State feminism and women s movements in Belgium: complex patterns in a multi-level system

Transcription

1 State feminism and women s movements in Belgium: complex patterns in a multi-level system Paper for delivery at the ECPR Joint Sessions of Granada, April 2005 Karen Celis, Hogeschool Gent, karen.celis@hogent.be 1 Petra Meier, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, pmeier@vub.ac.be Work in progress please do not cite without authors permission comments welcome Abstract The last decade has been of major importance for the Belgian women s policy agencies. On the one hand there is their ongoing decentralisation, due to general decentralisation tendencies and the further development of the federal state structure. In this the women s policy agencies follow the women s movement, which has long ago split up along community lines. On the other hand there is the ongoing supranationalisation of policy-making, the EU and international organisations are growingly influencing the contents of policies. Over the last decade, research on the feminist extent of the women s policy agencies activities focused very much on national or regional policy-making processes but did not concentrate on the multi-level system in which many women s policy agencies operate. Using the example of the Belgian case, the paper assesses how a growingly multi-level system, in which simultaneous processes of supranationalisation and decentralisation take place, potentially influenced the women s policy agencies and the women s movements political opportunity structure, as well as their interactions. Our hypothesis is that the changing context creates both thresholds for effective action and windows of opportunities. 1 With thanks to Thomas Van Langenhove for collecting data concerning the supranational level.

2 1 Introduction The last decade has witnessed an increased interest in multi-level governance in political science literature. Multi-level governance implies a shift upwards, downwards and a lateral shift sideways from central state authority to other public and, in the lateral shift, to private actors. The decline of central state authority in Western Europe is partly seen as an outcome of European integration, implying a shift upwards of central state authority to supranational European institutions. The shift below the central state authority is the result of the empowerment of subnational public authorities (Hooghe and Marks 2001:69). Throughout the 1990s there has been a worldwide trend towards more decentralisation. Multiple reasons explain this tendency, such as the alleviation of the financial burden of the central state, incentives for regional economic development, but also political claims for more autonomy along lines of for instance ethno-linguistic identities. Over the last years, half of the EUmember states decentralised, and while the others did not follow the same trend, neither did they become more centralised. The multiple levels of public authorities involve that central state authorities have no monopoly over relations with the supranational level. Subnational actors operate in both the national and in supranational arenas and have for instance direct access to Brussels (Jans 2004). Multi-level governance not only means that decision-making is no longer monopolised by central state authorities. Governance is a process whereby public and private actions and resources are coordinated and given common direction and meaning (Peters 2001 in Jans 2004). Multi-level governance implies that society is not solely governed through state action but also by a public-private coordination to achieve public policy goals. There is a shift sideways to other types than state actors through privatisation, outsourcing, self-regulation, etc. In a model of multi-level governance government is present at several levels whereby levels and actors are not hierarchically ordered but have more complex, contextually defined relationships. The model of multi-level governance has a number of consequences for the decision and policymaking process. Political arenas are more interconnected than nested. Policy networks play a crucial role. They provide flexible linkages between levels. While domestic policy making in central states is based on a stable set of actors, multi-level governance involves a fluid set of institutions. Hierarchic interaction is reduced while there is a growing importance of coordination, cooperation and joint decision-making between different actors involved in policy making. All of these put more emphasis on decision-making by consensus and the need to avoid conflict than a traditional central state hierarchy. Policy goals and or procedures are often left unspecified. Procedures to achieve decisions are not only formal but often also informal. Multi-level governance also implies a growing competition between different actors, both regulatory competition and competition for national and supranational resources. A final consequence of multi-level governance is the proliferation of new policy instruments. The inadequacy of classic command-and-control legislation with succinctly prescriptive norms, compliance and eventual sanctions leads to policy instruments such as open methods of coordination, where objectives are set without procedural requirements, and where results are evaluated and eventually blamed but not sanctioned; voluntary agreements between public or public and private actors such as covenants; codes of conduct; audits; impact assessments; measures of self-regulation (Jans 2004). Multi-level governance is rather a process of coordination and steering than of imposition and hierarchy because of the extent of operational autonomy and of reciprocal interdependence of the various actors involved. Multi-level governance involves that the multiple shifts of authority away from central state authorities lead to a shift of power and influence between levels and types of actors of decision-making. This does not mean that central state authorities simply loose power, but 1

