Will international women's day be for them? Photo by Woodley Wonderworks (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/3597217248)

Oh no, it is that time of the year again. International women’s day will come up in two weeks. What will we write about? Should we write anything at all? We already did this thing during election campaign. What else is there to say? I mean, is there anything to say about the situation in the EU?

Yes, nice for President Barroso that the Commision is composed of one third of female Commissioners

Yes, good that EP is supporting measures to combat violence against women and trafficking, and good it is debating pay & equality gap. Yes, nice for President Barroso that the Commision is composed of one third of female Commissioners. All policies are in place. Gender mainstreaming is all around. If there are no more women on higher positions, it is simply because women are not good enough. Or don’t want to. Or a combination.

Really? Do the gender-career implicit association test and see for yourself if international women’s day is for you or not. It’s there to enlighten me for sure.

P.S. You can check here if the test exists in your own mother tongue. Enjoy.

P.S. P.S. Back in the eighties my physics teacher told the class while explaining the formula for calculating the perimeter of a circle, that the girls did not need to pay attention.: girls would take a piece of rope in case they would want to sew a table cloth in the future. Good teacher.

Those are some of the answers I got when I asked my colleagues for their vision on the Dutch. Read on to find what else they said and discover if they are right or wrong.

Laid back, very (or too) liberal, tolerant, open-minded creative and fun people

I have never thought of the Dutch as particularly tolerant. Hence my surprise when so many people feel the need to mention exactly that, once they discover you are Dutch. Usually they have the drugs or abortion or euthanasia or equality policy,  gay marriage or the Amsterdam red light district in mind.

Two-way cycle path by Fietsberaad

All this exists because of a deep sense of pragmatism rather than tolerance.  When something is out there, the Dutch are keen on labelling it and inventing regulations to control it. For drugs, abortion, euthanasia and prostitution policy, the global idea is that policy and regulation make it easier to control. So, the fear of these activities going underground is a reason for the rather liberal policies.  By the way, abortion policy in several member States (like Belgium and Spain) is more liberal (meaning it can be done until a later stage in pregnancy) than in the Netherlands.

Another example of Dutch pragmatism is that criminals must pay taxes in the Netherlands (well, ok only when they are caught doing some kind of lucrative criminal activity, by calling in after-tax).  Contrary to Sweden, in the Netherlands paid sex is legal and people in the Adult Entertainment Industry do need to pay taxes like anyone else.

 But also: super-conservative people who can’t stand all those hippies visiting the Dam or conformists living in a fish bowl

Indeed, there are quite some differences in the country and I am surprised by this level of inside information of several colleagues. 

Blunt with a specific, rather direct sense of humour, which often hurts  

The Dutch tend to call the things by their name; they are very direct. Knowing that something is there, but denying it or shutting one’s eyes to it is something the Dutch do not understand. This practice sometimes seen in other cultures leaves a Dutch person deeply confused. Perhaps also a reason they are not the best diplomats?  For the Dutch, yes is yes and no is no. It took me quite some time, working in an international environment, to realise that the absence of an answer can actually mean a no.

And yes, Dutch humour is great and plays an important role in society with a rather large group of comedians performing in the theatres every season.  Traditionally on New Year’s Eve a comedian is chosen to look back on the year in a live broadcast watched by many.

Dutch love to travel and can be found in many countries around the world.  

True. Dutch love to travel, in their own or neighbouring countries but also to exotic places. Wherever you go, when you meet a fellow traveller, 50% chance it is a Dutchmen (other 50% chance it is someone from a Scandinavian country).  Dutch also tend to think they speak languages well, which is definitely not true. But the Dutch compare themselves to big surrounding countries like the UK, Germany and France, hence the misunderstanding.

Dutch are greedy penny-pinchers
According to the Flemish; copper wire was invented by two Dutch people fighting for a coin.  It is true that in daily life the Dutch tend to consider more carefully than others what they spend their money on. However, the Dutch tend to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. When it comes to more complicated financial products like mortgages and insurances, the Dutch are not all that well informed and for instance tend to be over insured.

And no, the Dutch are in general not greedy. Compared with other countries, the Dutch do give a lot more to good causes and charity (last year 88% of all households gave to a charity) and the amount spend on development aid is also amongst the highest in the EU.

Dutch eat bad food
What is served for dinner in the average family (especially among the older generations) is indeed not that tasty. Eating is seen as something that needs to be done (preferably in 30 minutes) in order to take in some calories in to keep on going and before all the other activities (sports, voluntary work) in the evening can take a start. But: like several other Nordic countries that may have a similar reputation, the cuisine is not hindered by the (by a Dutchman invented) Law of the handicap of a head start .

