By Bruno Waterfield - 11th April 2006
The European commission has set new administrative targets for the recruitment of women in 2006 after a mixed result in 2005.
Commission vice-president Siim Kallas is demanding that women must account for at least 25 per cent of recruitments and appointments to senior management posts this year.
The Brussels admin chief is also setting a target of 30 per cent for the recruitments and appointments of women to middle management posts.
In non-managerial posts, Kallas is set to ask that half the officials recruited for permanent or temporary posts are women “in so far as the reserve lists allow”.
In 2005 the commission’s target for senior management “was substantially exceeded” at 32.8 per cent compared to the target of 20 per cent.
An objective of 50 per cent for non-management posts was achieved and passed at 51.4 per cent.
But a key target for middle management, the pool of tomorrow’s senior eurocrats, was not attained, with recruitment at 24.4 per cent, under the 30 per cent objective.
“It is also important to underline, in addition to the fact that the objective for middle management was not reached again in 2005, the limited pool of available candidates and the low level of female candidates for middle and senior management posts,” said the Kallas report.
The best performing commission departments – known as DGs – were administration, development, translation, budget, science, external relations, environment and trade.
Worst recruiters of women are DGs for aid cooperation and Kalla’s own IT department, on zero female recruits for 2005.
But other offenders were in key Brussels departments for anti-fraud, health and consumer protection.
Key to tackling a commission work culture, described by admin officials as “male”, will be new proposals from Kallas on April 26.
He will tabling “a strategy for well-being at work in the European commission”, setting out measures for 2006 to 2009.
The proposals will include health and safety and “the management of absence for medical reasons and invalidity”.
Kallas will also be asking commissioner to take a decision on “a policy regarding the fight against moral and sexual harassment”.
Last November, eurocrats were given a harassment hotline number to “break the silence” on bullying and sexual victimisation.
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