3 relationships become more complex and interdependent. However, central state authorities do loose their monopoly over decision-making and their monopoly of relations with the supranational level. The effectiveness of new and soft policy tools such as the open method of coordination is also highly disputed, not the least in the area of achieving gender equality policies (Walby 2004). Recent accounts of women s policy agencies focused on national or regional women s policy agencies, but not on an interaction or interdependence between levels of public authorities. Their main concern consisted in explaining to what extent and under what conditions women s policy agencies foster feminist goals (Lovenduski et al. 2005; Mazur 2001; Mazur and Stetson 1995; Outshoorn 2004; Stetson 2001), analysing different policy areas such as the presence of women in political decision-making, job training, prostitution, abortion or the basic structural and institutional setting of women s policy agencies. This literature considered non-state actors, mainly the women s movements, accounting for the extent to which they have access to and impact on the policy agenda or weigh on political decisions. But accounts on public and private actors meant to foster gender equality did not focus on the multi-level setting in which many of these actors operate. As much as other public authorities, women s policy agencies are subject to processes of supranationalisation and decentralisation. On the one hand, the EU institutions are active in the field of gender equality policies, whereas other international organisations such as the UN also influence national and subnational gender equality policies via conventions such as CEDAW and conference resolutions such as the Beijing Platform for Action. On the other hand, women s policy agencies are also subject to processes of decentralisation. Most local public authorities have to deal with gender equality policies. Using the example of the Belgian case, the paper aims at assessing the potential political opportunity structure arising for women s policy agencies and the women s movements in a growingly multi-level system. The Belgian case is a very interesting one. Accounts on the Belgian women s policy agencies are still rare (Celis 2001; Facon et al. 2004; Hondeghem and Nelen 2000; Meier 2005; Woodward and Meier 1998). Furthermore, Belgium is one of the smaller and more EU-minded member states, both factors making it permeable to EU influence. It also went through a far-reaching process of federalisation during its recent history. 2 We therefore also find a complex federal state structure next to the more classic decentralisation of central state power to local state authorities. We address the question of what the multilevel system, or rather the shift towards an increased multi-level setting, in which simultaneous processes of supranationalisation and decentralisation take place, involves for the Belgian women s policy agencies and women s movement. What are the potential thresholds and windows of opportunity of this evolution? The paper first assesses the evolution of the Belgian women s policy agencies, investigating how the process of decentralisation influenced the development of the different women s policy agencies and their potential impact. It then takes a similar look at the Belgian women s movement. Subsequently, the paper addresses how EU and UN policies on gender equality influence the Belgian constellation of women s policy agencies and movements. 2 The evolution of the Belgian women s policy agencies since the 1990s 2 Beginning in the 1970s, a number of constitutional reforms (1970, 1980, 1988,and 1993) moved Belgium from a unitary state to a complex system of asymmetrical federalism. This resulted in several layers of political institutions representing ethno-linguistic and regional entities, see also

4 2.1 Precursors of the Belgian women's policy agencies What is generally considered to be the first real Belgian women s policy agency was set up in the wake of the 1985 Nairobi UN World Conference on Women (Hondeghem and Nelen 2000). Before two advisory committees on women were active which can be seen as an early version of a women s policy agency. In 1974 the Committee on Women s Employment had been founded within the Ministry of Labour and Employment and in 1975 the same happened with the Consultative Committee for the Status of Women within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The policy mandate of the Committee on Women s Employment consisted in informing the Minister of Labour and Employment and the National Labour Council. The main tasks of the Consultative Committee for the Status of Women were to prepare the International Women Conferences, to assist the Minister of Foreign Affairs in determining the Belgian attitude towards problems with the status of women, and to ensure that international guidelines would be applied in Belgium. Contrary to the Committee on Women s Employment the Consultative Committee for the Status of Women was entitled to take the initiative to advise on problems concerning the status of women present on the international agenda. It was also composed of representatives of a cross section of political, social and women s organisations, together with delegates of the departments concerned. These were justice, labour and employment, social security, national health and family, foreign affairs and foreign aid (Consultatieve Commissie voor de Status van de Vrouw s.d.:1). The composition of the Committee on Women s Employment was less broad. Both committees held low positions within their respective ministries, with respect to their autonomy, authority, access to the decision-making centres and resources. In both cases their mandate was restricted to informing and advising their respective Minister, which made it impossible to intervene in other arenas. And even though the Consultative Committee for the Status of Women formally had the right of initiative to advise its Minister regarding all women s problems present on the international agenda, it did not exhaust this option. The 1980 Copenhagen UN World Conference on Women for instance encouraged member states to ban dangerous and illegal abortions as a measure for family planning, but the Belgian agenda for internal legislation did not mention this topic, notwithstanding the fact that it was a feminist issue and that the first chairs of the Consultative Committee for the Status of Women 3 were all feminists (Celis 2001). 2.2 The federal Belgian women's policy agencies In 1985 and 1986, respectively, the government installed a State Secretary of Environment and of Social Emancipation and an Emancipation Council. Miet Smet, a former president of the Flemish Christian Democrats political women s organisation Vrouw en Maatschappij (cf. infra) actually became State Secretary of Environmental Affairs but she also negotiated an Equal Opportunities portfolio. Officially, the State Secretary s scope of issues covered everything related to social emancipation, but throughout her mandates she focused on three: violence against women, women s economic position and their participation in political decision-making. She also initiated the development of local equal opportunities policies. The Emancipation Council functioned as an advisory body for the State Secretary. Its sphere of action was also cross-sectional, including everything directly or indirectly related to the social emancipation of women. It contained delegates of the women s organisations of 3 The first chairs of the Consultative Commission for the Status of Women were Mieke Coene, Marijke Van Hemeldonck, Emilienne Brunfaut and from September 1981 onwards Françoise Lavry. 3

