Is gender a good reason to support Mary Robinson for the EU Presidency ?

26 octobre 2009 | Par Anna MONTANES

Why Mary Robinson is not the ideal candidate for the post of a European Council President

As the coming into force of the Lisbon treaty seems nearer, the discussion on a new EU top-job develops : who will be the President of the European Council ? There are not formal candidatures that will be opposed and voted, but there is certainly a very rich debate on who should occupy the post. Considering that the duties of the EU President are vaguely described by the Treaty, the personality of the designed candidate will be of major importance in defining the role and creating a precedent for the job.

Nonetheless, as European Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström has pointed out, there is something wrong with these debates, and that is that the political figures considered are nearly exclusively men : Blair, González, Juncker, Ahern, Schüssel, Verhofstadt, Lipponen, Bildt, Rasmussen, Balkenende. Among these names, one woman is gaining consideration : Mary Robinson, former Irish President and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Precisely, one of the main arguments to support her candidature is that she is a woman. The question is, however, whether gender is a good reason to make Robinson Ms Europe.

Why gender is a good reason to have a Ms Europe

The EU has always taken a very progressive stand on gender issues and should keep this trend. As a matter of fact, women lobbies have used the EU arena very effectively to make national legislations change and the European electorate be more aware of gender problems. In the late 1960s, feminist movements organized in a lobby and managed, for instance, to make article 119 of the Rome Treaty applicable to equality between men and women (Dafrenne vs. Sabena), which constituted a fundamental legal base for their campaigns. Since then, gender equality developed, being the European Parliament a major advocate of the cause, introducing, among other actions, “gender mainstreaming”, and reinforcing EU competences on equal opportunities, especially with the Amsterdam Treaty. More recently, for example, the 50/50 campaign for democracy tried to ensure equal representation of men and women in the European Parliament elected in June 2009.

Source : European Commission

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Promoting Gender Equality in the EU

Source : European Commission

Nevertheless, gender equality in the EU is far from being achieved. Let’s leave aside employment and business leaders’ classic indicators, but even in the European public administration (level 1 administrators [1] ), women represent only 27% of the European Parliament, 18% of the Commission and a worrying 0% of the Council of the EU In national politics, there are 26% of female senior ministers and only three out of twenty-seven female Head of State or Government : Angela Merkel (Germany), Tarja Halonen (Finland) and Mary McAleese (Ireland). In the words of former EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Huebner :

We talk about gender equality more and more and we have all those laws and everything that is needed to give everyone an equal chance in the political life [yet] when it comes to concrete cases, jobs for taking responsibility in Europe, somehow women disappear (EUobserver 19/09/09).

The lack of women in top EU-jobs is not because they are less prepared but because of gender roles dictating that power and high profile posts are to be hold by men. The strategy commonly used, both by the EU and by some EU member states, is to make women more visible in power positions and in the media so that people get used to it. Because the Presidency of the EU is a very visible post, putting a woman there would certainly be very positive for gender equality.

The idea of having a Presidency of the EU is certainly not only to serve gender equality in EU politics. However, a Ms Europe would also, and most importantly, emphasize the intrinsic progressive character of the EU project – despite a conservative Parliament and a conservative Commission – which is essential for it to survive.

Why gender is not enough to defend Mary Robinson

So, having a Ms Europe would be a good thing both for gender equality and for the EU. But is this argument enough to support Ms Robinson ? The answer is no. First, because of her lack of experience in EU affairs and, second, because there are other women that could do a better job.

Mary Robinson has sometimes been defended on the basis of her being a “low-profile candidate”, with the objective of leaving more room for the President of the Commission and the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The fact is that despite her impressive career in Irish politics and international organizations, her practical knowledge of EU affairs is limited. Knowing about the EU and being its leader are very different things. What is Robinson’s idea of Europe ? How, according to her, should Europe behave in the international arena ? Most importantly, what is the image of the EU that Robinson embodies ? Human rights, gender equality, protection of the environment, all very respectful concepts, responding to an idealist vision of “ethical power Europe”. And what about high politics ?

The risk in all this debate is perpetrating gender roles, instead of gaining in gender equality, and missing the opportunity of having a more assertive Europe. Luckily, though, the choice is not between gender equality and efficiency. As a matter of fact, apart from Mary Robinson, there are plenty of other good female options that ought to be considered : Angela Merkel, Tarja Halonen, Anna Diamantapoulou, and Margot Wallström, for instance. Let’s take this last one, for example : deep knowledge of EU institutional affairs, concern with EU democracy with special emphasis in communication, involvement in gender equality in the EU, non controversial national origin, respected in Brussels, etc. In other words, the risk in reducing the evaluation of Mary Robinson to a gender issue is, once again, to hide other female possible candidates for the post that could do a better job.

To sum up, gender is a good reason to open the door to good female candidates, but it is not enough to support Mary Robinson. The first choice to be made is on the type of role to be given to the EU President : discrete diplomat or assertive leader ? If the former was the answer, Mary Robinson could be a good option. As the latter is not only preferable, but a matter of survival for the EU, another Ms Europe should step in the “civilized fight” for the post, and there are plenty able to do it.

The other view on Mary Robinson : Mary Robinson for President

Logo : Flickr, Nick Fletcher

[1] Data concern only level 1 administrators : Director General, Deputy Director General or equivalent. Source : European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

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