Margot Wallström Vice-President of the European Commission Speech for International Women's Day 2009

Committee on Women's rights and Gender Equality, European Parliament
Brussels, Thursday 5 March 2009

President Pöttering,

Madam Chairperson

Honourable Members,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honoured to be with you to celebrate International Women's Day. This is a very special year because in June, 375 million citizens will choose their candidates in the EP elections.

In Europe, 52% of the population are women. Nevertheless, men are predominant in national parliaments and in national governments. For me, as for many of you, ensuring that women are equally represented where the decisions are taken is a matter of democracy.

Today, I would like to address three questions:

What does it mean to be a woman in Europe today?

What is Europe doing for women?

What can women do for themselves and for Europe?

Let me first give you a few illustrations of what it means to be a European woman today. Let's start with 22 year old Ineta, a student of mathematics at the University of Riga. Her biggest dilemma is whether to accept a job offer from a Latvian IT company or to finish her Master's degree in Paris.

Ineta is fortunate. Still, she cannot expect to make as much money as her boyfriend. Women in Europe today are paid, on average, some 16 per cent less than men for doing exactly the same job. In Estonia, the wage gap would be over 25 per cent!

The wage gap between men and women in Europe is closing so slowly that it will take another 100 years before everyone is paid the same money for the same job! And yet, equal pay for work of equal value is a right enshrined in the EC Treaty!

Let's take another example. In 2006, Ilona, a 26-year-old Hungarian blue collar worker, applied for a job at a small company. Much to her regret, she was told that she was not eligible as only men were hired for this particular job. Instead, she was offered a cleaning job, which would have paid significantly less.

The Hungarian Equal Treatment Authority passed a decision in favour of Ilona. The company paid a small fine. Ilona herself, however, did not get any compensation, but when the company opened a new plant, she received the job for which she had originally applied.

In Germany, 36 year old Louise chose to give up her job at a PR consultancy when she started a family. Someone had to be there for the children – most German schools finish around noon – and Louise does not have her parents nearby to lend a hand. So she works at home as a freelance consultant.

There are millions of women in Louise´s situation all over Europe. You would think that European societies would welcome and reward childbearing, especially as our population is ageing fast. But most of our societies do not reward motherhood.

The truth is that for women it is always a difficult juggle between private and professional life. Childbearing is still a disadvantage for many women who want to make use of their skills on the labour market.

When the time comes for Ineta, Ilona and Louise to retire, they will have lower pensions than men. Also, statistically, one of these three women will suffer physical or sexual violence in a relationship – and many continue to suffer violence from their former partner even after the break-up.

So, to paraphrase Simone de Beauvoir, "This is still a man's world".

My second question is, what are European policy-makers and legislators doing about these issues?

I honestly believe that Europe is doing a lot for women. Gender discrimination is banned both in the EU Treaty and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights! Since the 1970s, European laws have expanded women's choices and improved their lives. The proportion of women at work has risen steadily. Girls make up 59 % of the university graduates in Europe.

The Commission has proposed legislation to reinforce the right to maternity leave and we have recommended action to provide more and better childcare facilities. Social partners are considering improvements to the parental leave directive and the Parliament will vote on these texts in May.

The new European Institute for Gender Equality will contribute to disseminate gender knowledge and raise public awareness of gender issues.

The EU's Daphne III programme helps local authorities and NGOs to combat all forms of violence, including domestic violence, and protect the victims.

The EU has good legislation and good programmes; but is this enough or should this be expanded? Can we really say that the views of women are fully taken into account ?

Let me come now to my third and final question: what can women do for themselves and for Europe.

Women in Europe have had, for decades now, the right to vote and to stand for election – but we had to fight hard for those rights. The first country where this victory was won, in 1906, was Finland, which (to its credit) granted these rights to all women regardless of wealth, race or social class.

The struggle lasted longer elsewhere. Much progress has been made since old times. We think we've come a long way since then, don't we? But still today, in the governments and parliaments of the EU's 27 Member States, less than a quarter of the ministers and MPs are women.

What about women in the European institutions? This year is the 30th anniversary of the first direct elections to the European Parliament – yet still today only about a third of MEPs are women. In those thirty years there have only been two female presidents of the European Parliament, and there has never been a woman President of the European Commission!

The current Commission has actually set a new record in female representation – but we are still only 10 out of 27.

Can we speak of "representative democracy" in Europe when one half of the population is seriously under-represented?

I am not arguing here for some romantic notion that women are "better people" or better decision-makers. If women are not equally represented at the policy-making tables, the policy agenda will be set by men - and we loose out on the knowledge experience and ideas that women have.

The problems facing Ineta, Ilona, Louise and any other woman in Europe would be tackled with greater energy and commitment – and quicker ! - if there were equal numbers of women and men around Europe's legislative and policy-making tables.

We need gender equality in European democracy.

Europe's political parties must increase the number of women candidates for election. Ideally I would like to see an equal number of male and female candidates in each party, in every EU country. It's true that the situation differs from country to country, in cultural and legal terms. But even where the legislation does not provide for quota or "zip lists", political pressure on European and national political parties can give some results.

There is no lack of good female candidates, but the reality and the historical experience in our Member States is that men tend to choose men.

We also need to encourage women to vote and enhance gender balance in the European Parliament. That's what the European Women's Lobby is doing through its cross-party and pan-European campaign for "50/50 Democracy". It is an important campaign: Simone Veil, Mary Robinson, Ursula Plassnik, Bibiana Aido, the President and many of my fellow Commissioners and many more, men and women, have signed up already. You can join them in actively supporting it!

Ladies, fellow women citizens of Europe: it is not up to the European institutions alone to raise awareness of the elections and to campaign for gender parity. I am so pleased to see representatives of the national parliaments with us today and so many organisations.

It is up to each and every person in this room today to encourage citizens to use their vote and to stand up for gender parity in Parliament, in the next Commission and among the future EU top posts, if, as we hope, the new treaty will be ratified.

Each of us can make a difference. Each of us can explain why the EU matters for women and men and argue that women's voices must also count in Europe.

Today, the Commission is launching an interactive debate on Women and Elections on our "Debate Europe" web-site. The debate will run until the 25 March and I hope many of you will take part and will bring the debate in the streets and squares of Europe.

Mr President, Madam Chairperson, Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, we are focusing on Europe. But women's rights are at stake everywhere. On 7 and 8 March, I will take part in the International Colloquium on Women Leadership, Empowerment, Peace and Security, organised in Monrovia by the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the President of Finland Tarja Halonen.

Let me quote Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

"Half, even more than half, of ‘the people’ are women. Yet for far too long, women’s will, women’s voices, women’s interests, priorities, and needs have not been heard, have not determined who governs, have not guided how they govern, and to what ends. Since women are amongst the least powerful of citizens, with the fewest social and economic resources on which to build political power, special efforts are often needed to elicit and amplify their voice"

The time to act is now.

Let's make these elections a true opportunity for enhancing gender equality in European democracy.

Thank you for being here and thank you for listening!