0277-5395192 $5.00 + .co 0 1992 Pergamon Press plc

Women’sStudies In/. Forum, Vol. IS, No. 1, pp. 17-19. 1992 Printed in the USA.

EUROPE: A COMMUNITY FOR WOMEN?

UNDERSTANDING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

A Glossary of Terms

CLAIRE DUCHEN School of Modern Languages and International Studies,

University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA 2 7AY, U.K.

The European Community (EC), composed of 12 Member States in 1991, is a collection of legislative, executive, economic, and judi- cial institutions.

The European Commission has its seat in Brussels with offices also in Luxembourg. It is headed by the President, currently Jacques Delors, and consists of 17 Commissioners, 2 from each larger Member State, 1 from each of the smaller ones. Each Commissioner pledges an oath to serve the interests of the EC as a whole and not those of each repre- sented nation. The Commissioners shape EC policy and prepare proposals for discussion by the European Parliament and decision- making by the Council of Ministers. The Commission is served by 22 divisions, called Directorate-Generals (DGs), each of which has responsibility for one area of legislation. Women’s affairs are part of DGV (Employ- ment, Social Affairs, and Education), looked after by the Equal Opportunities Unit, for- merly known as the Women’s Bureau.

The Council of Ministers meets generally in Brussels and consists of one Minister from each Member State. The Ministers involved change according to the main area of discus- sion (Ministers of Agriculture for agricultur- al questions, etc.). Their work is coordinated by Foreign Ministers. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers changes every 6 months. The Council is the most important decision-making body in the EC. All EC de- cisions must be accepted by the Council, re- quiring either a unanimous vote (which means that one Member State can operate a veto) or by qualified voting majority (QMV).

The European Parliament is based in Strasbourg, with its administrative offices in Luxembourg and its specialist committees meeting in Brussels. Representatives [Mem- bers of the European Parliament (MEPs)] are

elected in the different Member States by di- rect universal suffrage every 5 years. The number of seats allocated to each Member State is currently as follows: 81 to Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom; 60 to Spain; 25 to the Netherlands; 24 to Belgium, Portugal, and Greece; 16 to Denmark; 15 to Ireland; and 6 to Luxembourg. Unlike na- tional parliaments, the EP does not make laws. Its role is one of influence-influence exercised over the EC budget and over the elaboration of EC policies. Most MEPs are active in a specialist committee that discusses issues proposed by the Commission before they reach the Council of Ministers. The EP also has the power to dismiss the Commis- sioners by a two-thirds vote, but has never used this power.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg functions as a court of appeals. When EC legislation is passed, it becomes part of national law. If governments fail to ensure implementation of the law, or if a company or an individual does not obey the law, then the ECJ can become involved. ECJ decisions override national decisions.

EC LEGISLATION

A Regulation is a decision that, when adopted by the Council of Ministers, will be binding on all Member States as it stands.

A Directive is binding on Member States, but each state may make its own decision about the form and method of achieving the necessary results.

Recommendations and Opinions are not binding, but function as advice given to gov- ernments.

The Treaty of Rome is the founding text of the European Economic Community, at that time, the Six, signed March 25, 1957.

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18 CLAIRE DUCHEN

The Single European Act, signed in 1986, seeks to move EC Member States towards greater economic integration. The objectives of the Act, to come into force on December 31, 1992 include the free circulation of EC citizens, services, capital, and merchandise. Trade barriers that continued, despite the Treaty of Rome, will thus be removed.

WOMEN IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY’

Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome stipulates that men and women shall receive equal pay for equal work. The thinking behind Article 119 was originally to protect France (which had just introduced equal pay legislation) from unfair competition from other Member States that did not have this legislation and could therefore undercut labour costs by em- ploying women at a lower rate than men. Ar- ticle 119, however unintentionally, provided the basis for equality legislation in the EC.

EQUALITY DIRECTIVES

Directive on Equal Pay for men and women (1975) extended the definition of equal pay to include the concept of work of equal value.

Directive on Equal Treatment (1976) sought to overcome sex discrimination at the point of entry into the labour market and in other conditions of employment.

Directive on Equal Treatment in matters of social security (1978) requires that there shall be no discrimination in obligation to contribute to benefits or, with some excep- tions, the conditions governing the duration and retention of entitlement to benefits. These Equality Directives of the 1970s have been complemented in the 1980s by two more: the Directive on Equal Treatment in occupational social security schemes (1986) and the Directive on Equal Treatment in self- employed occupations and on protection of self-employed during pregnancy and mother- hood (1986).

The European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights is, since 1984, a Standing Committee; in other words, a committee with permanent official status. The Commit- tee’s role is to monitor existing equal oppor- tunities legislation and its effectiveness and

to extend this legislation. The Committee has worked mainly through Action Programmes for Equal Opportunities for Women, which are then discussed by the Parliament. To date, three such Action Programmes have been approved. The current Chair of the Women’s Rights Committee is Christine Crawley.

Action Programmes on the Promotion of Equal Opportunity for Women. Much of the work carried out on behalf of women in the EC is in the context of the Action Pro- gramme. The 1974 Social Action Programme (i.e., a general one) included actions on be- half of women, but in the 198Os, there have been Action Programmes specifically target- ting women. These (the first from 1982- 1985, the second from 1986-1990, and the third from 1991-1996) involve research into specific situations (single women, older women, migrant women) or on specific is- sues (childcare, training) in the aim of for- mulating proposals to put to the Parliament and the Commission. The priorities have been on women’s employment (protective legislation, maternity provisions, women in agriculture); on education and training; on childcare provisions; on changing public atti- tudes towards women. In the Third Action Programme, the aim is to:

respond to the new economic and social context for women in the European Com- munity; re-evaluate women’s contribution at work and in society; integrate equal op- portunities into all other policies and pro- grammes; encourage the process of col- laboration and partnership between the Community, national government, em- ployers, trade unions and other agencies. (European Parliamentary Labour Party, 1990)

The strategic objectives of the programme will be to:

facilitate women’s access to the labour market; improve the quality of women’s employment; reconcile employment and domestic responsibilities for women and men; improve the status of women in soci- ety (European Parliamentary Labour Par- ty, 1990)

Glossary 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY Meehan, Elizabeth. (1990). Sex equality policies in the European Community. Journal of European Integra-

Budd, S. (1987). The EEC: A guide to the maze. Lon- lion, XIII, 2-3.

don: Kogan Page. Nugent, Neil]. (1989) The government and politics of

European Parliamentary Labour Party. (1990). The the European Community. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

1990s: The decade for women in Europe. Stras- bourg: Author.

ENDNOTE

Mazey, S. (1989). Women and the European Communi- 1. See Hoskyns (1992); Kofman and Sales (1992); ty. London: PNL Press. and Meehan (1990).