was necessary in order to attain a 
social policy aim unrelated to any discrimination 
on grounds of sex. 
Case C-13/94 P v S and Cornwall CC nyr. 
'Case 150/85 Drake v Chief Adjudication Officer [1986] ECR 
1995. 
' Case C-137/94 The Queen v Secretary of Sate for Health ex pane 
Cyril Richardson (19951 ECR 1 - 3407. 
1 Case C-228/94 of 11.7.1994, Atkins, nyr. 
1 Case 243/90 The Queen v Secretary of State for Social Security ex 
parte Florence Rose Smithson [1992] ECR I - 476. 
1 Cases C-63-64/91 Jackson and Cresswell v Chief Adjudication 
Officer [1992] ECR 1-4737. 
'Case G328/91 Secretary of State for Social Security v Thomas 
[1993] ECR 11247; Case C-92/94 Graham [1995] ECR 1-2521; 
Case CI54/92 Van Cant v Rijksdienst Voor Pcnsioenen [1993] 
ECRI-3811. 
''Case C-317/93 Nolte v Landcsvcrsichcrungianstalt Hannover nyr 
and Case C-444/93 Megner and Scheffel v Innungskrankcn Kosse 
Vorderpflaz [now Innungskrankcnkasse Rhciuhcsscn-Pfltf. nyr]. 
7 Case 171/88 Rinncr-Kuhn [1989] ECR 2743. 
'Case C-8/94 C.B. Laperre v Bcstuurscommissic bcrocps/.a-
ken in de provincie Zuid-Holland [1996] ECR 1 - 273. 
92 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
Occupational social security 
schemes 
Council Directive 86/378/EEC provides a legal 
framework for the implementation of the principle of 
equal treatment for women and men in occupation­
al social security schemes. 
The Council has adopted, on 2 December 
1996, an amended proposal of Council Directive" 
amending the Council Directive on the imple­
mentation of the principle of equal treatment for 
men and women in occupational social security 
schemes20. The Commission issued a proposal for 
this amendment, after the ruling in Barber v GRE 
and the clarification of the scope of this ruling in 
Protocol and six rulings delivered by the ECJ. 
The Commission has also been conducting 
research on the individualisation of social security 
benefits (see Chapter 3). 
Equal Treatment of the self-
employed and their spouses 
Council Directive 86/613/EEC provides a legal 
framework for the application of the principle of 
equal treatment between women and men engaged 
in a self-employed capacity including agriculture. It 
includes, inter alia, their protection during preg­
nancy and motherhood. 
Directive 86/613/EEC aims to cover women 
whose occupational status is unclear, particularly 
wives working in family businesses, including 
those in the agricultural sector. The Commission 
has noted that the Directive has not resulted in 
the impact on self-employed and their spouses, 
which had been expected. This is the case of 
women who work in a family enterprise and have 
no professional status either as employee or as a 
business partner, because they are married or 
related to the owner. The Commission is prepar­
ing an assessment of the situation with a view to 
issuing a revised Directive in this area in 1997." 
Community law on pregnancy 
and maternity 
Council Directive 92/85/EEC provides a legal 
fr-amework for the protection of pregnant women 
workers, who have given birth, or who are breast­
feeding. The Council Directive 92/85/EEC of 19 
October introduced measures to encourage 
improvements in the health and safety at work of 
pregnant workers and workers who have recently 
given birth or are breastfeeding.23 
The Directive was based upon Article 118a 
EC. Its main provisions are summarised as fol­
lows: 
A woman is not obliged to perform night work 
during pregnancy and for a period following the 
birth to be determined by the relevant national 
body, conditional only on production of a med­
ical certificate stating that this is necessary for the 
safety or health of the worker concerned. 
Women are entitled to paid time off work to 
attend ante-natal appointments if such examina­
tions have to take place during working hours. 
Dismissal is forbidden on account of pregnancy. 
A woman is protected during the period from the 
beginning of the pregnancy to the end of the 
maternity leave period save in exceptional cases 
not connected with pregnancy, which are permit­
ted under national legislation and/or practice and 
after the consent of the competent authority. If a 
worker is dismissed, the employer must state the 
reasons for dismissal in writing. Contractual 
rights have to be maintained for women on 
maternity leave. 
A minimum of 14 weeks continuous period of 
maternity leave has to be allocated before or after 
confinement in accordance with national legisla­
tion/practice. During the maternity leave, either 
the payment is maintained or an adequate 
allowance is granted, in accordance with national 
legislation and/or practice. There is, however, to 
be a compulsory period of maternity leave of at 
least 2 weeks before and/or after confinement in 
accordance with national legislation or practice. 
" to be completed 
"' OJ L225/86of 12.8.1986; Corrigendum to Article 2(2) OJ L283of 
4.10.1986, p.27.. 
21 OJL 359 of 19.12.1986, p.56. 
"Fourth Medium-Term Community Action Programme on 
Equal Opportunities for Women and Men COM(95)381 final 
of 19.7.1995, Brussels. 
"Tenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) 
of Directive 89/391/EECOJ L 348 of 28.11.1992. p.l. 
93 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
ACCESS TO JUSTICE 
Access to justice is enshrined as a substantive law right in 
the equal treatment Directives. The most litigation has 
revolved around Article 6 of the Equal Treatment 
Directive. 
Article 6 of Council Directive 76/207/EEC. 
Member States shall introduce into their national legal sys­
tems such measures as are necessary to enable all persons 
who considered themselves wronged by failure to apply to 
them the principle of equal treatment within the meaning 
of Articles 3, 4 and 5 to pursue their claims by judicial 
process after possible recourse to other competent author­
ities. 
Access to justice is also acknowledged as a fundamental 
right of Community law.24 
Case 222/84 Johnston v RUC [1986] ECR 427. 
Facts', a certificate issued by the Secretary of State declared 
that decisions taken by the Chief Constable of the RUC 
were not reviewable by a court or other independent body. 
The Court ruled that this decision was contrary to Article 
6 of the Equal Treatment Directive. The Court of Justice 
referred to Article 6 ECHR 1951, the principles of which 
must be taken into consideration by Community law. The 
Court ruled that Article 6 ETD created direct effects in so 
far as the rights conferred by the Directive 'may be effec­
tively relied upon before the national courts by the persons 
concerned.' It was argued that this requirement of judicial 
control reflected a general principle of law which was 
embedded in the constitutional traditions common to the 
Member States. The Court ruled that the Secretary of 
State's certificate allowed the competent authority to 
deprive an individual of the possibility of asserting by judi­
cial process the rights conferred and was therefore contrary 
to Article 6 ETD. 
"Case 222/86 UNECTPF v Hcylcns [1987] ECR 4097. Member States are required to introduce into 
their national legal systems, such measures as will 
enable all workers to pursue their claims under 
the Directive by judicial process and/or, in accor­
dance with national laws and/or practices, by 
recourse to other competent authorities. 
Parental leave 
Council Directive 96/34 EC implements the 
framework agreement on parental leave and time 
off from work concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the 
ETUC and sets out minimum requirements. 
A Directive on parental leave or leave for fami­
ly reasons was proposed in 1984.25 It was based 
upon Article 100 of the Treaty. It was opposed by 
the United Kingdom government particularly 
because of their view of the consequences of the 
costs of parental leave. The proposal was resur­
rected after the Social Policy Agreement came 
into force. The Commission consulted the social 
partners on 22 February 1995 on the possibilities 
for action on the question of reconciling work 
and family life and, on 21 June 1995, on the 
nature of action to be taken on parental leave. On 
7 July 1995 UNICE, CEEP and ETUC 
expressed a desire to enter into negotiations and 
in turn the Commission suspended its legislative 
initiative, as of 20 July 1995 for a set period of 
nine months. On 14 December 1995, the social 
partners signed a framework agreement on 
parental leave and called upon the Commission 
to submit it to the Council of Ministers so that 
the Council could adopt a decision and thereby 
make the minimum requirements in the agree­
ment binding in all the Member States except tor 
the United Kingdom. This was a significant occa­
sion since the parental leave agreement was the 
first piece of legislation to be agreed by the social 
partners under the Social Policy Agreement. 
At the Labour and Social Affairs Council 
Meeting of 29 March 1996 the 14 Member 
States reached political agreement on the parental 
leave framework agreement concluded by the 
social partners. The Directive was adopted at the 
Council meeting on 3 June 1996. The framework 
agreement which is annexed to the Directive sets 
out minimum requirements on parental leave 
» OJC 316 of 27.11.1984. p.7. 
94 
and time off work on grounds of force majeure, 
the aim being to make it easier for parents' pro­
fessional and family responsibilities to be recon­
ciled. 
The framework agreement provides for an 
individual right to parental leave to be granted, in 
principle on a non-transferable basis, to all male 
and female workers following the birth or adop­
tion of a child, such as will enable them to take 
care of that child for at least three months, until 
a given age, up to the age of eight years. The con­
ditions of access and detailed rules for applying 
parental leave will be defined by law and/or col­
lective agreement in the Member States. As long 
as the minimum requirements of the framework 
agreement are respected, Member States and/or 
the social partners may, in particular: 
• Decide whether parental leave is granted on a 
full-time or part-time basis, in a fragmented 
way or in the form of a time-credit system. 
• Make entitlement to parental leave subject to a 
period of work qualification and/or a length of 
service qualification which will not exceed one 
year. 
• Adjust conditions of access and detailed rules 
for applying parental leave to the special cir­
cumstances of adoption. 
• Establish notice periods to be given by the 
worker to the employer, specifying the begin­
ning and the end of the period of leave. 
• Define the circumstances in which an employ­
er is allowed to postpone the granting of 
parental leave for justifiable reasons related to 
the operation of the undertaking. 
• Authorise special arrangements to meet the 
operational and organisational requirements of 
small undertakings. 
The Directive provides certain guarantees to 
ensure that workers can exercise their right to 
parental leave. Member States and/or social part­
ners must take the necessary steps to protect 
workers against dismissal on the grounds of an 
application for, or taking of, parental leave such 
as: 
• At the end of parental leave, workers have the 
right to return to the same job or, if that is not 
possible, to an equivalent or similar job consis­
tent with their employment contract or 
employment relationship. ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
• Rights acquired or in the process of being 
acquired by a worker on the date on which 
parental leave begins will be maintained as they 
stand until the end of parental leave. 
Moreover Member States and/or social part­
ners are required to take the necessary measures 
to allow workers to take time off work on 
grounds of force majeure for urgent family rea­
sons, such as in cases of sickness or accident 
where the immediate presence of the worker is 
indispensable. 
The Member States will have to implement the 
Directive no later than two years after its adop­
tion. 
The Directive is silent on the issue of income 
during the period of leave. The Directive will 
improve upon the parental leave situation in 
three Member States: Ireland, Belgium and 
Luxembourg. 
