Scottish Office Publication

Parliamentary Practices in Devolved Parliaments

1: Mainstreaming Equal Opportunities

The following section details the findings of research conducted into the mechanisms that exist in various parliaments for the mainstreaming of Equal Opportunity issues. Countries other than the main ones studied have been included where they have adopted methods of interest. The country by country survey covers the themes outlined in the research brief and details, where available, information on:

whether there is a separate Committee in the parliament to deal with equal opportunity issues
how other Committees deal with these issues
whether legislative proposals have to explain how they meet equal opportunity criteria
how equal opportunity e.g.. gender balance is addressed at the Committee level and the Assembly overall.

General information on the Governmental approach to mainstreaming and relevant public bodies has also been included.

1.1 Austria

At the federal level, there are no equal opportunities committees.

In 1990 a Federal Ministry for Women's Issues was established within the office of the Federal Chancellor and an equal opportunities agency in 1993.

Some Bundesländer have enacted equal opportunities legislation. Upper Austria established an equal opportunities commission in 1995, however it does not have a specific committee to deal with equal opportunities in its parliament. Equal opportunity issues fall in other committees' remit. In Vienna there is a regional minister for women's issues, but no separate committee.

There are no rules concerning quotas for election to committees. Gender balance is addressed overall by the quota systems adopted by individual parties. The Socialists have a quota of 40% and the Greens 50% in their party lists.

1.2 Belgium

Belgium is one of very few countries in the world which has introduced a national statutory quota relating to gender representation. Under a 24 May 1994 law, 33.3% of candidates in elections to the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate must be women. This will also take effect in the forthcoming elections to the regional councils and provincial councils. It is as yet unclear whether the parties will meet this quota ¹.

1.2.1 Walloon Region Parliament

The Parliament established an Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Men and Women in 1997. The Committee has nine members who are elected on the basis of the proportional representation of political groupings. No quotas are in place for appointments to the committees of the Parliament.

The Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities' role is to "give advice on questions of equal opportunities between men and women, either at the request of the president; a permanent commission of the Walloon Parliament, or on its own initiative"².

The Committee organises its work and deliberations according to the Rules of the Walloon Parliament. Since it was only established in 1997 no motion or proposal from the Committee has yet been passed.

In the Parliament itself there are currently 7 women members out of 75 (9%)³.

1.2.2 Flemish Parliament

There is no Committee for Equal Opportunities in the Parliament. However there is an Equal Opportunities Task Force which considers the policy and impact assessment of various Parliamentary initiatives on equal opportunities. The Task Force also scrutinises and assesses the policies of the Flemish government. The Task Force is composed of 15 members(12 women and 3 men).

In 1995, the Flemish government appointed for the first time a Minister for Equal Opportunities. An Equal Opportunities Unit was also established and is responsible for the preparation, the making, the implementation and the assessment of policy.

In addition, the Ministries of the government have to file an annual report on the measures they have taken to meet the recommendations of the Fourth World Conference on Women (held in Peking in 1995).

Legislation was passed in 1997 providing that no more than two thirds of the members of advisory boards of the Flemish Region and Community could be of the same gender⁴.

At present, there are 22 women members out of 124 (17%) in the Flemish Parliament.

None of the other parliamentary assemblies in the Belgian system, e.g. French and German Community Councils and Brussels Regional Council, have specific Committees addressing equal opportunity issues ⁵.

1.3 Canada

It appears that provincial governments rather than the legislative assemblies spearhead much of the work in mainstreaming equal opportunity issues. Provincial Governments often have a Ministry for Women's Affairs and a public agency to assist them with mainstreaming equal opportunity issues into Government proposals e.g.. in Yukon; Saskatchewan and New Brunswick ⁶ .

1.3.1 British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly has a Select Standing Committee on Women's Equality, composed of 10 members, 6 women and 4 men. The Committee has the role of inquiry, scrutiny and proposal over any issues considered in this remit.

There are no rules of quotas for elections to committees. Nomination is on the basis of party political power and seat share within the Assembly.

The Ministry of Women's Equality set up in 1991 by the British Columbian Government works closely with other ministries to ensure that issues relating to women's equality are reflected in policy, legislation, services and programmes throughout government.

The British Columbian Government's Guidelines for Cabinet submissions stipulate that the impact of a policy option on women must be analysed. The analysis must focus on the different impacts of various policy options on women and men and where appropriate specific groups of women and men. The Ministry of Women's Equality frequently advises the other Ministries in this area ⁷.

