European Women

1
European Womens Lobbying Steps towards a
European Social Dialogue

• Dr Katerina Kolyva
• European Cultural Interactions
• Vilnius, 28 June 2004

2
objectives of the presentation

• EU policy making patterns
• The role of lobbying in EU policy making
• Current status of women issues in EU policies
• Womens lobbying and networking
• Assets versus challenges
• Recommendations for the immediate future

3
EU policy making patterns

• European level (EU core) EC, EP, Council, CoR,
  ECOSOC
• National level (EU member states) but also
  regional and local
• Civil society at national and European levels
• (lobby groups, interest representation, networks,
  NGOs, etc)

4
the role of lobbying in EU policy making

• Lobby interest representation to the EU
• Organised interests provide unique benefits to
  the European Commission
• Source of information in drafting legislation
• Means of testing out proposals
• Source of information about implementation of
  measures and impact

5
the variety of interests in Europe

• Firms
• Professions
• Employers and Labour groups
• Social and environmental interests
• Territorial interests (regional/local interests)
• Citizen interests
• Policy sectors (social, cultural, educational,
  etc)

6
interest representation statistics

• Formal interest groups addressed to the EU
• Of which those in Belgium
• Of which those in Brussels
• Offices of regions in Brussels

• 1450
• 829
• 768
• 171

7
activities of European interest groups

• Source of information about EU legislation,
  action, budgetary issues, decision making and
  policy implementation in a specific field
• Lobby their interests to EU institutions by
  providing recommendations to policy
• Network with other organisations for better
  information, exchange of expertise and
  co-operation
• Provide a European dimension to the sector
• Create an identity for project development

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how do they operate

• Brussels offices, multilingual staff, European
  lobbyists
• Annual assemblies, other meetings and activities
  for members
• Flow of information via newsletters, email lists,
  websites, e-fora, annual reports
• Visibility to conferences, EP sessions, events
• Promotional material (logo, brochures, leaflets)
• Meetings with experts in the field, the EC, MEPs,
  national governments
• Networking

9
their budget

• Member contributions
• National governments
• EU funding (via EP)
• EU funding (via EC projects)
• Private sponsorship
• Donations

10
current status of women in the EU

• Women constitute 51 of EU population
• However only
• 5 out of 20 Commissioners were women
• 31 of MEPs are women
• 9,3 of women are in top management positions
• 8 are directors of bank divisions
• 6 are full-time academic professors

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women issues in EU policies

• The Treaties
• Articles 2,3 on equality between men and women
• Article 13 a general anti-discrimination clause
• Articles 137,141 on equality in the labour market
• EU Directives on gender equality
• Community Framework Strategy on Gender Equality
  (2001-2005) EU policy instrument (non-legislative
  instrument)

12
EU funding for womens issues

• No single framework programme for gender/womens
  issues
• Funding is dispersed among different actions,
  different DGs and across EU institutions
• Some funding examples
• DG Research
• DG Employment (EQUAL)
• DAPHNE on actions against violence
• DG Education and Culture (TN, Grundvig, Leonardo)

13
EU bodies dealing with women issues

• European Commission
• -DG Employment, Industrial Relations Social
  Affairs, Equal opportunities unit
• -Commissioners Group on Equality
• -Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities
  (composed of ministerial representatives)
• Council of Ministers
• Social Affairs Council but no gender equality
  Council
• European Parliament
• Committee on Womens Rights

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Womens lobbying and networkingsome examples

• EWL- The European Womens Lobby
• Several National Womens Councils in most
  European countries
• European Womens Network for Intercultural Action
  and Exchange
• ATHENA Erasmus Thematic Network
• ENOW- European Network of Women
• CECIF- European Centre of the International
  Council of Women

15
assets of womens lobbying

• Fight for integration, civil dialogue
• Encouragement of an open and more tolerant
  society
• Raising awareness about gender equality issues
• Promoting education and training
• Encourage a balance between an economic Europe
  and a social Europe

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challenges for women lobbying

• Poor funding for women NGOs
• Large disparities between Scandinavian,
  Mediterranean and Central/Eastern European
  countries
• Stereotyping and male dominant culture in society
• Fears that the enlarged EU will increase
  bureaucratic procedures

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more challenges

• Reservations by certain countries that
  enlargement might have a negative impact on the
  overall gender equality
• Lack of specific gender equality acts in the
  field of anti-discrimination
• Lack of specific action for women in rural areas
• The accession process took place only at
  governmental level and civil society was ignored

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challenges in the new member states

• The division between womens work and mens
  work is still very strong
• Lack of recognition of womens abilities and
  skills
• High levels of women unemployment
• Lack of training possibilities
• Gender pay gap
• Lack of care provisions for children
• Rural women

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needs for the immediate future

• Women supporting women
• Better communication and transparency
• Training and capacity building
• Regular and transparent consultation with NGOs a
  stronger civil dialogue
• Creation of sustainable funding means (instead of
  project form activities)
• More diversity in representation

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promotion of diversity

• After all there are.
• young women
• migrant women
• women from ethnic minorities
• disabled women
• gay women
• older women
• women living in the city or in rural areas
• single mothers