OTHER ISSUES 
In a Community based on law, it is not sur­
prising that attention is focused on principles 
concerned with the enforcement of Community 
law. Equality litigation is not the only mechanism 
whereby equality can be advanced. Egalitarian 
policies may have positive effects beyond the 
scope of equality law concepts. 
Sexual harassment 
The Commission adopted a Recommendation 
on the Protection of the Dignity of Women and 
Men at Work, and a Code of Practice on 
Measures to Combat Sexual Harassment in 1991. 
These two texts may be viewed within the con­
text of European social policy and the improve­
ment of living and working conditions. The 
Commissions initiative had been preceded by a 
significant Council Resolution on the subject,26 
by research in the (then) 12 Member States and 
by questions raised in the European Parliament. 
Events following the adoption of the 
Recommendation and the Code revealed a 
heightened awareness of, and activity around, the 
problem of sexual harassment in the Member 
"• Resolution of 29.5.1990 OJ C 157 of 27.6.1990 p.3. 
95 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
States. The issue for the period of the late 1990s 
is the effectiveness of this approach to the subject, 
its use in collective bargaining and the extent to 
which it is applied. As part of the Fourth 
Community Medium-Term Action Programme 
the Commission announced its intention to 
develop a legal instrument to combat workplace 
sexual harassment and to unite the social partners 
to consider their role in such a process. At the 
same time, the Fourth Action Programme on 
Health and Safety at Work (1996-2001) has 
identified the need for special workplace mea­
sures for women. Action 3 of the new health and 
safety programme provides for research into the 
extent and management of violence inside the 
workplace. To this end, the Commission has 
launched, on 24 July 1996, the first stage of con­
sultation with the social partners on the protec­
tion of the dignity of women and men at work, 
which was completed by the end of October 
1996. 
Burden of proof 
In the first Medium-Term Action Programme27 
the Commission highlighted the link between 
the ease of gaining access to information and the 
utilisation of equality laws in the Member States. 
It noted the disparity of the burden of proof in 
litigation across the Member States and conduct­
ed a comparative analysis of national law and 
procedures. The ensuing report recommended 
that Community action was necessary to formal­
ly alter the burden of proof in equal treatment 
cases. This issue was taken up in the Second 
Medium-Term Community Action Programme 
(1986-1990) and in 1988 a Directive28 was pro­
posed by the Commission. However, the Council 
of Ministers could not reach an agreement on the 
text. The Commission then decided to consult 
the social partners. The first consultation stage 
was launched on 5 July 1995 and the second on 
7 February 1996. In the light of the outcome of 
these consultations, the Commission has decided 
to submit to the Council a proposal for a direc­
tive on the adjustment, rather than the reversal, 
of the burden of proof in cases of discrimination 
based on sex. The proposal will now be taken for­
ward under Social Protocol procedure. It will be 
passed to the social policy agreement procedure, 
and be subject to the second stage of consulta­tions conducted with the social partners, with the 
aim of producing a draft Directive. At a confer­
ence in Belfast 1-3 March 1996 the issues of the 
burden of proof, and the application of the par­
tial reversal of the burden of proof after the 
Danfoss,29 Enderby30 and Royal Copenhagen" 
rulings, were shown to be problematic in a num­
ber of Member States. 
Atypical ivork 
The «European Court of Justice has increased 
the protection afforded to part-time work, by 
recognising that certain forms of unfavourable 
treatment of part-time work may amount to indi­
rect sex discrimination. Nevertheless, this protec­
tion is by no means complete. 
The Commission made a proposal for a 
Directive to increase the amount of protection 
afforded to part-time workers on a pro rata basis 
with full-time work,32 but this proposal was not 
agreed by the Council of Ministers. The 
Commission also made three proposals under 
three different legal bases: one under Article 100 
EC on the approximation of the laws of the 
Member States relating to certain employment 
regulations on working conditions (part-time and 
temporary work)," another under Article 100A 
EC relating to certain employment contracts and 
employment relationships involving distortions 
of competition (part-time and temporary work)y' 
and a third under Article 118a EC dealing with 
health and safety aspects of temporary work. The 
latter was adopted on 25 June 1991, whilst the 
other two proposals are now being considered 
under the Social Policy Agreement. The social 
17 COM(81) 758 final of 9.12.1981. Brussels. 
"OJC 176 of 5.7.1988, P.5. 
"Case 109/88 Handels-og-Kontorfunktionacrernes Forbund 
i Danmark v Dansk Arbejdsgivcrforening (acting for 
Danfoss) [1989] ECR 3199. 
"Case C-127/92 Enderby v l-'rencbay Area Health 
Authority [1993] ECR 1-5535. 
31 Case C-400/93 Spedalarbejderforbiindet i Danmark and 
Dansk Industri, formely lndustriens Arbejdsgivere acting 
for Royal Copenhagen AJS [1995] I-HCR 1275. 
» OJC 62 of 12.3.1982. P.7. 
" OJ C 224 of 8.9.1992, p.4. 
14 OJC 224 of 8.9.1992, p.6. 
96 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
partners engaged in negotiations on the subject 
of flexibility of working time and security of 
employment during 1996. 
Public Procurement 
On the 27th of November 1996, the 
Commission adopted a Green Paper 'Public 
Procurement in the European Union: Exploring 
the Way Forward'.35 
The Green Paper refers to the possibility of 
requiring the performance of public procurement 
tenders to comply with social obligations aimed, 
for example, at promoting the employment of 
women. 
The Green Paper invites all interested parties to 
give their opinion on the need for clarification of 
public procurement Directives. It examines the 
existing potential to achieve Community and 
national objectives in social policy through the 
legal framework of public procurement. 
ENFORCEMENT 
AND REMEDIES 
How the Community litigation 
system ivorks 
Community law obligations are imposed upon 
the Member States, individuals and enterprises in 
a number of ways - through Treaty provisions, by 
Directives, and in forms such as Recommendations. 
In many respects the obligations imposed upon 
the Member States are onerous. Under Article 5 
EC the Member States are bound by what is 
called a 'fidelity' clause to ensure the maintenance 
of the obligations arising out of the European 
Union Treaty and also to abstain from any action 
which could jeopardise the attainment of the 
objectives of the Treaty. Community law may be 
enforced at the European Union level through 
direct actions brought by.the Commission, indi­
viduals, enterprises or other public or private 
bodies. Community law may also be enforced at 
the national level by the use of the principles of 
direct and indirect effect, and damages actions against the Member States under the principles 
laid down in Joined Cases C-6/90 and 9/90 
Francovich and Bonifaci v Italy.36 This case law 
has been further developed in joined cases 
C-46/93 and C-48/93 Brasserie du Pêcheur37. 
The result is a complicated web of legal fora, 
national and Community law rights, remedies 
and procedures which together create the unique 
and distinctive Community legal system. 
Direct enforcement by the 
Commission 
The Commission is able to directly enforce 
Community law before the Court of Justice in 
the event that national law fails to implement or 
to implement correcdy the obligations contained 
in European Community law. The Commission's 
powers of enforcement are laid down in Articles 
169 and 171 EC. The Court of Justice has the 
power to fine a Member State which fails to take 
the necessary measures following a finding by the 
Court that it is in breach of European Community 
law. Directives enacted by the European 
Community usually require the Commission to 
draw up a report on its application by the 
Member States. These reports often produce the 
information required to determine whether or 
not a Member State has implemented the provi­
sions of Community law correctly. Another 
source of information is complaints from indi­
viduals to the Commission and to MEPs. 
Pressure groups and public bodies may also send 
complaints to the Commission. 
In 1995 the Commission investigated four 
Member States, Belgium, France, Greece and 
Italy, on the grounds that they had failed to 
remove national regulations which restricted 
night work for women in a manner which was 
incompatible with the Equal Treatment Directive 
76/207/EEC and the Courts case law.38 An 
infringement action was initiated against 
Belgium for its failure to notify measures to the 
•" To be completed 
'"[199I] ECR 1-5357. 
l"[1996] ECR I-1029. 
'" Case C-345 Stoeckel [1991] ECR 1 - 4047 p.89; Case C-
158 Levy [1993] ECR 1 - 4287 p.91 ; Case C-13 Minne 
[1994] ECR 1-371 p.93. 
::¥«:SiSJfc5SSft3S«8*S* 
97 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
BURDEN OF PROOF 
The Court of Justice has developed, through the following cases, a settled case law on the question of the bur­
den of proof in cases of indirect discrimination in the context of equal pay. 
Case 109/88 Handels-og-Kontorfiinktionaerernes Forbund i Danmark v Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening (act­
ing for Danfoss) [1989] ECR 3199. 
In this case, the Court ruled that the requirement for Member States to ensure that effective means are available 
to ensure the observance of the principle of equal pay must lead to an interpretation requiring adjustments to 
national rules relating to the burden of proof in specific situations where such adjustements are essential for the 
effective implementation of the principle of equality. In a situation where there was a total lack of transparency, 
the applicants could only distinguish a difference between average pay, and thus they would be deprived of any 
effective means of ensuring respect of the principle of equal pay before national courts. Thus the burden of proof 
had to shift to the employer to show that the pay practice was not discriminatory. 
Case C-127/92 Enderby v Frenchay Area Health Authority [1993] ECR 1-5535. 
The Court ruled that where an employer applies a system of pay which is wholly lacking in transparency, it is for 
the employer to prove that the wages policy is not discriminatory, so long as it is established by a relatively large 
number of employees that the average pay for women is less than that for men. It is for the national court to 
assess whether or not it can take into account statistics showing that the pay of a group of female workers is lower 
than the pay of a group of male workers. The national court must decide whether the statistics are adequate to 
cover individuals, whether they cover purely fortuitous or short-term phenomena, and whether in general they 
appear significant. 
Case Ç-400/93 Specialarbejderforbundet i Danmark and Dansk Industri, fonnely Industriens 
Arbejdsgivere acting for Royal Copenhagen A/S [1995] I-ECR 1275. 
The Court ruled that a finding that there is an average difference in pay between two groups of workers of oppo­
site sexes is not sufficient to establish discrimination between them. Prior consideration of the reasons for the pay 
disparity may be considered. The burden of proof to justify the differences would transfer to the employer if it 
was not possible to identify the factors which determine the differences in the base rate or unit measurement of 
the pay. It is for the national court to determine if the conditions for shifting the burden of proof are satisfied. 