1.3.2 Quebec

There is no Committee specifically for Equal Opportunity issues. These issues are handled by the Committee on Social Affairs. There are no rules of quotas for election to Committees. Therefore election is on the basis of political party nomination and allocation according to share of seats in the Assembly.

1.4 European Parliament / Commission

The Commission has several Action Programmes dealing with equal opportunities for men and women, and minority group interests.

There is a specific Committee for Women's Rights within the Parliament established in 1982. All questions on equal opportunities are prepared within this committee prior to a vote by the European Parliament.

The European Commission published in March 1997 a report detailing how it intends to mainstream equality issues into all European Commission legislative proposals. All proposals will have a preamble detailing how they impact on equal opportunities issues ⁸.

1.5 Finland

The situation in Finland is similar to Norway, described below. There is no specific Committee to deal with Equal Opportunity issues. There are no rules of quotas for election to Committees and nomination is on a party political basis.

There is however a parliamentary advisory body; the Delegation for Equality between the sexes.

Like its Norwegian counterpart, the Finnish Government has passed an amendment to the 1994 Equal Status Act which also requires a 40% representation of both sexes on all public bodies, government committees and advisory boards.

There are 67 (33.5%) women members of Parliament ⁹.

1.6 Germany

There appear to be no statutory measures for securing gender balance in the German Länder. Some political parties have internal party quotas in selecting candidates, the percentage varying according to electoral system. Details of the position in some of the Länder are as follows:

1.6.1 Saxony

There is a Committee for Social Affairs, Health, Family and Women which deals with equal opportunity issues. Other Committees however have to regard equal opportunity legislation in their considerations. It is the responsibility of each Committee to check whether legislation passed to it takes account of women's concerns or minority groups, rather than through a preamble or statement.

There are no rules of quotas for election to Committees or in the Parliament overall. It is the responsibility of parliamentary groups to nominate members to the Committees, as they wish ¹⁰.

1.6.2 Upper Saxony

The Land Parliament has a committee for Equality, Youth and Sport.

There are no rules requiring quotas on committees, or in the Parliament overall. The parliamentary political groups nominate to committees and no restrictions apply as to who they can appoint.

There appears to be no requirement that legislative proposals have a preamble stating how equal opportunities criteria are met. Responsibility in highlighting equality issues rests with each of the party political spokespersons.

1.6.3 Hamburg

There is an Equal Opportunities Committee in the Land Parliament. However there are no rules requiring quotas on committees, or in the Parliament overall.

Legislative proposals do not have a preamble stating how they meet equal opportunity criteria.

1.7 Italy

In 1993 legislation was passed which provided that in the make up of party lists for election to the Chamber of Deputies, men and women should be nominated on an alternate basis. Further legislation was passed in relation to elections for local councils, where no more than two-thirds of the candidates could be of one sex.

Both of these laws were declared unconstitutional by the Italian Constitutional Court, although the Court did rule this did not prevent political parties from adopting internal party quotas. At present, no party has chosen to do so.

A Directive proposed by the Minister for Equal Opportunity was adopted by the Council of Ministers in March 1997 to mainstream equal opportunity issues as recommended by the World Conference in Beijing.

The National Commission for the Achievement of Equality between Men and Women and a Committee of the same name are the government run agencies responsible for promoting gender equality issues.

Most Regions appear not to have committees concerned with equal opportunities issues. However, in Tuscany, a 1987 Regional law established a Regional Committee for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities between men and women. Its remit includes commenting and making proposals during the passage of regional legislation and administrative actions. It can also make proposals for removal of any form of discrimination brought to its notice. Its status is that of an advisory body to both the Regional Council and the regional Executive (Regional Junta). The Council selects its members from proposals made by various bodies with an involvement in women's issues. The committee has full autonomy of action, and can undertake activities and carry out research and consultation on matters of general regional concern to women. The Regional Executive has also established an Equal Opportunities Committee. This committee, by contrast, is concerned with promoting equal opportunities issues within the regional administration. To date, it has placed a special emphasis on employment and training issues.

Another model is in existence in the Regional Council of Liguria. There, the Regional Council does not have an equal opportunities or women's committee. However, there has been established a Women's Regional Consultative Committee, comprised of representatives of trade unions, political parties and women's organisations, whose functions include commenting upon new Regional legislation concerning women's issues.

