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Motion for a resolution - B8-0172/2019Motion for a resolution
B8-0172/2019

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTIONon gender balance in EU economic and monetary affairs nominations

11.3.2019-()

to wind up the debate on the statements by the Council and the Commission
pursuant to Rule 123(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Pervenche Berès, Mercedes Bressoon behalf of the S&D Group

See also joint motion for a resolutionRC-B8-0171/2019

ʰdzܰ:
Document stages in plenary
Document selected:
B8-0172/2019
Texts tabled :
B8-0172/2019
Debates :
Texts adopted :

8‑0172/2019

European Ϸվ resolution on gender balance in EU economic and monetary affairs nominations

()

Ϸվ,

–having regard to Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

–having regard to the Gender Action Plan 2016-2020,

–having regard to the letter sent to the President-in-office of the Council of the European Union (holder of the rotating presidency) by the President of the European Ϸվ on 5 March 2019,

–having regard to the letter sent to the President of the European Commission by the President of the European Ϸվ on 5 March 2019,

–having regard to the letter sent to the President of the European Council by the President of the European Ϸվ on 23 March 2018,

–having regard to the letter sent to the President of the Eurogroup by the Chair of the European Ϸվ’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on 8 March 2018,

–having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas, in April 2016, the average share of women on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies registered in the EU-28 Member States was 23.3%, an increase of 0.6% since data were last collected in October 2015; whereas there are only ten countries – France, Sweden, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, Latvia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Belgium – in which women account for at least a quarter of board members;

B.whereas the Women on Boards proposal from 2012 was the result of a long-standing demand from Ϸվ asking the Commission to take action; whereas Ϸվ, when adopting its first reading position in November 2013 by a substantial cross-party majority, made very few changes to the proposal in order to signal to the Council that agreement with Ϸվ could be reached and agreed to ensure that by 2020 at least 40% of non-executive directors on listed company boards were women; whereas the Women on Boards Directive would be a very important tool for achieving a better gender balance in economic decision-making at the highest level and, as proven by various studies, for improving companies’ competitiveness by tapping all social talent;

C.whereas Article 26(2) of Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 conferring specific tasks on the European Central Bank concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions[1], Article 56(4) of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014 establishing uniform rules and a uniform procedure for the resolution of credit institutions and certain investment firms in the framework of a Single Resolution Mechanism and a Single Resolution Fund[2], and Article 37(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority)[3] refer to gender balance as an important principle to be taken into account in selection procedures;

D.whereas notwithstanding the numerous requests made by Ϸվ to the Council and to the Member States to remedy the lack of gender balance within the ECB Executive Board, Ϸվ deplores that the European Council has not taken this request seriously;

E.whereas notwithstanding the numerous calls made by Ϸվ in relation to previous nominations that gender balance should be respected when presenting a list of candidates, Ϸվ deplores that all candidates for the Chairperson of the European Banking Authority were men;

F.whereas, while the selection procedures for the Chair, Vice-Chair and members of the Single Resolution Board have so far generally taken into account the principle of gender balance in accordance with Article 56(4) of Regulation (EU) No 806/2014, in this case the shortlist presented to Ϸվ was composed only of men;

G.whereas, while the possibility cannot be excluded that in a single selection procedure based on individual applications there are not qualified candidates of both genders, the general criterion of gender balance must be respected for the composition of the boards of the ECB and of the supervisory authorities;

H.whereas the current candidates for the positions of chief economist of the ECB, Chair of the EBA and member of the SRB have all been considered experienced and qualified by Ϸվ’s ECON committee and have been endorsed by significant majorities in secret ballot votes;

I.whereas women continue to be underrepresented in executive positions in the field of banking and financial services; whereas all EU and national institutions and bodies should implement concrete measures to ensure gender balance;

1.Demands that gender balance is respected for upcoming nominations in all EU and national institutions and bodies; invites Member States to each present one man and one woman for the nomination procedure for the next Commission;

2.Commits to refrain from taking any future list of candidates into consideration unless the gender balance principle is respected;

3.Reaffirms its strong commitment to gender equality both in the content of EU policies, initiatives and programmes and across the Union’s political, budgetary, administrative and executive levels;

4.Reiterates its call on the Commission to present a genuine European Equality Strategy in the form of a communication that contains clear and, as far as possible, quantifiable objectives, and to have this translated into all official EU languages in order to ensure greater distribution and understanding for citizens and social and economic actors;

5.Stresses that achieving gender equality is not a women’s issue, but one that should involve society as a whole;

6.Recalls that gender mainstreaming covers policy choices, the decision-making process, procedures and practices as well as implementation, monitoring and evaluation; stresses, therefore, that not only policy content but also gender representation in the administration and in decision-making should be taken into account in order to comprehensively assess the state of play of gender mainstreaming in Ϸվ;

7.Expresses concern that female representation in EU institutions and key decision-making positions at the political and administrative levels remains low, and affirms that Ϸվ needs to take effective measures to ensure that the allocation of decision-making positions is evenly spread between genders;

8.Calls for closer cooperation among procedures and institutions to ensure that these measures are effective, as it believes that stronger interinstitutional relations in the field of gender mainstreaming can help develop gender-sensitive EU policies; regrets that no structured cooperation on gender mainstreaming has yet been established with other institutional partners, such as the Commission or the Council, or in the economic and financial affairs structures of the EU.

Last updated: 11 March 2019
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