IP/06/493
Brussels, 12 April 2006
Equal opportunities policy: recruiting more women to positions of responsibility Today, as part of its staff policy of equal opportunities for women and men, the Commission will adopt its female recruitment targets for 2006. These targets cover first recruitments[1] and first appointments[2] of women to management and other administration posts and are aimed at improving female representation in such posts which, despite some genuine progress, is still inadequate. The implementation of positive measures, whether through the Fourth Action Programme for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men[3] or through the adoption of annual recruitment and appointment targets, has helped bring about a change in trends in recent years. The Commission is demonstrating its commitment to do more and better in 2006, by setting ambitious recruitment objectives and pursuing the discussions on possible binding measures and on ways of overcoming the low level of certain available pools and the low rate of women candidates for management posts.
Positive trend in recent years
Women account for 48.4% of Commission staff[4], with a strong concentration in categories C* (79.6%) and B* (43.1%). Taking category A* as a whole, at the end of 2005, 16.2% of senior management posts[5], 19.2% of middle management posts[6] and 36.2% of administration posts were occupied by women. This is a marked improvement on 2004, when representation rates were 12.8%, 18.3% and 34.1% respectively. Of the 11 appointments made at the highest level[7], three – all Deputy Directors-General - were women[8]. Women represented 35.3% of appointments to the post of Director and a third of the appointments to the posts of Head of Delegation and Principal Adviser. The overall rate of women candidates for senior management posts is nevertheless very low (15.3% of applications in 2005).
In 2005, the Commission set three targets:
women were to represent at least 20% of recruitments and appointments to senior management posts. Since women obtained 32.8 % of appointments or recruitments at this level in 2005, genuine progress was achieved compared with 2004 (12.8%), mainly as a result of appointments made in the context of enlargement (women accounted for 40% of EU-10 and 27% of EU-15 appointments); women were to represent at least 30% of recruitments and appointments to middle management posts. This target was not achieved. The rate of appointment was 1.4% up on 2004. It is important, however, to emphasise the low rate of applications from women at this level, as in the case of senior management posts; women were to represent 50% of recruitments at administrator level in so far as the reserve lists allow. A rate of 51.4% was achieved, compared with 44% in 2004.
Doing more and better in 2006
For 2006 the Commission has decided to set the targets for first recruitments and first appointments to senior management posts at 25% and to middle management posts at 30%, and the target for recruitment to non-management A*/AD level posts at 50% in so far as the reserve lists allow.
Since the target set for middle management was not achieved in 2005, the Commission is examining the possibility of laying down binding measures for 2007[9] in its Second Monitoring Report on the Fourth Action Programme. Particular emphasis will be placed at the same time on pursuit of the implementation at department level of the Commission's recommendations on training courses and other awareness-raising activities, particularly for managers and potential women managers.
Further information:
MEMO/05/436
IP/06/271
[1] This covers "first" recruitments to non-management (i.e. neither senior nor middle management) category A posts, whether in the context of external recruitment, internal recruitment (change of category/change of function group following an external or internal competition or a certification procedure) or inter-institutional transfer.
[2] This covers only "first" appointments to senior or middle management posts, whether in the context of internal or external recruitment.
[3] SEC(2004) 447/5, adopted on 28 April 2004.
[4] Officials and temporary staff at 31/12/2005 (SYSPER).
[5] Director/Principal Adviser or Director-General or Deputy Director-General.
[6] Heads of Unit.
[7] Deputy Secretary-General, Deputy Director-General and Director-General.
[8] Ms Claire-Françoise Durand, Ms Françoise Le Bail and Ms Lenia Samuel. Those appointments do not include Ms Catherine Day, who was not a first appointment.
[9] For example, request the DGs to give reasons to explain why they were unable to achieve the targets set by the Commission for middle management in the previous year; lay down a rule that both men and women should be represented on any selection panel; designate a permanent equal opportunities rapporteur; make the equal opportunities training course compulsory for all Commission managers.