As at national level, there are no provisions for quotas on committees at regional level because of the prohibition of such measures by the Constitutional Court.

1.8 Northern Ireland

As yet no decisions have been taken on what Committees the Assembly will have. No arrangements have been built in to ensure greater gender balance in Committees or in the Assembly overall. The Women's Coalition is the main voice promoting gender balance in the selection process of the political parties.

There are however two checks in the legislation covering equal opportunity issues. The first is that controversial issues are determined by parallel consensus or by weighted majority to ensure the overall Protestant majority cannot subordinate Catholic minority rights. These issues will be designated in advance. An Equality Commission (replacing the Fair Employment Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission (NI), the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Council) will also monitor the statutory obligation to promote equality of opportunity and parity between the two main communities.

A new Human Rights Commission will also be established to review practices, consider draft legislation as referred to them by the Assembly and bring court proceedings in cases of dispute.

The Assembly may also appoint a special Committee to examine and report on whether a measure or proposal for legislation is in conformity with equality requirements (including ECHR/Bill of Rights)¹¹.

1.9 Norway

There is no specific Committee to deal with Equal Opportunity issues. There are no rules of quotas for election to Committees and nomination is on a party political basis.

Gender representation within the national Parliament, the Storting, is influenced by internal political party selection processes. The Norwegian political parties have a formal or informal rule to aim to include 50% of women on their candidate lists. 39.4% of the members of the Storting are women (65/165) ¹².

Government initiatives to encourage mainstreaming have included the passage of Article 21 in the Equal Status Act 1981 which requires a 40 % representation of both sexes on all public boards, councils and committees. This measure was designed to increase the percentage of women in central government, municipal and county councils and committees in general. The Equal Status Council serves as a liaison between government, authorities and the public over equal status issues and advises on equal opportunity issues ¹³.

1.10 Spain

1.10.1 Basque Parliament

The Committee for Human Rights has the responsibility of dealing with equal opportunity issues. There is no specific Committee to address equal opportunity issues.

Equal opportunity issues that relate to equality between men and women are mainstreamed into the work of other Committees and Parliament through Positive Action Plans drawn up by Emakunde, the Basque Institute for Women. Emakunde is a public agency working within the Secretariat of the Presidency of the Basque Government. The organisation designs and draws up Positive Action Plans which consist of a list of proposals aimed at eliminating inequality between men and women in the Basque province - e.g..in education, training, employment. At the start of each legislature the Plan is presented to the Government for approval, and it is then sent to the Parliament for information.

The Legal Department of Emakunde monitors legislative proposals to detect clauses that effect women's equality. However legislative proposals do not have to state in a preamble how they meet equal opportunities criteria.

There are no rules requiring quotas on the Committees of the Parliament, or in the Parliament overall. Two parties the PSE-EE and IUEB have internal party quotas but there is no statutory mechanism to ensure gender balance. The proportion of women elected to the last Basque Parliament was 24% ¹⁴.

1.10.2 Catalan Parliament

There is an Equal Opportunities Committee in the Catalan Parliament. Further information on the role and functioning of this Committee has been requested.

There are no rules requiring quotas on the Committees of the Parliament, or in the Parliament itself.

The Catalan Institute for Women plays a similar role to Emakunde in the Basque Country. An important mechanism for mainstreaming women's issues is the Catalan "Action Plan for Equal Opportunities for Women", which is broadly similar in scope to the Positive Action Plans described above for the Basque Country. The First Action Plan, for the period 1989 - 1992, was drawn up by an "Interdepartmental Commission for the Advancement of Women" (a Commission within the Presidency of the Government) which was established as a result of a resolution of the Catalan Parliament in 1986. One of the recommendations of that First Action Plan was that a Catalan Institute for Women be established. Its role was described as being an executive body to deal with "those actions of equality and non-discrimination that are not the responsibility of any of the Departments [of the Catalan government]."

A Second Action Plan, for the period 1994-6, was produced by the Catalan Government with the participation of the new Institute, and the Government's "Interdepartmental Commission on Equal Opportunities". The Third Action Plan is for the period 1998-2000.

The Action Plan consists of recommendations for action by Government departments and public bodies within Catalonia over all areas of governmental activity. There is a specific recognition in the Action Plans¹⁵ that "the range of equal opportunity issues and the set of problems specific to women are areas which cannot be reduced to a single discipline, nor, therefore, to a single field of expertise, since it applies to the society as a whole." To ensure that departments of the Catalan Government "do not forget to consider the 'gender' variable", the relevant action proposed is to nominate a representative from the Catalan Institute of Women to Commissions and Working Groups of the government to review their work and to ensure that it is adapted to comply with equal opportunity recommendations.