98 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
Commission to comply with the ruling of the 
Court.3' Under this ruling, the Court found a 
breach of Article 119 EC by the maintenance in 
force of legislation rendering women over the age 
of sixty ineligible for supplementary redundancy 
allowances, though they were payable to men up 
to the age of sixty-five. Infringement proceedings 
against France, which commenced in 1990, con­
tinue whereby it is alleged by the Commission 
that France has failed to take appropriate action 
to comply with the ruling of the Commission v 
France case.40 Under this ruling the Court found 
that certain collective agreements which con­
ferred benefits upon women were contrary to the 
Equal Treatment Directive and did not satisfy the 
conditions for positive action found in Article 
2(4) of that Directive. The Commission suspend­
ed infringement proceedings against six Member 
States'" for failure to notify the national imple­
menting measures to comply with the obligations 
contained in Council Directive 86/378/EEC. It 
was accepted that there were genuine difficulties 
in transposing this Directive following the ruling 
of the Court in Case C-262/ 88 Barber v GRE.42 
Preliminary ridings 
A national court may suspend proceedings 
when an issue of the interpretation or validity of 
European Community law is raised and seek a 
ruling from the Court of Justice under Article 
177 EC and every Court of Last Instance should 
do so. This procedure has made the biggest 
impact on Community law on equal opportuni­
ties and has provided the vehicle whereby the 
Court of Justice can develop Community law 
principles. In practice not every Court of Last 
Instance makes Article 177 references: it may 
decide that the point of Community law is suffi-EFFECTIVE REMEDIES 
Case 14/83 Von Colson and Kamann v land 
Nordrhein- Westfalen [1984] ECR 1891. 
The Court established that national remedial processes 
should be subject to a principle of effectiveness43. 
Case 222/84 Johnston v Royal Ulster 
Constabulary [1986] ECR 1651. 
The court established that effective judicial protection' 
was a fundamental principle of Community law. 
Case 68/88 Commission v Greece [1989] ECR 
2964. 
The Court endorsed the view that three basic principles 
must be observed in providing remedies for a breach of 
Community law: 
• comparability 
• effectiveness 
• proportionality 
These were explained in the Commission's Notice of 
[1990] OJ C147/3. 
Case C-213/89 Factortame [1990] ECR 2433. 
Here the Court ruled that any provision of a national 
legal system and any legislative, administrative or judicial 
practice which might impair the effectiveness of 
Community law must be set aside by the national courts. 
"Case C-173 Commission v Belgium [1993] ECR I - 673 
p.91. 
'"Case 312 Commission v France [1988] ECR 3559 p.86. 
41 Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, 
Netherlands. 
41 11990J ECR 1889. Note that on 28 September 1994 the 
Court delivered six preliminary rulings on the scope of the 
Barber ruling. The Commission has sent a proposal to the 
Council of Ministers for an amendment of Council 
Directive 86/378/EEC COM(95) 186 final of 16.5.1995. 41 Effectiveness means that the remedy properly compensates the applicant 
for the harm/loss suffered as a consequence of a breach of law. 
99 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
ciently clear or not decisive in terms of the dis­
pute before it. It is always open for a national 
court to ask the Court a question on a point of 
Community law which has already been decided. 
For example, the German Federal Labour Court 
referred questions to the Court44 which had 
already been considered in the case of 
Arbeiterwohlfahrt der Stadt Berlin v Botel.45 
CURRENT STATE OF 
COMMUNITY 
LAW REMEDIES 
The development of Community law-based 
remedies and procedures has taken place in the 
judicial rather than the legislative forum. A num­
ber of Directives do contain provisions for the 
enforcement of Community law rights but these 
usually are dependent upon national law and 
principles. Initially the Court of Justice took a 
minimalist stance towards procedures and reme­
dies. The enforcement of Community law was to 
be left to national processes subject to two condi­
tions: 
• A principle of non-discrimination: Community 
law rights had to be enforced to an extent equiv­
alent to the way comparable national rights 
would be enforced. 
• Enforcement of Community law rights should 
not be impossible or excessively difficult. 
The Court has gradually changed its position 
and has now asserted greater jurisdiction over the 
question of the principles upon which 
Community law must be enforced in the nation­
al courts. However, the Court is seeking to main­
tain a balanced perspective - best described by 
Advocate General Jacobs in the Peterbroeck case:4'' 
'The case-law of the Court in this area estab­
lishes a balance between, on the one hand, the 
need to respect [the] autonomy [of the legal sys­
tems of the Member States] and, on the other 
hand, the need to ensure the effective protection 
of Community rights in the national courts.' At a conference organised and supported by 
the Commission, in Belfast, Northern Ireland 
(UK) on 1 and 2 March 1996, the subject of 
equality strategy and litigation was examined by 
legal experts from the fifteen Member States. The 
conference addressed the practicalities of utilising 
equality concepts in the judicial process as well as 
in the political and labour market spheres. The 
conference noted a number of difficulties in legal 
enforcement procedures and remedies in relation 
to rights. The need for clarity in applying legal 
concepts and developing awareness of European 
law were considered. 
Over the years the Court has evolved a number 
of principles applying to the procedures and 
remedies which are the guarantees to the effective 
enforcement of Community law rights. Not all of 
the cases in which these ideas were evolved are 
equality law cases but a great number are. The 
Court's case-law on remedies in the field of equal 
opportunities can be organised around four 
themes: effective remedies; access to justice; time 
limits; the burden of proof and remedies and 
sanctions. 
44 Case C-457/93 Kuartorium liïr Dialyse und 
Nierentransplanration E. V. v Ix-wark, Judgement ol 6.2.1996 
nyr. 
44 Case C- 360 [1992] ECR 1- 3589 p.l. 
"C-62/93 SCS Peterbroeck. Van Campenhout & Cie v 
Belgian State. 11995] ECR 1-4599. 
100 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
TIME LIMITS 
In Case 208/90 Emmott v Minister For Social Welfare46 the Court ruled that national time limits for 
commencing litigation should not begin to run until a Member State has implemented fully and cor­
rectly the provisions of a Directive. 
However, the scope of this ruling has been curtailed in a number of subsequent cases where we see the 
balancing act being carried out by the Court of Justice in observing national procedural autonomy. For 
example, in Case C-62/93 BP Super Gas v Hellenic Republic [1995] ECR 1-1885, the Court allowed 
Greek limitation periods to apply where a Directive on tax harmonisation did not contain any limitation 
periods, provided certain principles of Community law were observed. 
In Case C-312/93 SCS Peterbroeck, Van Campenhout & Cie v Belgian State [1995] ECR, the Court 
rejected the idea that a national court was under a duty under Community law to set aside a provision 
of national law which was incompatible with Community law when the Community law issues had not 
been raised in legal argument by the applicant within the short time limit of 60 days prescribed by 
national law. In this case, however, it was accepted that, whilst the 60 day period was not objectionable 
per se, the rule was unlawful given the following special features of the procedure in question: 
• The court concerned (the Cour d'Appel) was the first court able to seek a reference from the Court of 
Justice. 
• The rule prevented the Cour d'Appel from raising its own motion at the hearing of the question of the 
compatibility of the contested measure, since the 60 day period had elapsed. 
• No other court or tribunal could consider that question. 
• The rule preventing points being raised by a court of its own motion was not reasonably justifiable by 
principles such as the requirements for legal certainty or the proper conduct of procedure. 
In Case C-338/91 Steenhorst-Neerings. [1993] ECR '5475 and Case C-410/92 Johnson v Chief 
Adjudication Officer, the Court again allowed Member States to impose national rules on the period of 
time during which any back-dating of compensation was payable provided that the national rules were 
not a bar to actions based on Community rights and the rules were comparable to rules in domestic law. 
In Case C-128/93 Fisscher v Voorhuis Hengelo BV [1994] ECR 1-4583 and Case C-57/93 Vroege v 
NCIV voor Volkliuisvesting BV [1994] ECR 4541, the Court found that certain pension arrangements 
were contrary to Article 119 EC, but allowed the Member States' rules to stand which limited retroac­
tive access to such schemes only to women who had paid contributions to the schemes. In Case C -
200/91 Coloroll Pension Trustees Ltd v Coloroll Group pic and Others [1994] ECR I - 4389, the Court 
states that national rules will determine damages liability for breach of Article 119 EC by private parties. 
il991] ECR 4269. 
vttMsaast 
101 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
REMEDIES AND SANCTIONS 
In addition to access to justice, the Court of Justice has ruled that Article 6 of the Equal Treatment 
Directive requires the provision of effective remedies. This is illustrated in the following cases: 
Case 14/83 Von Colson and Kamann v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen [1984] ECR 189 L 
In this case the Court pointed out that Article 6 of the Equal Treatment Directive did not prescribe 
specific sanctions but left the Member States a discretion to choose different solutions. However, the 
Court did rule that where a Member State chose to penalise the breach of the prohibition of discrim­
ination by the award of compensation, that compensation must in any event be appropriate to the 
damage sustained. Thus the award of a purely nominal amount would, not satisfy the requirements of 
the Directive. 
Case 152/84 Marshall v Southampton and South West Hampshire Area Health Authority 
(Teaching) [1986] ECR 723. 
The Court ruled that the forced retirement of a female employee at the age of 62, when a man in a 
similar position could continue working until the age of 65, was a breach of Article 5(1) of the Equal 
treatment Directive. When the case returned to the national courts, the national courts were faced with 
a statutory limit on the amount of compensation which could be awarded. It was not possible to award 
interest on the amount of compensation, despite the long delay between the initiation of the case and 
the national courts decision. The Court was asked if a Member State could fix a ceiling on the amount 
of damages available for a breach of the equal treatment directive and refuse to award interest on that 
sum. The Court ruled that, where a Member State had chosen to implement the aims of the equal 
treatment Directive by means of compensation, the award must be adequate in that it must enable the 
loss and damage actually sustained as a result of the discriminatory dismissal to be made good in full 
accordance with the national rules. 
Case C-200/91 Coloroll Pensions Trustees Ltd v Russell et al [1994] ECR 1-4389. 
The Court of Justice ruled that the trustees of a pension scheme must do everything within the scope 
of their powers to ensure compliance with the principle of equal treatment, by using all the means 
available to them. If necessary, they should resort to the courts to alter the terms of the trust deed estab­
lishing the pension scheme. 
102 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
TABLE 29 -
LEGAL CASES 
BELGIUM DENMARK GERMANY IRELAND NETHERLANDS UK FRANCE ITALY LUXEMBOURG 
Qgfgggrjgjjgg IWMWl 
1971 
1975 
1978 
1980 
1981 
1982 
1984 
1986 
1988 
1989 
1990 
1991 
1992 
1993 
1994 
1995 
1996 
Total 1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
7 
1 
1 
16 
Article 169 IX. Actions on Ariidc 11') ÏÇ 
1983 
1985 1 
1993 1 
Total 1 1 
ftlllBlli^l^ll'lilirllllliHUr/mtilM/ilM 
1983 
1985 
1988 
Total 231 
1 
1 
ammmmmm HlMliJl EBBBBDS 
1991 
Total 
1984 3 
1986 
1990 1 
1991 
1992 
1993 1 
1994 1 1 
1995 1 
1996 
Total 1 1 6 
m*mvk**+m*MmimMmmmMmmvvm*m 
1982 
1986 
1987 
1988 
1989 
1991 
1992 
1994 
1995 
Total 
GraadToUl ii:2*| 7 
lis 1 
1 
2 
1 
7 
1 1 
Source: EC J and CELEX 
103 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN 
In a number of Member States, the sex industry is increasingly using and exploiting foreign women recruited in 
Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in developing countries. The women drawn into these networks are in a 
vulnerable position in economic, social and political terms and find themselves in a relationship of unequal 
strength in the face of what are in effect organised criminal' enterprises. Moreover, trafficking in women for the 
purposes of sexual exploitation is becoming an increasingly significant form of irregular immigration into the 
countries of the European Union: the fact that women living in this way in the European Union have no legal 
status makes any defence of their rights uncertain. 
