I am particularly pleased that you have invited me to speak at today’s conference, organized by the European Women’s Lobby and the Union of Women of Greece. Undoubtedly, your organizations play an important role at both national and European levels in promoting gender equality, and your valuable contribution to the integration of the gender dimension into all actions and policies is widely recognized.

A brief historical review makes it clear that the recognition of women’s human rights is a recent development. In Europe, women began to cautiously emerge in the public sphere at the beginning of the ^19th century, with the development of the feminist movement. It took years of struggle for women to be fully recognized as political entities equal to men, at least from a legal standpoint.

During the ^20th century, the struggles for women’s suffrage, as well as for equal access to education, paid employment, and political life, reached their peak. These were areas of public life that, until a few years ago, were off-limits for women. Specifically, over the past 20 years, the focus has been on achieving balanced participation of both genders in democratic institutions and in political decision-making processes.

Undoubtedly, significant progress has been made in women’s participation across all sectors, particularly after the war and the establishment of the European Community. However, this great change, the largest peaceful revolution in human history, the recognition of women’s fundamental freedoms and rights, was not sufficiently accompanied by a redistribution of traditional family responsibilities and private sphere obligations, in order to facilitate the combination of professional and family life. At the same time, discrimination and inequalities against women, as well as gender-based stereotypes, continue to exist in all structures of economic, social, and political life, accompanied by an intensification of violence against women, which remains the worst form of rights violation. All of this, despite the numerous declarations and action programs adopted at the UN World Conferences on Women in Mexico City in 1975, Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985, Beijing, China, in 1995, and New York, USA, in 2000, within the framework of which the principle of equal opportunities was established and it was declared that women’s rights are human rights.

28 years after the first UN conference on women in Mexico, the statistical picture of women’s participation at high levels of the decision-making process remains disappointing. The current political reality is characterized by a serious democratic deficit, given that women, as the majority of the electorate, are either a minority or completely absent from decision-making centers. It is certain that the absence or underrepresentation of women in shaping and making decisions contributes to the perpetuation of gender discrimination, the marginalization of vital social issues, economic poverty, and the incomplete functioning of democratic institutions.

Violence, sexual abuse, the increased unemployment of women, unequal pay between men and women in the workplace, the inequality of opportunities for career advancement, and the unreasonable demand—placed only on women—for the harmonization of many different roles are problems directly linked to the fact that women do not co-shape the political agenda and do not possess economic and political power. Only when women are adequately represented in the centers of future planning and political decision-making will their problems find satisfactory solutions.

Any current limited female participation in political decision-making has been achieved exclusively thanks to the women’s movement and initiatives such as the implementation of equal opportunities policies, affirmative action measures, and the establishment of quotas. The issue, however, is not merely to increase the number of women in decision-making positions, but to change the culture that recognizes the primacy of men and to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the work and contribution of women to economic and social development, using the same criteria that apply to men. It is certain that the infrastructure in health, education, and social welfare, the care and support of socially excluded individuals, the protection of the human and natural environment, and other issues related to improving quality of life, which are fundamental parameters of a country’s sustainable development, can receive special promotion if a “critical mass” of women participates in the processes of planning and decision-making.

The balanced participation of men and women in political life is a fundamental prerequisite for the progress of any democratic society and a driving force for social advancement. However, this requires a revision of the gender contract and a fair distribution of all responsibilities and obligations in both public and private life. It also requires changes in work-time models, mindsets, behaviors, practices, and the structures of political parties and government.

Merit-based processes for selecting executives and parliamentarians are needed, along with an electoral system that does not inherently exclude women’s participation in politics. At the same time, the ability of women to participate in leadership positions must be cultivated through education and training in leadership roles, decision-making positions, public speaking, autonomous advocacy for rights, and the promotion of political campaigns and other relevant programs. From the examination of statistical data at the European level, it becomes clear that the member states with the highest percentages of female representation (Scandinavian countries) are those that have proportional or mixed electoral systems with candidate lists, in contrast to countries with a majority voting system or preference voting system, which have lower percentages of female representation.