There is thus in Catalonia a comprehensive mechanism designed to produce policy recommendations of relevance to women across the whole range of government policy, and to seek to ensure that all government activity takes account of equal opportunity considerations. The focus of Action Plan recommendations is primarily at Government departments, implying that the Plans are directed primarily at "gender-proofing" at Government rather than Parliamentary level.

1.11 South Africa

The South African National Assembly has a number of Committees to address equal opportunity issues and gender equality : Ad Hoc Joint Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women and a Joint Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women.

In the research conducted, the South African National Assembly appears to be the only one to implement a quota on Committees. It has become a requirement for all Parliamentary Committees or delegations to include at least one woman in all international delegations. Parties are compelled to put forward a woman, on a rotating basis. Parties without women members are penalized when their turn comes to nominate a woman delegate. The Rules and Standing Orders of the two Houses of Parliament also stipulate that certain important committees such as the Disciplinary Committee must be gender representative ¹⁶.

The 1996 Gender Equality Act also established a Gender Commission to play an oversight role to ensure gender equality in legislation passed by Parliament. It does not however have a statutory right to be consulted by the National Assembly.

The Government has outlined its commitment to mainstreaming and co-ordinates its approach through the Office on the Status of Women ¹⁷.

1.12 Sweden

There is no specific Committee responsible for equal opportunities in the national Parliament, the Riksdag.

There are no rules requiring quotas on committees, or in the Parliament overall. The political parties have established either by rule or practice a 50% quota of women in the candidates selected at elections. According to the IPU, Sweden has the highest number of women in its Parliament, 141 members or 40.4% ¹⁸.

However the Swedish Government has been at the forefront in mainstreaming equality issues into its legislative proposals. In 1988 it introduced a five-year action plan which included quantitative and time-based goals to improve and promote equal opportunities e.g.. in the representation of women. The Equality Affairs Division within the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs is responsible for mainstreaming policy. It has two responsibilities of interest:

To ensure that the terms of reference for government committees and commissions require them to analyse the gender perspective in their work and the gender impact of any proposals made;
To scrutinise from an equal opportunities point of view, all proposals for government bills and other government decisions emanating from various ministries prior to discussion by cabinet ¹⁹.

1.13 Wales

Two clauses in the Government of Wales Bill offer a framework for mainstreaming equality into the everyday business of the Assembly (Clause 13 & Clause 47).

Proposals for the Welsh Assembly appear similar to those submitted for the Scottish Parliament. Papers received from the Institute of Welsh Affairs recommend for example that: all members are briefed on their individual responsibility to promote equal opportunity law; an Advisory Committee be established which implements an action plan relating to equal opportunities across the other Committees of Assembly; to assist the Advisory Committee there should be an Equality Unit to advise and support the Assembly in meeting equality objectives; and the equality strategy should be monitored ²⁰. The Welsh EOC suggestions include proposals for Standing Orders to make provision for co-option on to committees of minority groups and women where appropriate during the consideration of matters by those committees; for each committee to have a designated Equality Advisor, who in turn would be a member of an Equal Opportunities Committee (each Advisor having the responsibility for scrutinising the equal opportunities issues of proposals before the relevant committee). It also proposes that the Assembly should adopt an Equal Opportunities Action Plan.

There will be no statutory quotas for establishing gender balance in the Assembly or in Committees. The Labour Party does however propose to twin constituencies for greater gender balance.

1.14 Summary

It is clear from initial research that while equal opportunity issues are monitored by government agencies and outside organisations, few Parliaments / Assemblies have a specific committee to address these issues. Instead, responsibility for equal opportunities is within other committees' remit. The role of the separate gender equality Committees in the Catalan and Walloon Parliaments are of interest and further research could be conducted here.

The responsibility for mainstreaming these issues appears to fall to Government Departments who often set up separate Units for this task. It is noted that most Governments have the aim of "proofing" their legislative proposals before placing them before Parliament. How successfully they do this is open to debate.

With the exception of Belgium (and Argentina) who have statutory legislation, the question of quotas for ensuring gender balance in Parliaments is left to individual political parties candidate selection processes.

The current debate in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland perhaps reflects the perceived need to address the inconsistencies in the way mainstreaming is approached by other Parliaments.