Trade in women for the purposes of sexual exploitation is, in any case, incompatible with the fundamental prin­
ciples inherent in human rights, as expressed in the preamble to, and in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights,48 and also in the preamble to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Towards Women." 
Respect for human rights and the fight against violence directed towards women featured in the Declaration of 
the Beijing platform adopted at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. 
Following a European Union initiative, led by Commissioner Gradin, a conference was organised in Austria, on 
10 and 11 June 1996, with the cooperation of the International Organisation of Migration. The problems of 
trafficking in women were approached from the angle of it being a breach of human rights, from the angle of 
violence towards women and from the angle of organised crime'. To unravel the complexity of the problems, the 
exchanges of experience were centred around four workshops, the themes of which were intended to form the 
main lines of a Communication from the Commission to the Council. These themes were immigration, law 
enforcement and police cooperation, legal aspects and social policy. 
In terms of social policy, the recommendations put forward by the experts from the Member States and the spe­
cialist organisations attending the conference were geared towards practical solutions. Solutions were favoured 
which take into account the structural reasons for trafficking in women (social exclusion in countries in eco­
nomic transition and in developing countries, inequality, responsibility of traffickers and clients). Consideration 
was given to levels of intervention appropriate to the respective areas of authority of the European Union, the 
Member States, civil society and NGO's. The necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to the problems and a 
commitment at the level of Member States was strongly emphasised. The active involvement of several 
Commissioners in establishing coordinated measures to safeguard the conditions for a healthy exercise of democ­
racy, is indicative of the existence of political will at institutional level. 
The Commission has adopted, on 20 November 1996, a Communication on trafficking in women50 for the pur­
pose of sexual exploitation, in which it states that all EU institutions and the Member States must continue to 
play an active part in order to put an end to the increasing and serious problem of trafficking in women. 
Furthermore, a group of experts has been set up by the Commissions Directorate General for Science, Research 
and Development to work on the socio-economic problems of trafficking in women. A workshop will be organ­
ised in 1997, to focus on the links between trafficking and social exclusion. 
"Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations, General Assembly, 10.12.1948. 
"Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, United Nations General Assembly, December 1993, A/RES/48/104. 
MCOM(96) 567 final of 20.11.1996 
104 
ENABLING WOMEN TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS 
THE VIENNA DECLARATION ON TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN 
Considering that trafficking in, and sexual exploitation of, human beings are permanent violations of 
fundamental human rights, 
Considering the unanimous vote on the draft Resolution against traffic in human beings taken by the 
European Parliament in January 1996 in Strasbourg, 
Encouraged by the initiative of Madame Gradin, Commissioner, in holding a European Conference 
on trafficking in women in Vienna on 10 and 11 June 1996, 
The representatives of the signatory NGOs have decided this day to create a 
EUROPEAN COORDINATION OF NGOs AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN AND SEXUAL 
EXPLOITATION OF HUMAN BEINGS 
Its priority objective is to present to the European authorities initiatives and proposals to facilitate the 
development of joint action and specific projects between agents capable of contributing to the joint 
effort of fighting against the traffic in, and sexual exploitation of, human beings. 
On this day, 11 June 1996, in Vienna, this European coordination brings together: 
•The Coalition against trafficking in Women (European Regional Department), la Federation 
Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme (International Womens Commission), la 
Fédération Européenne pour la Disparition de la Prostitution, la Coordination Belge des associations 
de Payoke (Saralek, Stratelis, Stoppers and Asmodee), Coordinamento servizi Caritas contro lo sfrut-
tamento délia prostituzione, Italia. 
Source: Extract from The Declaration of Vienna 1996. 
105 

CHAPTER 6 
THEADVANCES 
OF BEIJING 
Sïfc^iKÏSKftWa 
THE BEIJING PREPARATORY 
PROCESS 
The First United Nations World Conference 
on Women was held in Mexico City in 1975. It 
was followed by the UN Decade for Women: 
Equality, Development and Peace, designed to 
give impetus to national governments' actions to 
improve women's rights and opportunities. The 
Second and Third World Conferences took place 
in Copenhagen in 1980 and Nairobi in 1985. 
The Fourth World Conference was called to 
assess the implementation, throughout the UN's 
Member States, of 'Forward Looking Strategies 
for the Advancement of Women to the Year 
2000', a text which had been agreed at Nairobi. 
It formed, therefore, an important step in a con­
tinuous 20 year process of integrating gender 
equality into society. 
The Forward Looking Strategies' consisted of 
372 paragraphs of recommendations for action. 
They were designed to bring about real and ben­
eficial change in the position of women in the 
world. However, very many of those involved in 
women's rights and equality between women and 
men were disappointed at the extent to which the 
Forward Looking Strategies were implemented 
nationally and internationally. The UN carried 
out an evaluation of the Forward Looking 
Strategies in 1990. The overall impression was 
' New York United Nations, 1986 (A/CONF.l 16/28/REV.l). 
107 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
that there had been an increase in awareness and 
discussion of womens issues globally, but that the 
amount of change and improvement had been 
disappointing and that there was a sense of stag­
nation. It was therefore agreed that there should 
be another World Conference to review progress 
since 1985 and to set out new commitments and 
strategies for the future. Twelve crucial areas of 
concern were identified within the overall frame­
work of the themes of the earlier world women s 
conferences and the UN decade of women, 
namely equality, development and peace. 
Developments at European 
Union level 
In the European Union too, there have been 
expressions of disappointment at the level of 
progress achieved. Womens pay, for example, 
remains stubbornly lower than men's; issues such 
as job segregation, sexual harassment, and the 
reconciliation of work and family life, continue 
to present real difficulties. But there are improve­
ments and achievements to celebrate as well. 
Both at Member State and at European 
Community level, important new equality legis­
lation has been passed. Attitudes towards equali­
ty issues have improved overall. The need for a 
gender dimension in cooperation development 
has been recognised. The promotion of human 
rights was incorporated into the Treaty on 
European Union and has become one of the 
main prerequisites for membership of the Union. 
NGOs have grown in sophistication and influ­
ence, representing grassroots women's issues more 
directly than ever before. The second2 and third3 
action programmes for equal opportunities, 
together covering the period 1985-1995» give an 
overview of the Community's priorities in the 
decade since Nairobi. Many activities carried out 
under the action programmes implement the 
Forward Looking Strategies, prioritised to suit 
the particular circumstances of the Community. with other important conferences, namely those 
in: 
• Rio in 1992 on environment and development; 
• Vienna in 1993 on human rights (with its cat­
egorical and inspiring declaration that the 
human rights of women are an inalienable, 
integral and indivisible part of universal human 
rights'); 
• Cairo in 1994 on population and development 
(emphasising the right of individuals and cou­
ples to decide freely and responsibly on the 
number, spacing and timing of their children); 
• Copenhagen in March 1995 on social develop­
ment (acknowledging that sustainable econom­
ic development cannot be secured without the 
full participation of women). 
At each of these conferences there were increas­
ingly significant references to gender-specific 
considerations. Many people involved in prepar­
ing for Beijing were keen that these advances 
should be reflected in this key event for women. 
More than merely reflected, there were strong 
lobbies to extend the increased visibility of 
women and women's rights. As it turned out, 
there were also some efforts at Beijing to reverse 
certain of the advances of these earlier confer­
ences. The European Union played its part in 
resisting these efforts and in building on the sta­
tus quo. 
The preparatory process 
The preparation for the conference centred on 
the regular meetings of the UN's Commission on 
the Status of Women in New York. At each of 
these, Member States of the European Union 
held daily coordination meetings under the rele­
vant Presidency to discuss the Unions negotiat­
ing stance on the draft Platform for Action. The 
European Union, both at the preparatory stage 
and at the conference itself, formed one of the 
major and most significant negotiating groups. 
Building on the achievements of 
other recent world conferences 
Throughout the preparatory period and still 
more during the conference, there was a sus­
tained attempt to link the Beijing conference 1 Commission of the European Communities. Equal 
Opportunities for Women Medium-Term Community 
Programme 1986-1990, Bulletin of the EC 3-1986. 
'Third Medium-Term Community Action Programme on 
Equal Opportunities Between Women and Men, COM (90) 
449 final of 6.11.1990. 
108 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
The Commission prepared (i) a working paper 
of the services of the Commission regarding the 
participation by the European Union in the con­
ference4 in July 1994 (ii) a second working paper 
on the same subject5 in February 1995 and (iii) a 
Communication to the Council6 in May 1995 
(see below). Each of these documents laid out the 
Community's priorities for action in the field of 
equal opportunities and gender equality both 
within the Union and outside, in its development 
co-operation and human rights activities. They 
also referred to the 'acquis', the existing body of 
legislation and other commitments in each of 
these areas. 
Community prio?'ities 
for the Beijing Conference 
The Communication to the Council A new 
partnership between women and men: equal 
sharing and participation',6 adopted on 29 May 
1995, outlined the work of the European 
Community in equal opportunities and gender 
equality to date. It highlighted as Community 
priorities for the World Conference: 
• Human rights; 
• Women as dynamic actors; 
• Women in decision-making; 
• Women in the economy; 
• Poverty and exclusion; 
• Other crucial gender gaps (that is gender dif­
ferentials in health, literacy, education). 
A strong emphasis in the Communication was 
on mainstreaming: 
'Policies and measures aimed at promoting 
gender equality and improving women's status 
will not have the necessary impact unless specific 
measures are also introduced to ensure that a gen­
der perspective is mainstreamed in general poli­
cies relating to all spheres of society.' 
It also stressed the development of a new rela­
tionship between women and men in society: 
The Community must seize this opportunity 
provided by the Beijing Conference to prove its 
determination to continue taking a vital lead in the advancement of women world-wide and 
securing a transformed partnership between 
women and men based on equality and empow­
erment'. These themes continued to underpin 
the Community's contribution to the preparation 
and to the conference itself. In fact, it was thanks 
to the European Union that a paragraph on 
mainstreaming was included in each of the 
Platform for Action's Strategic Objectives and 
Actions. A most interesting debate is now going 
on internationally and nationally as to the real 
meaning of mainstreaming', how far it excludes 
or includes positive actions, and how it relates to 
concepts of an all-pervading gender dimension'. 