The European Community, starting with the Treaty of Rome in 1957, made a decisive contribution to the promotion of gender equality through the adoption of legislative measures and other provisions aimed at preventing and eliminating discrimination in all areas of life. The need for balanced participation of men and women in decision-making positions was recognized with the Council of Ministers’ Recommendation of 1996, which called on member states to develop actions that would promote gender equality in political decision-making. With the Amsterdam Treaty, gender equality was recognized as one of the main objectives of the European Union. Based on this Treaty, the ^5th Community Programme for Gender Equality, adopted for the period 2001–2005, includes the equal representation and participation of women in decision-making as one of its goals.

It is therefore clear that the European Union provides a favorable institutional framework for action and the undertaking of initiatives. It is also worth noting the significant progress made in the European Union during the 1990s. From 1991 to 1999, the number of women in the European Parliament increased from 19% to 31%, in the European Commission from 10% to 25%, and in the governments of the member states from 11% to 23%. Today, five (5) women serve as Commissioners in the European Commission, and the percentage of female participation in the European Parliament stands at 31%.

I would also like to mention that some member states have already established laws for equal representation in local and parliamentary elections (France, Belgium, Spain), while in other member states (Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom), a similar trend is emerging.

I would also like to refer to the enlargement of the European Union, which today is an essential condition for establishing stability, democracy, peace, and prosperity on the European continent. Based on the multiple commitments and declarations of the European Union and its member states to achieve gender equality at the international, European, and national levels, an enlarged Europe should mean a Europe without any form of exclusion. Equal representation of women and men in the proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly for the future of Europe, in light of the Enlargement, should have been the natural outcome of these commitments and declarations. Unfortunately, this has not happened. Of the total 105 members of the Assembly, only 17 women are participating.

The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality of the European Parliament, of which I have the honor of being the Chair, has strongly criticized the composition of the Assembly, but has also continued to work intensively to strengthen the institutional framework for gender equality in the future Constitutional Treaty.

Our Committee organized repeated meetings with the participation of Members of the Constitutional Assembly, representatives of non-governmental organizations, experts, and representatives of the European Commission, during which we examined positions and proposals on the role of women in the new Treaty. We also held similar meetings with the Network of Parliamentarians responsible for gender equality issues in the member states and candidate countries. One such meeting, initiated by myself, took place on March 31st in Athens, where we adopted a second Declaration concerning the new Treaty, which complements the first one that was adopted during the Network’s meeting in Copenhagen on November 23-24, 2002.

Here are some examples of the demands we made to the Assembly:

• ¨ The equality of men and women should be included in the values of the Union.
• ¨ The legal basis should be strengthened so that gender equality is secured in practice and in all areas of policy, including ensuring a balanced participation of men and women in decision-making processes.
• ¨ A clear prohibition of any discrimination based on gender.
• ¨ Gender mainstreaming should be a fundamental principle of the Constitutional Treaty.
• ¨ The fight against violence against women should be one of the goals and should have a legal basis in the Treaty.
• ¨ The new Constitution should be written in gender-neutral language.
• ¨ The “acquis communautaire” should be fully safeguarded and strengthened.

In conclusion, I want to emphasize that the issue of gender equality is not only a matter of justice between men and women. It is a fundamental human right and a core principle of democracy. Women and women’s values cannot be marginalized in the process of building the future of Europe. The future constitutional Treaty must reflect the expectations of both women and men in an expanded Europe and affirm the established principle of equal treatment of men and women.

Our goal is to enshrine gender equality in the Treaty, so that it provides the legal tools for its implementation in all areas without exception.

Anna Karamanou

Mihalakopoulou 104

11528 Athens

tel. 210-7775223

fax. 210-7757771

Εmail: [email protected]