So, in compliance with the principle of the law, indeed the nicest and most inventive restaurants I had dinner were always in Nordic countries and not in the Perigord where the first day you enjoy your meal and after the third day you only want to flee because all restaurants serve the same success story.

The Dutch are sturdy; love extreme sports as well as riding the bike

One of my colleagues says he read on the internet that since the use of bikes is so smartly encouraged, the Dutch have better health and body shape than the rest of lazy Europeans. He was not the only one mentioning the good body shape of the Dutch (which is very true of course). Another one noticed that the Dutch tend to like sports under extreme circumstances. It is true that the Dutch also take the bike when it is raining or storming and in rural areas it is completely normal that school kids ride 45 minutes back and forth to school every day.

Super-organised control freaks

Yes, the Dutch tend to think that “things are well-organised” in their country and are rather proud of it. Especially when encountering – in their eyes -poorly organised situations abroad.  Being practical and efficient is appreciated.

Funny enough, whereas being well-organised is a pride for the Dutch, I heard in a course on working in a multi-cultural environment last year that for people from southern Member States, this -perhaps Nordic- efficiency at work was the worst thing they could come up with when asked to describe something negative about another culture. It takes away all the fun…

And according to the Dutch themselves…

I also asked some Dutch colleagues how they perceive the Dutch. Presumptuous, ill-mannered and overregulated is what they said after going on to discuss whether or not a Dutchman could be proud of the Delta Works achieved by other Dutchmen.  Oh, another thing: in the Netherlands, big monumental constructions like the Delta Works or the Afsluitdijk are always very functional in the first place ….

On holiday in the Netherlands a while ago, I noticed that the cycle path had two bikes painted on it. It took me some thinking to realise this was in order to indicate that the cyclists could come from two directions on this path (usually there is a cycling path on each part of the road but not here). So: overregulated? Perhaps a bit. While looking for an accompanying photo, I found there is actually a centre of expertise on bicycle policy in the Netherlands. However, whereas one of my colleagues pointed out parents are scared to death when their youngsters go off on holiday to Amsterdam; bear in mind the Netherlands is one of the Members with the lowest traffic mortality in the EU!

Stuck with unequal representation in the five years to come (c) abbyladybug on Flickr

Next week the newly elected MEPs will flock to Strasbourg for the inaugural session of the Parliament. Among them approximately 35% female Members. A slight increase compared to the previous legislature (until recently Parliament had 31% female MEPs) but way too little to be able to speak of an equal representation, after all 52% of  EU’s inhabitants is female. How will this make them feel?

Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström wrote on her blog : “Elections are about representation and if voters don’t see themselves reflected in who represents them, then they will be seen as distant.”

What lessons can be learned? Countries who did worst and will be sending less than 30% female MEPs to Strasbourg are Malta (male Members only), Czech republic (18% female Members), Poland (22%), Ireland, Italy and Lithuania (all 25%) and Slovenia (29%).

Women need to be like G.I. Jane

Consensus between my Czech, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish and Slovene colleagues is that politics are traditionally dominated by men in their country, difficult for women to get in. According to my Polish colleague women need to be “like G.I. Jane“. He adds that these bad gender results may also be due to the right and centre-right being the biggest parties in his country and they are “not champions in equal treatment”. My Czech colleague thinks many people in his country would like to have more women in politics like in Scandinavian countries but in order to vote for a woman you also need women high enough on the voting lists….

“The women on the list were highly qualified for the job…..!” says my Maltese colleague about the female candidates in her country. In Malta there is the situation that the candidates on the voting lists appear by alphabetical order, although it is by proportional representation and single transferable vote. Nevertheless if people do not know who to give their second, third preference etc it is advantageous to be higher up in the list. That is why the second person and third persons on the both EPP and PES lists happened to be men and the women were further down in the list due to their surnames.

But for future elections Maltese women have a big advantage men do not have: they can change their name! So if you are a Maltese woman and you want to go into European politics and you are not married yet: try to find a decent guy called Abela (preferably) Attard, Borġ or Buttiġieġ to increase your changes of being elected.

My Slovene colleague says having two female MEPs among the seven Slovenes needs to be interpreted as  ”super”, given the participation of women in politics in her country. Finally our Italian photographer explains that Silvio Berlusconi was confronted with too little public support regarding the number of women he wanted to place on the voting lists.

Silvio Berlusconi was confronted with too little public support.

Most Nordic countries did well: Finland (62%), Sweden 56%), Estonia (50%). and Denmark (46%). I asked my Scandinavian colleagues how come. “It’s natural” says my Swedish colleague. If only Iceland and Norway would join the EU……

Other countries with more than 40% female representatives are the Netherlands (48%), Bulgaria (47%), and France (44%).  In the Netherlands there is a tradition of women voting for women. Dutch female social-democrat Judith Merkies was 4th on the voting list but still will be in the three-person team of Dutch social-democrats thanks to preferential votes.