The Communication addressed this issue in 
the context of development cooperation. It states 
that 'the Community's policy and practice is to 
mainstream a gender perspective throughout its 
development cooperation. The aim is to ensure 
that its activities in this field are responsible to 
local women's needs and priorities, that women 
benefit equally to men, and that they can partic­
ipate fully in the design and implementation of 
development projects. This does not exclude the 
need to take specific large-scale action in favour 
of women where necessary, particularly to address 
serious gender gaps'. 
The Community recognises that effective 
development cooperation needs the full partici­
pation of women as well as men. This is not least 
because women play a vital role in the economy 
although it has historically been unrecognised. 
The Communication also emphasised the 
Community's commitment to human rights. It 
defined them as 'fundamental rights that include 
the right to participate fully as equal partners in 
all aspects of life and 'the keystone of equality 
between women and men'. Human rights for the 
Community extend to the promotion of equality 
and the fight against gender-based violence, dis­
crimination and sexual exploitation both within 
the European Union and in its relations with 
countries outside the Union. A clause defining 
democratic principles and human rights as an 
4SEC(94) 1373 of 28.7.1994. 
4 SEC(95) 247 of 10.2.1995. 
'COM(95) 221 of 29.5.1995. 
109 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
essential element' was introduced in 1992 in all 
agreements concluded with developing countries. 
The Toledo Conference 
The Commission in cooperation with the 
Instituto de la Mujer, (the national equality 
agency in Spain), held a consultative conference 
in Toledo in April 1994. Its aims were to assess 
developments in the Union in the previous ten 
years, to take stock and evaluate what had been 
achieved, to draw out the common threads and 
to make proposals for the future. Working ses­
sions covered: 
• Women in the economy; 
• Women in public life; 
• Women and solidarity (that is solidarity in 
European society and solidarity with women in 
other countries). 
Delegations from the Member States and the 
(then) acceding countries met along with MEPs, 
a wide range of equality experts, representatives 
from international organisations and delegates 
from Eastern and Central Europe. An NGO 
Forum was held in parallel with the conference. 
Regional Preparatory Conferences 
During the course of 1994, five regional 
preparatory conferences were organised by the 
respective UN regional commissions; by ESCAP 
(Asia and the Pacific) in Djakarta; by ECA 
(Africa) in Dakar; by ESCWA (Western Asia) in 
Amman; and by ECLAC (Latin America and the 
Caribbean) in Mar del Plata, Argentina. 
The High-Level Regional Preparatory Meeting 
of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), 
including North America and Israel was the rele­
vant UN regional meeting for the Member States 
of the European Union. It was held in Vienna 
from 17-21 October 1994 and produced, as did 
the other regional meetings, its own regional plat­
form for action7 designed to reflect the particular 
priorities of the region. The priorities identified 
by the ECE region were: 
• The promotion of womens human rights; 
• The alleviation of womens poverty; 
• The promotion of womens contribution to the 
economy; SPANISH MINISTER 
CRISTINA ALBERDI 
SPEAKING IN BEIJING: 
'STRENGTHEN THE 
EUROPEAN COMMITMENT' 
Cristina Alberdi Alonso, Minister for 
Social Affairs, delivered a statement on 
behalf of the European Union on 15 
September 1995. She spoke of'a crucial 
moment of historical significance for 
women (in which) equality between 
women and men is essential to the 
advancement of society and both a matter 
of justice and a condition for develop­
ment.' She called for a new gender con­
tract and a new kind of mutual under­
standing at public and private level 
between women and men' and empha­
sised that 'the European Union has long 
been committed to equality. However, 
this Conference provides the impetus to 
restate and strengthen that commitment.' 
• Equality of treatment between female and male 
workers; reconciliation of work and family life; 
• Gender-specific statistics and research; 
• The promotion of solidarity within and 
between regions and increased participation of 
women in public life. 
Final preparation at the UN level 
The UN Commission on the Status of Women 
met as a Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) in 
New York from 15 March to 7 April to discuss 
the draft Platform for Action for adoption in 
Beijing. The conference secretariat had prepared 
this, based on earlier meetings of the CSW, the 
five regional preparatory conferences and the 
7 Vienna: United Nations ECE 1994 (E/ECE/RW/HLM/18). 
110 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
resulting Platforms for Action, national reports 
and the many consultative and expert meetings 
held around the world. It proved impossible to 
reach agreement on some issues in the draft 
Platform and an informal consultation was held 
at the UN from 31 July to 4 August to make 
progress on these issues. There were another two 
days of informal discussion in Beijing immedi­
ately before the conference. 
Preparations for Beijing 
at Member States level 
The Member States had formed committees, 
often several years earlier, to oversee the prepara­
tion for the conference. Each varied according to 
local priorities, but typically a committee would 
involve some or all of the following: 
• The relevant government departments (social 
affairs/women's rights, foreign affairs/develop­
ment cooperation, employment, education); 
• Parliamentarians at national and regional level; 
• Equality agencies; 
• NGOs; 
• The social partners; 
• Women well-known in society. 
As well as these groups being formally repre­
sented in the national preparatory process, 
Member States carried out widespread consulta­
tion of NGOs - over 600 were involved in the 
Netherlands, for example. 
At the request of the UN, each Member State, 
including of course the Member States of the 
European Union, produced a national report on 
the situation of women as seen by the national 
government. Together, these reports form a 
unique collection of statistics and other informa­
tion on women at the end of the twentieth cen­
tury. 
In the European Union, some countries pro­
duced interesting publications (as well as the for­
mal national report). For example: 
• The Swedish government published 'Men on 
men', eight Swedish men's personal views on 
equality, masculinity and parenthood; 
• Austria (and many others) extracted key statis­
tics from the national report and published 
them as 'Women in Austria, 1985-1995'; COMMISSIONER 
PADRAIG FLYNN: 
'PARTNERSHIP 
AS A KEY WORD' 
Speaking on behalf of the European 
Union at Beijing, on 6 September 
1995, Commissioner Padraig Flynn 
opened blundy with the statement 
'Progress towards equality has not 
been as great as we hoped when we 
adopted the Nairobi Forward-
Looking Strategies.' Like Cristina 
Alberdi, Mr Flynn emphasised the 
idea of partnership and a new gender 
relationship, saying that 'This part­
nership entails equal rights and equal 
sharing of both power and responsi­
bility. It requires the respect of 
women's fundamental rights, their full 
and equal participation in the deci­
sion-making process in the public and 
private domains and their economic 
empowerment.' 
He returned to these themes when 
addressing the European Women's 
Lobby's Plenary at the NGO Forum 
in Huairou, describing partnership' as 
the key word of the event; partnership 
through equal rights for women and 
men; partnership between women 
and men; between public bodies and 
NGOs; among decision-making bod­
ies; and between the South and the 
North. 
Ill 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
m$m%em&m<i$'4mmm&im:Mx. 
THE PLATFORM FOR ACTION 
The Platform for Action8 contains some 360 paragraphs. It is prefaced by a political Declaration 
in which governments commit themselves to implementing the Platform, highlighting particu­
lar areas. 
Chapter 1 takes the form of a Mission Statement describing the Platform as an agenda for 
womens empowerment' and highlights the issues of human rights, partnership with men and 
the need for concerted action and strong commitment. 
The next chapter is the Global Framework It describes developments in the period since 
Nairobi and the problems and challenges that remain, in the context of the wider international 
situation. 
Chapter 3, the Critical Areas of Concern, lists the 12 areas that form the basis of the core of 
Chapter 4, Strategic Objectives and Actions. 
The chapter on Strategic Objectives and Actions details the key actions which the conference 
agreed should be undertaken by a range of players, including national governments and inter­
national agencies. Although it is difficult to summarise such a dense and detailed document, the 
following is a very brief outline. 
Section A: Women and poverty. Discusses the féminisation of poverty and calls for, inter alia, 
adequate social security provision; the use of a gender perspective in economic policy-making; 
new and additional resources for women in poverty; a reduction in the negative impact of struc­
tural adjustment programmes; protection of the rights of migrant women and other vulnerable 
groups of women. 
Section B: Ensure equal access to education. Calls for the elimination of discrimination in 
education; universal access to primary education; the eradication of illiteracy among women; 
better access to training and re-training; the allocation of adequate resources to improve educa­
tion for women. 
Section C: Women and health. Consolidating and developing the Cairo conference on popu­
lation and development, this section stresses women's human rights to control their sexuality and 
reproductive behaviour. It calls for gender-sensitive health care information and preventive 
health programmes. 
Section D: Violence against women. Defines violence as any act of gender-based violence that 
results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women'. 
It calls for measures to prevent and eliminate such violence; studies of violence; the elimination 
of trafficking in women. 
Section E: Women and armed conflict. Spells out the ways in which women's human rights can 
be violated in situations of armed conflict and calls for a strengthening of women's role in con-
* New York: United Nations, Department of Public Information. 1996. 
112 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
flict resolution and in promoting peace; a reduction in military expenditure; the promotion of 
non-violent forms of conflict resolution; the provision of support for refugee women. 
Section F: Women and the economy. Details the current situation of inequality between 
women and men and calls for the promotion of womens economic independence and autono­
my; the facilitation of their equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade; support, 
especially for lower-paid women; the elimination of sex discrimination at work; the promotion 
of measures to help the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities; the recognition of 
unremunerated work. 
Section G: Women in power and decision-making. Calls for women's equal access to, and full 
participation in, power structures and decision-making'; training for leadership. 
Section H: Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women. Calls for national 
machineries to be sited at the highest levels; the integration of a gender perspective into legisla­
tion, policy and programmes; better and fuller gender-disaggregated data. 
Section I: Human rights of women. Essentially reaffirms that women's rights are human rights. 
Refers back to the Vienna conference on human rights and calls for the implementation of exist­
ing human rights treaties and agreements, non-discrimination under the law and in practice; 
measures to ensure that women know and can exercise their legal rights. 
Section J: Women and the media. Looks for a balanced and non-stereotyped presentation of 
women in the media and an increase in the influence of women working in the media. 
Section K: Women and the environment. Notes the essential contribution of women to sus­
tainable development and calls for women's active participation in policy-making affecting the 
environment and the insertion of a gender perspective into such policy-making and pro­
grammes. 
Section L: The girl child. Pointing out girls' disadvantaged situation, this section calls for the 
elimination of discrimination and negative attitudes against girl children in the family and in 
education and training, inheritance, health and nutrition, the labour market; the eradication of 
violence against girl children; the promotion of girl children's status. 
Chapter 5 is on Institutional Arrangements. It points out that while governments have the 
prime responsibility for implementing the Platform, other institutions at international level, like 
the UN itself and the public, private and NGO sectors, have their part to play. A strengthened 
mandate for the CSW is called for as well as a high-level post in the office of the secretary-gen­
eral of the UN. 
Chapter 6 is concerned with Financial Arrangements. It notes the need for political commit­
ment to make the necessary resources available at national, regional and international level. 