5 different ideological and socio-cultural persuasions (Kuhl 1998:14; Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en Leefmilieu 1987:2). When compared to the earlier women s policy agencies, the sphere of action and the potential of the State Secretary and of the Emancipation Council had increased substantially. Nonetheless, a State Secretary is the lowest level of the government hierarchy and subordinate to a Minister, in this case the Minister of Public Health and Environment, and from 1989 onwards the Minister of Labour and Employment. Similarly, the Emancipation Council depended on the State Secretary; its advice could only be made public after reaching an agreement with the Minister or eventually the State Secretary (Kuhl 1998:14; Ministerie van Volksgezondheid en Leefmilieu 1987:2). In this respect the two women s policy agencies did not differ from the former advisory bodies. When Miet Smet became Minister of Labour and Employment in 1991 she retained the Equal Opportunities portfolio. Since then the portfolio has been officially termed Equal Opportunities. More important is that the women s policy agency attained the level of a fullyfledged Minister and no longer depended on another Minister in the coalition. Attaining the level of a Minister also involved that a Unit of Equal Opportunities was set up in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, in But the Minister did not change her policy priorities. In 1993 the Emancipation Council and the older Committee on Women s Employment merged into the Council of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women. It is again composed of representatives from a broad range of organisations, such as the social partners, political parties, women s and family organisations, the Minister of Civil Service, etc. Contrary to former advisory bodies, not only this but every Minister, as well as other institutions and organisations can ask the Council of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women for an advice ( of 4/3/2005). It can also advise on its own initiative and does so to a large extent. Since its start the Council of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women has given up to nearly 100 advices on matters ranging from income security for senior male and female citizens, to gender quotas for electoral lists, maternity protection for self-employed, the use of the veil, the position of women in top-class sport or domestic violence. However, much the same as with former advisory bodies on gender equality, advice of the Council of Equal Opportunities for Men and Women is not binding (Plasman and Sissoko 2003; Raad van Gelijke Kansen voor Mannen en Vrouwen 1997). In 1999, the Flemish Christian-Democrats lost the federal elections and were swept out of government. Initially, the new government coalition contained no Minister in charge of Equal Opportunities. After protest from the women s movements, this oblivion was corrected and the Francophone Social-Democrat Laurette Onkelinx, the new Minister of Labour and Employment, took on Equal Opportunities. She was also Vice-Premier, involving that the competence of gender equality was raised to the level of the inner cabinet. She presented herself less as a feminist than did Miet Smet and neither had she such a strong direct bond with the women s movement. After the 2003 elections Laurette Onkelinx moved to her favourite department of Justice but without the portfolio of Equal Opportunities. Neither was Equal Opportunities any longer attached to the portfolio of Labour and Employment. Equal Opportunities were again forgotten during the government formation but added to the portfolio of Marie Arena after protest by the women s movement. Also a Francophone Social- Democrat, she was in charge of a range of competencies including the Civil Service, Social Integration, Metropolitan Issues and Intercultural Dialogue. Due to the success of the Francophone Social-Democrats at the 2004 regional elections she became Minister-President of the government of the Francophone Community (and Minister of Education in the Walloon government). Her fellow party member Christian Dupont took her post in the federal government. The first man in charge of Equal Opportunities, he has more affinity with the 4