My Bulgarian colleague thinks that the good result for Bulgaria may be thanks to many very good and well-known female candidates on the voting lists (e.g. Commissioner Meglena Kuneva). She also mentions the communist tradition of women playing equal roles in society and occupying higher posts. Perhaps, but how come some other former communist countries did so badly then?

As for France since the introduction in 2000 of the loi sur la parité, there needs to be equal representation between men and women on the voting lists. The result is there with 44% female MEPs. According to my French colleague, often the even numbers on the voting lists are reserved for women and the odd numbers for men: hence no real equal representation but in any case legislation that deserves to be followed by other countries.

So here we are, stuck with this unequal situation. Is there anything that still can be done? Yes,  Wallström writes: “Now we need to focus our efforts on ensuring parity in the European Commission and for top jobs within the European parliament!”

To be continued….

Another orange envelope on its way to the Netherlands (Pietro Naj-Oleari, 20-05-2009)

Each member of our team will be voting since there is always time to vote. Here at the EP headquarters we will on election night be as much waiting for the results to know how the “camembert“  will be divided as we will be waiting for the turn-out figures.

As an incentive for candidates to continue campaigning: one third of our staff has not made up their mind yet less than two weeks before the elections. What everybody does know, is whether they will be voting for a candidate in their home country or for a Belgian candidate. Remember, for European elections it is possible to vote in the EU-country of residence. Only three people are saving the honour of our unit by making a true European choice: they will be voting in Belgium. Well, actually only two people are saving our honour since one is voting in Belgium because his own government took away his voting rights!

In case you did not make up your mind yet, continue reading to find some tips and tricks to make your choice.

Firstly, if you still barely know what the European Parliament is made of, watch this video explaining the groups with a chocolate cake. It seems the British conservatives taste deliciously! Bear in mind that many parties running for election are not represented in the current Parliament. You can check out the voting lists in your country  to know all participating parties in these elections. You will find the lists on the right site on your county page, once they’ve become available.

You may have a cross-party issue on your mind you want to fulfil. You may want to vote for a candidate that will look after gay rights, or you may want to vote for a MEP with special attention for disabled people. Just contact the spokesperson of the party of your choice and ask if there is a candidate on their list looking after your specific interests.

Finally, many candidates are using this year the social media for their campaign. The candidate you want to know more about may have put a video on YouTube, a page on Facebook or keep a blog and in any case (s)he will have a website. If you were able to find this blog, you certainly will be able to find more info online to make up your mind! 

Most citizens will be mainly interested in knowing how their party did. But what if in the next elections turn-out figures would be as exciting to them as they are to us…. Suppose we would slightly change the rules for the elections in 2014 and let the citizens of each EU-country really get the politicians they deserve…. by number.

We could link the number of MEPs per country to the turn-out in the country (we would need to find a solution for Belgium where voting is compulsory). If citizens would know they could be poorly represented – not necessarily by ideology but by nationality - in case they would not show up, they may be very keen on voting to gain an extra MEP or two for their country. How exciting the elections would be in that case ……

No, I am not only dreaming and actually did last week a down-to-earth thing and casted my vote. So one more orange envelope is on its way to The Hague… And no, I will not tell here what lady I voted for.

“When men say they cannot find a suitable women, I would say: you should have your eyes checked.”

With the elections for Parliament only one month away, this is the time to finally achieve a 50/50 representation in the hemicycle. In order to achieve this, it would help if more women would vote and that they would vote for a woman. But would that do the trick? To start, we would also need a good representation of women on the voting lists.  A glance at the lists of the seven Dutch parties that are currently represented in the European Parliament, however, does not lead to much optimism: only two parties have a woman as a frontrunner….

Support the 50/50 campaign

Dutch Commission Kroes is equally pessimistic. She would like to see two of the six top positions that will or have been opened this year on EU (President of the European Commission, EP-President, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and in case the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, President of the European Council) and NATO-level occupied by a woman but said this week: “You need to have about eternal life before half of the politicians is a woman”. Assuming the 67-years old Commissioner does not have eternal life, wouldn’t it not be nice she would actually be able to witness equal representation in her lifetime? Kroes said to find it strange that there are not even women in the picture for the position of EP President: “When men say they cannot find suitable women, I would say: you should have your eyes checked”. The link to the interview is here for those who read Dutch.

If you want to support this cause, sign the “Females in Front” petition that is about the four different leaders of the European Union that will be appointed during the next 12 months only (not about NATO). The humble aim of this campaign is that one of them should at least be a woman.