113 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING -
• Belgium produced a booklet explaining the his­
tory of UN conferences for women, the 
preparatory process at UN and national level, 
the role of the Platform for Action and the 
Belgian national report; 
• The French coordination committee produced 
a regular bulletin in the run-up to the confer­
ence; 
• Spain produced and brought to the conference 
a report on the situation of Spanish women; 
• Germany published the reports of the working 
groups formed by the national preparatory 
committee. 
The Statistical Office of the European 
Community, Eurostat, published, in cooperation 
with the Commission, 'Women and men in the 
European Union: a statistical portrait'9 before the 
conference. It contains information on: popula­
tion including data on life expectancy and health; 
family life; working life and participation in deci­
sion-making - all describing the situation of 
women living in the 12 Member States of the 
Union in the early 1990s. 
The Commission also produced an explanato­
ry booklet 'The European Community facing the 
challenges of the Fourth World Conference on 
Women'.10 It covered the institutional frame­
work, the background of equal opportunities in 
the Union, development cooperation issues and 
women's and men's human rights. The European 
Parliament adopted a resolution on the confer­
ence" in June 1995. This outlined its views on 
the priorities that should concern both the con­
ference and the European input, and was based 
on the report on preparations for the conference 
(the Grôner Report). Five MEPs from the 
Committee on Women's Rights were present in 
Beijing as part of the official European 
Community delegation and took part in a meet­
ing organised by the Interparliamentary Union 
where a joint declaration was adopted. The 
Parliament passed another resolution12 on 21 
September 1995, on the outcome of the confer­
ence and the Parliament s views on aspects of the 
implementation of the Platform for Action. The 
Economic and Social Committee issued an opin­
ion on 6 July 199513 calling for the Platform for 
Action to be 'capable of providing a new momen­
tum in the promotion of women's rights and 
responsibilities throughout the world' and 'an instrument which can be applied in a whole series 
of different cultural, social and economic envi­
ronments and leads to new commitment to equal 
opportunities and women's advancement.' 
THE CONFERENCE ITSELF 
The Beijing conference was certainly the 
largest body of people ever gathered together to 
reach agreement on a Platform for Action 
addressing the most pressing equality issues on a 
global level. 
Member States had delegations at the confer­
ence, and the European Union was also represent­
ed. Again, the Union held coordination meetings 
on at least a daily basis and sometimes more. The 
European Presidency chaired European Union 
meetings, briefed NGOs on behalf of the 
European Union and regularly updated the 
European Union position paper used in negotiat­
ing the Platform for Action. As a result, the 
Union was able to speak clearly and with a single 
voice: it functioned as a force of real influence 
and authority and could act as broker in some 
difficult and delicate areas of debate. Indeed, the 
European Union positions formed the basis of 
positive agreements. The delegations of the 
Council of Ministers and the Commission (the lat­
ter induding members of the European Parliament) 
worked dosely alongside the Member States' dele­
gations throughout the conference. 
' Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the 
European Communities, 1995. 
10 Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the 
European Communities, 1995. Catalogue no. CC-90-95-
485. 
" A4-0142/95 (Minutes of sitting 15.6.1995). 
12 B4-1194/95 (Minutes of sitting 21.9.1995). 
,JOJC256of2.10.1995, p.28. 
114 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
tmmmsmmim&mimsmii 
Many delegates were inspired by one of the 
closing speeches of the conference, given by the 
Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem 
Brundtland. She maintained that Beijing would 
'irrevocably shape world opinion in spite of a 
continuing genderised apartheid'. 'So, we must 
go back from Beijing - go back to the shanty-
towns...to the croplands...to the indigenous com­
munities - go back to change values and attitudes. 
But not only there. No, we must go to the board­
rooms, to suburbia, to all of our local communi­
ties, to our governments and to the UN head­
quarters. This is where change is required. Both 
in the North and in the South.' 
THE CONTRIBUTION 
OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANISATIONS 
An NGO Forum was held in parallel with the 
official conference, running from 30 August to 8 
September in Huairou. Before the conference, 
there was more than a little controversy about the 
arrangements for and the site of the Forum, some 
50 kilometres from the main conference. Both 
NGOs and national delegations to the UN took 
vigorous action to improve facilities for the 
Forum. 
A most notable phenomenon of recent years 
has been the increasing participation and influ­
ence of NGOs at national and international level. 
The relationship between governments and 
NGOs in the context of large international con­
ferences like Beijing has been a continuous learn­
ing process for both sides. NGOs have made 
great efforts to have an input into the events 
which will truly reflect grass-roots views and pri­
orities, seeing this development as a necessary 
part of the whole issue of social dialogue. The 
consensus among those who were at both Nairobi 
and Beijing is that the linkages and communica-THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL 
ORGANISATIONS 
GESELLSCHAFTFÛR TECHNISCHE 
ZUSAMMENARBEIT (GTZ - TECHNICAL 
COOPERATION COMPANY) 
Gender-awareness is a principle of German development co­
operation, elaborated in various policy papers. As part of a 
broad attempt to increase the integration of a gender dimen­
sion in its work, the relief and rehabilitation programme is one 
of several programmes within GTZ (Technical Cooperation 
Company) which is collaborating with the WID (Women in 
Development) office to increase gender-awareness and 'target-
group orientation. As part of this process, an outside consul­
tancy agency has been commissioned to draw up guidelines, 
with a particular focus on Africa. A workshop is also being 
organised in Ethiopia to discuss gender issues and relief and 
rehabilitation with partner organisations. As this process is still 
underway, with guidelines in draft form, it is not clear how 
they will be used within GZT and with partner organisations. 
OXFAM 
Oxfam introduced a Gender Policy in 1993, which included 
the commitment to ensuring that all emergency and develop­
ment responses incorporated a gender perspective in assess­
ment, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. 
This commitment comes from a desire to transform exploita­
tive or oppressive gender relations (Oxfam, 1993: 4-5). Within 
Oxfam, the Strategic Planning and Evaluation Team and the 
Gender Team work together to ensure that Strategic Planning 
Frameworks incorporate a gender perspective. Managers, both 
within the UK and in the field, as well as advisors, are trained 
in the integration of the gender policy. In addition, Oxfam is 
in the process of creating good practice guidelines' at the 
country team level. Working guidelines for gender in disaster 
relief, have also been written by the gender and emergency 
units. The guidelines cover data collection, basic gender needs 
including water, food, shelter and health and how women may 
be further disempowered, or empowered by relief interven­
tions. 
Source: Extract from 'Gender, Emergencies and Humanitarian Assistance', 
Women in Development Desk, Directorate General for Development, Commission 
of the EC. 
115 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
tion were much more systematic and profession­
al at Beijing. NGOs feel that this can be devel­
oped even further and made more structured and 
that more could be forthcoming from govern­
ments in the way of practical, including financial, 
resources. Member States managed this relation­
ship in a variety of ways, but it is fair to say that 
all made efforts to be inclusive in the preparation 
of the national reports and other preparations for 
the conference. The European Union also was 
instrumental in the establishment of an appeal 
procedure for NGOs having difficulty in being 
recommended for accreditation as observers to 
the official conference and for the extension of 
the deadline for applications. 
The themes which were highlighted for debate 
at the Forum were: 
• A global commitment to women's equal rights; 
• Women's access to education, health care, 
employment and training, legal and political 
rights, economic development and a sustain­
able environment; 
• Women's participation at all levels of govern­
ment and leadership; 
• The elimination of poverty; 
• The elimination of violence against girls and 
women; 
• The elimination of racism. 
The Commission made available an important 
amount of support to help NGOs take part in the 
Beijing process, both at the preparatory stages 
and at the conference itself. The support went 
not only to NGOs in the European Union, but 
also to Eastern and Central Europe and develop­
ing countries. 
In the European Union, the European 
Women's Lobby (EWL), formed in 1990 and 
funded by the Commission, acts as a lobbying 
and coordinating body for European NGOs with 
a particular interest in women's affairs. During 
the preparatory period, the EWL organised a 
forum for European Union NGOs alongside the 
formal conference in Toledo in April 1994 (see 
above). Later, it undertook systematic prepara­
tion as a 'Beijing Project', consisting of an infor­
mation and preparation period before the confer­
ence, a presence at the conference itself and a 
debriefing conference in February 1996. In the run-up to the conference, the Lobby: 
• Met with the European Union presidency in 
July 1995; 
• Held a strategy seminar to develop common 
EWL strategies for the conference; 
• Prepared a poster and an information brochure 
for distribution at the conference; 
• Published a 'Guide for Women to the Fourth 
World Conference on Women and NGO 
Forum '95' which ran to three editions; 
• Produced comments on the draft Platform for 
the European Union Member States govern­
ments and other policy-makers. 
At the conference, the Lobby had a permanent 
information booth which also served as a meeting 
point for European NGOs. It organised daily 
workshops throughout the duration of the 
Forum in the ECE regional tent. The Lobby's 
General Secretary was elected as liaison person 
between NGOs from the ECE region and the 
UN. Many members of official delegations visit­
ed Huairou during the Forum and took part in 
NGO workshops. 
So far as the official conference was concerned, 
a majority of Member States included NGOs in 
their official delegations and the EWL was 
accredited to the conference. Many official dele­
gations organised daily briefings for NGOs and 
there were several briefings between the 
European NGOs and the European Union 
Presidency. One-off meetings also took place 
with some of the official delegates on particular 
items in the Platform for Action. NGOs met 
daily in the 'European Women's Caucus'. 
After Beijing, the EWL organised a follow-up 
conference in February 1996, 'Towards the gen­
der contract - implementation of the Beijing 
Platform for Action'. The aim of the conference 
was to discuss the 'gender contract' concept and 
to discuss strategy based on a detailed analysis, 
prepared by the Lobby, of the Platform for Action 
considered together with the ECE Regional 
Platform. 
In the field of development cooperation, many 
European NGOs came together in a European 
Union International Development Caucus. This 
included established groups like the network 
116 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
Women in Development Europe (WIDE) and 
Eurostep. The Caucus cooperated dosdy with 
groups from other regions and had as their main 
lobbying aim the retention of the advances in the 
texts of the Cairo and Copenhagen conferences and 
the development of the Dedaration and the 
Platform for Action in the areas of poverty, multi­
lateral debt, unwaged labour, resources, the role of 
NGOs, reproductive rights, sexual rights, migra­
tion and the environment. 
WIDE and Eurostep organised a follow-up 
meeting in May 1996. With the support of the 
Commission, WIDE also provided financial sup­
port to ACP (the Asian, Caribbean and Pacific 
countries) NGOs for a first immediate follow-up 
to Beijing and will organise four ACP regional 
workshops on specific areas of concern. 
AFTER THE CONFERENCE 
IMPLEMENTING THE 
PLATFORM FOR ACTION 
European Council meeting, 
Spain, October 1995 
There was a strong endorsement of the out­
come of the conference. The Council agreed that 
it would review the European Union's implemen­
tation of the Platform for Action annually. How 
to transform the European Member States' com­
mitments into practical plans was the subject of a 
follow-up conference held in Spain in November 
1995. Under the title 'Las Mujeres Proponen', it 
gave an opportunity to take stock of the strategies 
at national and European Union level to imple­
ment the Platform for Action in the fields of deci­
sion-making; mainstreaming equal opportuni­
ties; and the image of women in society. Opening 
the conference, Mrs Cristina Alberdi took up the 
themes which had come up again and again in 
the European Union positions and in the confer­
ence as a whole: empowerment, mainstreaming, partnership. She called on Member State govern­
ments to examine what commitments they were 
going to undertake after Beijing, and linked the 
implementation of the Platform for Action to the 
Essen and Cannes Councils, at both of which 
equal opportunities had been identified as a 
prime task of the European Community. 
Meeting of the Cqmmission on the 
Status of Women, New York, 
March 1996 
In the first post-Beijing meeting of the CSW, 
the European Union again participated effective­
ly. Member States agreed on significant state­
ments on all the critical areas of concern reviewed 
by the CSW. The Union also took the initiative 
in many of the areas of substantive negotiations 
and contributed considerably to what was an 
'unusually' positive meeting. 
In an intervention on behalf of the European 
Union, 'the commitment of the European Union 
to the Declaration and the Platform for Action as 
an agenda for the empowerment of women', was 
confirmed. The outcome of the conference was 
summed up by saying that 'in Beijing we reaf­
firmed a dynamic concept of policies of women 
and for women through empowerment and main-
streaming: key concepts and operative ideas that 
suggest a strategy of political, economic, cultural 
and social change oriented towards women and 
men. 
Fourth Action Programme on 
Equal Opportunities 
The Fourth Action Programme on Equal 
Opportunities (1996-2000) gives a clear picture 
of the Community's priorities in implementing 
the Platform for Action. Based on close consider­
ation of the priorities for women in the Union, 
the Fourth Action Programme can be a driving 
force in the implementation of the Platform for 
Action both within the Member States and in the 
Union as a whole. To quote Commissioner Flynn 
when he addressed the conference, 'The results of 
this conference can enrich our ideas for (the 
Fourth Action Programme's) implementation. A 
Council Decision on the Action Programme was 
SVKV*>^**M*«S<«W 
117 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
passed in December 1995.14 A second important ini­
tiative at Community levd is the Communication of 
the Commission on mainstreaming of equal oppor­
tunities in all relevant Community polides and pro­
grammes.15 The Communication defines the process 
of mainstreaming as not restricting efforts to promote 
equality to the implementation of spedfic measures to 
help women, but mobilising all general policies and 
measures specifically for the purpose of achieving 
equality by activdy and openly taking into account at 
the planning stage their possible effects on the respec­
tive situations of women and men (gender perspec­
tive)'. It refers to the Community's involvement in 
formulating the Beijing Dedaration and Platform for 
Action and the emphasis which mainstreaming was 
given at the conference. It also draws attention to the 
role of the Community at the other related UN con­
ferences mentioned above; and restates the recogni­
tion by the Essen, Cannes and Madrid Councils that 
equal opportunities, along with the fight against 
unemployment, are some of the paramount tasks of 
the Union and its Member States. 
The areas covered by the Communication link 
very directly with the Platform for Action. They 
include: • Employment and the labour market (including 
the Structural Funds and the Fourth Action 
Programme); 
• Women entrepreneurs (including the role of 
assisting spouses; the role of the Community 
initiatives; training and information projects); 
• Education and training (including a range of 
training programmes); 
• Rights of persons (induding measures aimed at 
curbing violence against women; women refugees; 
measures against trafficking of persons; family 
structures); 
• External relations (including attention to gen­
der issues in development cooperation at plan­
ning, programmes and political level); 
• Information/awareness (including reference to 
a wide range of events and publications and the 
need to monitor the content and quality of 
information); 
• The Commissions personnel policy. 
uDecision 95/593/EC OJ L 335 of 30.12.1995, p.37. 
"Communication from the Commission incorporating equal 
opportunities for women and men into all community poli­
cies and activities COM(96) 67 final of 21.2.1996. 
TABLE 30 
WOMEN'S SHARE OF ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE POPULATION BY GLOBAL REGION, 1990 
ASIA . 
SOUTHEAST ASIA OCEANIA . 
SOUTH ASIA j 
CENTRAL ASIA:. 
WESTERN ASIA 
OCEANIA .. 
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA . 
NORTHERN AFRICA.' 
LATIN AMERICA CARRIBEAN ;• 
CARRIBEAN :• 
EASTERN EUROPE ; 
EUROPE AND OTHER DEVELOPED 
EU 1 I. J 
SOURCE: UNITED NATIONS. THE WORLD'S WOMEN 1995, TRENDS AND STATISTICS, NEW YORK, CHART 5.4A 
NOTE: DATA FOR EU FROM EUROSTAT (LFS) (EU 12) 1990. TABLE 1. 
118 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
Particular attention is paid to the Structural 
Funds. 
The Communication concludes with the 
expectation that '1996 should lead to substantial 
progress in implementing the principle of main-
streaming in all Community policies' - certainly 
an important element, in turn, of implementing 
the Platform for Action. 
Integrating*gender issues 
in development cooperation 
In the context of relations with countries out­
side the Union, the Communication on integrat­
ing gender issues in development cooperation16 
proposes common policy guidelines for the 
Commission and Member States on gender issues 
in development. It also makes suggestions for 
strengthening and intensifying the existing policy 
of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all poli­
cies and programmes. The Council of Ministers 
adopted a resolution on the subject at its meeting 
in December 1995.17 It: 
• Notes that women's participation in the devel­
opment process remains a secondary considera­
tion and relates the resolution to the commit­
ments of the Beijing conference; 
• Outlines general principles for gender-sensitive 
development cooperation which should inform 
all future dealings with partner countries; 
• Outlines means and strategies on, inter alia, 
policy-making, negotiation with partner coun­
tries, positive action to correct gender differen­
tials as well as mainstreaming of the gender 
dimension at all levels, training for decision­
makers and for all those working in develop­
ment; 
• Calls for an annual meeting of experts from the 
Community and the Member States and stresses 
the importance of greater coordination between 
the Community and the Member States, as well 
as for the systematic consideration of gender 
issues in all coordination initiatives; 
• Calls for a system for reporting on the imple­
mentation of the resolution, with a review of 
progress in the second half of 1997. Human rights 
The Commission Communication on the 
'European Union and the external dimension of 
human rights policy: from Rome to Maastricht 
and beyond',18 highlights that women's funda­
mental rights form an integral, inalienable and 
indivisible part of universal human rights. The 
Communication proposes also to take into 
account the conclusions of Beijing and to consid­
er women as active participants in society and to 
promote their full participation in political, eco­
nomic and social life. At the 52nd session of the 
Commission on Human Rights in Geneva from 
18 March to 26 April, the Italian Presidency, on 
behalf of the European Union, gave the opening 
speech, confirming the Unions commitment to 
Vienna and Beijing. 
Implementation of the Platform 
for Action 
The great range of the Platform for Action and 
the varying priorities of Member States, make it 
impossible to describe in detail each country's 
plans for implementation of the Platform for 
Action. At the meeting of the European Social 
Affairs Council on 3 June 1996, Member States 
reported on follow-up to the conference. The fol­
lowing section summarises the main themes and 
approaches to implementation which emerged 
from that follow-up, with some specific examples 
included for illustration. 
There is inevitably an overlap between actions 
following Beijing and ongoing equal opportuni­
ties and development cooperation programmes 
which Member States had in place before the 
preparation for Beijing began - programmes cov­
ering education, women in economic life and 
women in decision-making, for example. However, 
many actions stem directly from the Platform for 
Action. Even where they do not, many countries 
speak of an intensification of activity or a re-dou­
bling of efforts inspired by the conference and the 
impetus it has given to equality matters. The 
Platform is also described in terms of giving a 
" COM(95) 423 final of 18.9.1995. 
17 Resolution 12627/95 of 20.12.1995. 
'" COM(95) 567 final of 22.11.1995. 
119 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY 
Respect for human rights is one of the main prereq­
uisites for membership of the European Union, a 
basic principle informing all its activities. The Treaty 
states in Article F(2): The Union shall respect fun­
damental rights, as guaranteed by the European 
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights 
and Fundamental Freedoms signed in Rome on 4 
November 1950 and as they result from the consti­
tutional traditions common to the Member States, 
as general principles of Community law'. 
With regard to external action the Treaty states that 
it is one of the main objectives of the common for­
eign and security policy 'to develop and consolidate 
democracy and the rule of law and respect for 
human rights and fundamental freedoms'.19 In the 
same way, European Community development 
cooperation policy 'shall contribute to the general 
objective of developing and consolidating democra­
cy and the rule of law and to that of respecting 
human rights and fundamental freedoms'.20 
These provisions constitute a decisive advance in the 
development of an essentially economic Community 
into a political body. The founding Treaties make no 
explicit reference to human rights or the relevant 
international instruments; such reference was not to 
make an appearance until thirty years later, in the 
preamble to the Single European Act, in which 
political cooperation is formally enshrined. 
Source: Extract from 'The European Union and the External 
Dimension of Human Rights Policy: From Rome to Maastricht and 
Beyond' COM(95) 567 of 22.11.95, p.5. 
"Article J. 1(2), fifth indent. 
*' Article 130U(2) of the Treaty of European Union. solid base from which to move forward, a refer­
ence point, and a statement of affirmation. 
Just as the period before Beijing saw a greater 
involvement of NGOs in Member States and bet­
ter communications between governments and 
NGOs, so the follow-up to the conference has 
seen examples of a deepening of these relation­
ships. Governments have made real efforts not 
only to inform NGOs, but to consult with them 
on how best to implement the Platform. It has 
been a two-way process. For example, Belgian 
NGOs presented a memorandum to govern­
ment; other NGOs set up working groups or 
meetings to relate the Platform to their own 
-and/or their governments' priorities (Belgium, 
Denmark and the Netherlands); the UK carried 
out a consultation exercise in asking NGOs for 
their views on implementation; Ireland is exam­
ining mechanisms to ensure NGO participation 
in implementation. 
Most Member States saw the dissemination of 
information about the conference and the 
Platform for Action as their first responsibility 
after the conference had ended and the delega­
tions returned home. Member States set about 
this task in a variety of different ways: 
Virtually every Member State organised an 
event or events in the form of conferences, work­
shops or seminars for women's groups and other 
NGOs, the social partners, politicians and others 
interested in knowing about the conference. 
Some of these events were at national level, oth­
ers were regional. Italy hosted and co-funded a 
series of international events linked to Beijing, 
particularly on employment matters, while 
Austria's follow-up conference also included dele­
gates from many countries outside the Union; 
Greece used the occasion of International 
Women's Day to highlight information on 
Beijing. 
In many cases non-governmental organisations 
also organised their own events. 