You can also sign the 50/50 petition that aims at getting women on those high EU-posts as well but is also about “putting  pressure right now on all national political parties and require them to ensure the equal representation and ranking of women and men on their electoral lists and to include gender equality as a priority in their programmes.”

“The reason why women have not yet achieved equality, despite the fact that they have been trying for decades, is the idea that they can do it by themselves, that they do not need men.”

Women’s Rights Committee Chair Anna Záborská recently gave us an explanation for this male-domination: “The reason why women have not yet achieved equality, despite the fact that they have been trying for decades, is the idea that they can do it by themselves, that they do not need men.”

In order to achieve the 50/50 representation we indeed need the help of men. They are certainly not unwilling or unintersted as a Eurobarometer poll showed in February that 83% of women and 76% of men agree that women can bring a different perspective to politics. So we can gently ask them to vote for a woman but will it be enough?
Perhaps men do need an incentive and we can learn something from the women’s rights movement in Kenya who announced on 1 May to boycot sex for a week in order to enforce better rights (today they will be able to take stock). The sad situation of women in Kenya cannot be compared to the situation of women in the European Union, but we may copy some of their good action practices and… improve them on the way…..

So, tell your bed partner as a little reminder that if on election night it seems there will be no equal representation of women in the European Parliament, there will be no sex during the whole summer (until the next elections would be better but that may have devastating consequences for Europe’s gloomy demographic crunch) .

And finally a plea to the 368 male MEPs that will be elected for the next term: follow in the footsteps of MEPs Raül Romeva i Rueda , Giovanni Rivera and Konrad Szymański : elect twenty lucky devils among yourselves to join the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality committee. They have plenty of work!

With thanks to Lena and Raffaella for their suggestions.

P.S. Still have not read enough about this topic. Go here, even if it were only to check out the great illustration

DNA of the team - (c) Mr Jamespeake on Flickr

The only causes worth fighting for are lost causes

At average we are 33 ¼ years young. This youthly figure is without the trainees but includes the boss! Still a large number of us were too old to be at the meeting between Hillary Clinton and young Europeans recently in the Parliament, although some of the editors managed.

If something bothers you: confront it. If it does not work: leave it

We have a gender-balanced team with seventeen women and twelve men though the boss and editorial coordinator are both men……

Always try to get better

Interestingly, six among us have previously worked for an MEP or a group, covering the political spectrum from the left to the right.

What is worth doing, is worth doing well

Since we are working for a multilingual website, we master together all official EU-languages of course, but there is more. You can also address us in Bosnian, Catalan, Croatian, Faroese, Frisian, Galician, Hebrew, Yiddish, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, even in Calabrian and Milanese dialect and of course in American English. Moreover, one of us has plans to learn Arab and we have also an editor who can imitate Swiss German on request.

Always do what your mother recommends not to do

Are we law-obeying citizens? Well, together we have had during our collective adult lives 438 parking or speeding fines. Quite a lot for such a young unit and bearing in mind that seven among us do not use a car! We see a clear distinction here since 346 of the fines are collected by people who have sun, wine and good food in common: they are all from below the garlic frontier.

Try to get the best out of everything

One of us even stopped driving because she figured out paying taxis would be cheaper than paying the fines….

When it is worth having, it is worth working for

We studied communication science, cultural studies, economy, European studies, film art, finance, history, law, public relations, journalism, marketing, photo journalism, political science, many languages and translation, sociology and international relations. Almost everybody did more than one study, the real die-hards up to five!

Don’t let money or gadgets take you hostage

Together we have ten domestic animals and eighteen domestic kids. Here we witness another frontier: the men in the unit tend to like animals, the women don’t. The men together possess 3 cats, 1 part-time dog and 4 gold-fish. One of the fish-owners, however, wants “to get rid of his two goldfish” so if you would be able to give those two a loving, caring home, please leave your contact details below.

The glass is half-full

The women together possess 2 cats. In addition, one recently caught a mouse and one has two potential rabbits.

Do not worry about something until it becomes a problem

The kiddos most likely will continue to outnumber the animals since three more are on their way …

Don’t regret the things you have done but the ones you haven’t done

Finally, what do we do when we are not at work? We like sports! So off we go: climbing, diving, horse-riding, orienteering, wind- or kite surfing, playing rugby and paragliding.

To live and let live or only you can make you happy

Some of us really relax while playing the birbynė, archiving, ship spotting, deciphering hand-writing, filling in crosswords and flying radio-controlled airplanes.

From the evil you fear or the good you expect, you will always only get half

Still want to know more: read here how we describe ourselves or post your curiosity below. As long as your questions do not involve sex, porn and Britney Spears we may be happy to answer.

I am nothing if not a nihilist

Finally, tried to make sense of the titles? They actually reflect the life-philosophy of the team members!