Many Member States, including Germany, 
Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and 
France, have already published a report on the 
conference and/or a translation of the Platform in 
full or in summary, or have definite plans to do 
so. The UK national report is available on the 
120 
Internet and the Netherlands hopes to use this 
form of dissemination of information also; 
Austria plans a series of four publications on the 
conference, on its follow-up and studies on 
migrant women in Austria and on the enhance­
ment of the gender perspective in development 
cooperation. Reports to Parliament by ministers 
present at Beijing and/or Parliamentary hearings 
or debates took place in Denmark, Italy, 
Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, 
Belgium and the UK. 
Some Member States have already introduced 
new legislation or are proposing to do so. For 
example, Belgium proposes a law to ensure that 
federal consultative bodies have at least one-third 
women members. In Luxembourg, the Chamber 
of Deputies has called for the insertion of the 
principle of equal opportunities into the consti­
tution. Other proposed legislation is mentioned 
in other paragraphs in this section. 
There are many examples of new structures 
being set up. Portugal has created a High 
Commissioner for the Promotion of Equality and 
Family Issues in the Prime Minister's office and a 
new Parliamentary Commission for Parity and 
Equal Opportunities; Italy has for the first time a 
ministry for equal opportunities; also for the first 
time, the Flemish government in Belgium has a 
minister responsible for equal opportunities; the 
Swedish government has created regional 'focal 
points' to promote equal opportunities regionally 
and to stimulate mainstreaming; Luxembourg 
has introduced an interministerial committee for 
equality. 
Linked with these new structures are new 
undertakings to report on progress. The UK has 
proposed an annual review cycle which will 
include an annual report on progress in imple­
menting the Platform and annual meetings with 
NGOs, nationally and regionally. A law passed in 
Belgium in February 1996 commits the govern­
ment to report annually on the implementation 
of the Platform; the report will refer also to the 
conclusions of the NGO Forum and the minis­
ters responsible for equal opportunities and for 
development aid will both report to Parliament. 
There is a very wide range of activities which 
might be described as mainstreaming. Many gov-THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
mmsmmmmmmmfssseimmimmimimm 
emments including Germany, Finland, Sweden 
and the United Kingdom have invited all govern­
ment departments to consider how best to inte­
grate the Platform into their activities. The 
Portuguese Commission for Equality and 
Women's Rights produced a Memorandum with 
priorities for future action with input from many 
departments. Mainstreaming is overtly men­
tioned as a goal by Sweden, France and the UK; 
France makes the point that this means involving 
women and men in partnership. 
As well as the inter-departmental activities 
mentioned in the previous paragraph, many 
Member States have set up structures and 
processes to examine how best to implement the 
Platform. Denmark and Luxembourg have set up 
Commissions while Austria has a working group 
with the social partners; Ireland has announced 
its intention to produce a declaration of national 
policy, reviewing national programmes in the 
light of the Platform. 
The budgetary implications are addressed by 
the Netherlands, which has undertaken to put 
forward proposals in the next budget speech for 
the inter-departmental implementation of the 12 
strategic objectives; Finland will produce a dis­
crete programme on equality of the sexes based 
on the Platform, with its own budget. 
So far as development cooperation is con­
cerned, several Member States are increasing their 
efforts to make sure that policies and projects 
have a gender dimension. A new law in 
Luxembourg will increase the availability of 
funding to NGOs which want to carry out pro­
jects on promoting women in developing coun­
tries; Austria has set up a working group of 
NGOs and government departments to plan new 
measures on introducing a gender dimension; 
Sweden has proposed a law to add the goal of 
equality to the existing basic principles which 
govern development cooperation. 
Section D of the Strategic Objectives concerns 
violence against women; several European Union 
governments have highlighted actions in this 
area. France proposes a full-time telephone 
helpline for victims of rape or domestic violence 
and will expand support centres to all depart­
ments; Sweden states it intends to introduce pro-
121 
THE ADVANCES OF BEIJING 
posais for legislation to strengthen and extend 
existing measures to combat violence against 
women; there will be special training for the 
police forces in Belgium; Portugal has made the 
issue one of the priorities of its Programme of 
Action. 
In the more technical arena, some countries 
have undertaken to improve official statistics. 
Belgium has commissioned a research study on 
gaps in statistics and how best to improve statis­
tical information; Denmark and France will pro­
duce statistical analyses of pay inequality; after 
future elections in France, statistics broken down 
by sex will be published on candidates and those 
elected; Sweden has highlighted the importance 
of sex-segregated statistics in its training course 
for high-level civil servants and others. The UK 
has declared its intention to ask all government 
departments to analyse and publish all key statis­
tics by sex. 
122 
LIST OF TABLES 
Table 1: Activity rate of women (15-64 years) in the European Union (%), 1990 and 1995 
Table 2: Population of the Member States of the European Union, 1995 
Table 3: Activity rate of women and men (15-64 years) in the European Union (%), 1995 
Table 4: Non-employment and inactivity rates of women and men (15-24 years) in the 
European Union (%), 1994 
Table 5: Non-employment and inactivity rates of women and men (50-64 years) in the 
European Union (%), 1994 
Table 6: Activity rate of women and men (15-24 years) in the European Union (%), 1995 
Table 7: Activity rate of women and men (50-64 years) in the European Union (%), 1995 
Table 8: Activity rate of women by level of educational achievement in the European 
Union (%), 1995 
Table 9: Activity rate of women and men (25-64 years), having attained university education in 
Europe (%), 1995 
Table 10: Unemployment Rate of women and men in the European Union (%), 1995 
Table 11: Women in employment by professional status in the European Union (%), 1995 
Table 12: Employment status of women and men in agriculture in the European 
Union (%), 1995 
Table 13: Women as a proportion of occupational groups in the European Union (%), 1995 
Table 14: The earnings gap, women manual workers, average hourly earnings as a percentage of 
mens, European Union, 1990-1994 
Table 15: Activity rate by age in the European Union (%), 1995 
Table 16: Employment status of mothers with child aged 0-10 years in the European 
Union (%), 1993 
Table 17: Percentage of parr-time employment among mothers and fathers with child under 10 
years, in the European Union, 1993 
Table 18: Full-time and part-time employment of mothers with child aged 0-10 years, in the 
European Union, (%) 1985 and 1993 
Table 19: Rate of unemployment and inactivity of mothers and fathers with child aged 0-10 
years, in the European Union, (%), 1993 
Table 20: Womens part-time and temporary work as a share of total employment in the 
European Union, (%), 1994 
Table 21: Total fertility rates in the European Union for 1980, 1985 and 1994 
Table 22: Composition of private households in the EU 12, (%), 1994 
Table 23: Participation of women in national parliamentary assemblies in the EU Member States 
and in the European Parliament (%) 
Table 24: Participation of women in the national governments of the EU Member States and in 
the EU Commission (%) 
Table 25: Participation of women in the regional parliaments and governments of the EU 
Member States 
Table 26: Participation of women in public administration at national level in the EU Member 
States (%) 
123 
Table 27: Participation of women at local political level in the EU Member States(%) 
Table 28: Women as members and as leaders of the affiliated sectoral and regional unions and as 
congress delegates of the 31 national confederations of the ETUC, 1993 
Table 29: Legal cases 
Table 30: Womens share of economically active population by global region, 1990 
LIST OF CHARTS 
Chart 1: Levels of application of mainstreaming strategies 
Chart 2: Measures concerning equal opportunities in the multiannual programme 
Chart 3: Overview of services for young children, school-age and length of schoolday 
Chart 4: Overview of parental leave provisions in European Union countries, 1994-95 
Chart 5 Individualisation of income taxation 
Chart 6: Family-linked derived rights in retirement systems in Europe 
Map 1: Activity rates - 1994 - female 
124 
LIST OF SOURCES 
1. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey and ILO 
2. Eurostat, Demographic Statistics 
3. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
4. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
5. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
6. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
7. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
8. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
9. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
10. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
11. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
12. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
13. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
14. Eurostat - Harmonised Statistics of Earnings 
15. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
16. European Commission Network on Child-care 
17. European Commission Network on Child-care 
18. European Commission Network on Child-care 
19. European Commission Network on Child-care 
20. Eurostat, Community Labour Force Survey 
21. Eurostat Demographic Statistics 
22. Eurostat Community Labour Force Survey 
23. European Experts Network 'Women in Decision-Making' 
24. European Experts Network 'Women in Decision-Making' 
25. European Experts Network 'Women in Decision-Making' 
26. European Experts Network 'Women in Decision-Making' 
27. European Experts Network 'Women in Decision-Making' 
28. 'Women in Decision-Making in Trade unions', Braithwaite and Byrne, 
European Trade Union Confederation, Brussels. 
29. Database of the CJEC and Celex 
30. Statistical Division of the United Nations 
SOURCES 
The main source of data used is the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) and, in particular the 
Community Labour Force Survey (LFS). This is the only source of data on employment and related variables which is 
comparable and complete for all Member States. Since it is based on a survey of households and uses a common coding 
and methodology, it abstracts from national differences in definitions, methods of classification and adminstrative proce­
dures and regulations. Data from national sources may, therefore, differ from the figures presented in this report. 
Data in chapters three and four is supplemented by data gathered by experts in the Member States from national sources. 
The data collection was co-ordinated and analysed by networks of experts supported by DGV of the European 
Commission. Chapter five presents data on cases which was provided from the database of the Court of Justice of the 
European Communities, Luxembourg and from the CELEX legal database. Chapter six uses data from the Statistical 
Division of the United Nations. 
125 
DATA SOURCES 
Notes for Table 26 
Data for Austria and Sweden not available. 
Data for Greece at management level not available. 
Division based on the table of equivalence between the administration in the EC Member States from 'Women in the 
Higher Public Services' Barbara C. Wurster (éd.). 
Remarks: Finland: Only at the state level (central government -total public administration). By profession: upper officials 
(clerical personnel) working in managerial positions, and presenting and planning officials (at university level). By profes­
sion: upper officials (clerical personnel) working in managerial positions. Women at top-positions of public administration: 
secretary generals, chief directors, heads of departments, deputy heads of departments, heads of divisions and special advi­
sors (highest level). Denmark: university level only at state level. Germany: include Federal Ministries and the institutions 
under their jurisdiction, Federal courts, judicially dependent enterprises of the Federal Government, German Railways, 
Federal German Postal Service. Spain: do not include teachers, organs of State security, army, justice administration person­
nel, 'statutory' social security personnel. 
Note for Table 27 
Note: Austria no representative national data. Number of mayors, 1994: 0.85 per cent (20/2333). 
Figures for the UK are complex. There are several types of local government with different election arrangements. Accurate 
figures for the number of women elected to serve on local government councils are available for the London Boroughs 27.9 
per cent, Northern Ireland 12 per cent, Scotland 21 per cent. 
126 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(96) 650 final 
DOCUMENTS 
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Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-728-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-14080-5 
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