6 other issues in his portfolio. None of the successors of Miet Smet have developed a focus on gender equality and a specialisation in certain issues as she did. During Laurette Onkelinx s period as Minister of Equal Opportunities, the federal women s policy agency has been restructured. In 2001 she launched the Institute for Equality of Women and Men and it was set up in It is a federal public service monitoring the compliance of equality of women and men, fighting any form of discrimination or inequality based on sex and developing strategies and instruments for an integrated approach of gender issues. The Institute for Equality of Women and Men prepares and executes government decisions and follows up European or international policy measures on gender equality, but it can also take action in legal disputes regarding the penal code and other legislation on gender equality. The Institute for Equality of Women and Men can advice the government or any other actor on matters of gender equality, including on how to materialise rights regarding gender equality; support organisations promoting gender equality; gather and disseminate information on gender equality; and develop a network structure including the relevant actors in the field ( of 4/3/2005). The Institute for Equality of Women and Men falls under the authority of the Minister in charge of Equal Opportunities, but only to a limited extent. The Minister can request certain activities but not prevent the Institute for Equality of Women and Men from initiating others related to its mandate. The Institute for Equality of Women and Men has a certain degree of autonomy not characteristic of a public administration but its position is ambiguous. It replaces the Unit of Equal Opportunities, the administrative branch of the federal women s policy agency. The personnel of the latter was actually transferred to the Institute for Equality of Women and Men in July In this respect it functions as the Minister of Equal Opportunities public administration. The director of the Institute for Equality of Women and Men, Pascale Vielle, for instance represents the Minister on official missions such as the EU Council of Ministers of February 2005 preparing the 49 th session of the UN Committee for the Status of Women. Furthermore, the Institute for Equality of Women and Men is meant to prepare and execute government decisions, to follow up European and international policy measures regarding gender equality and to annually report to the Minister on the execution of its function. In this respect it fulfils the typical function of a public administration. But it can undertake legal action and develop activities going beyond this function. Until now the ambiguous position gave the Institute for Equality of Women and Men a rather low profile while this ambiguity, when exploited strategically, might also open windows of opportunities for more autonomous action. Nonetheless, the tie with the Minister of Equal Opportunities is less direct and clear as it used to be, which reduces the strength of the federal women s policy agency. In sum, over time the federal Belgian women s policy agency rose in autonomy, in scope and to a certain extent in the government hierarchy. In terms of resources such as budget and personnel, however, it has always been marginal compared to those awarded to other Ministers and State Secretaries. 2.3 The development of the regional women's policy agencies The federal women s policy agencies are the oldest ones functioning in Belgian, but the ongoing federalisation of the Belgian state led to the construction of regions (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels Capital City) and of communities (Flemish, Francophone and Germanspeaking). Regions and communities partly overlap. The first have boundaries based on territory and deal with related matters such as economy, infrastructure, etc. The second are related to citizens and their ethno-linguistic background. They deal with person-related 5

7 matters such as education or culture. Since the middle of the 1990s regions and communities have their own parliaments and governments. At the Flemish side, the institutions of the region and of the community were merged. After the federal women s policy agency, the Flemish is the most important one. Since the first Flemish elections in 1995, a Minister is in charge of equal opportunities. During the first legislature this post was split between a Social Democrat, Anne Van Asbroeck, leaving the post to a Christian-Democrat, Brigitte Grouwels, after two years. Both of them combined it with a competence for Brussels Affairs. After the electoral success of the Greens in 1999, Mieke Vogels became Minister of Equal Opportunities, combining it with Social Welfare and Health. She resigned due to the disastrous results of the Greens at the 2003 federal elections. Her mandate was taken over by her party colleague Adelheid Byttebier. Since the last regional elections of 2004, Kathleen Van Brempt, a Social Democrat is Minister of Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunities. The high number of Ministers in a short period of time led to a multiple switch of priorities in equal opportunities policies. A focus on gender by Anne Van Asbroeck was quickly broadened to sexuality, age, handicaps and immigrants of non-belgian origin by her successors. Only Kathleen Van Brempt focuses less on inequalities regarding immigrants of non-belgian origin, because this would overlap with the competence for Integration of her Minister colleague Marino Keulen. The various Ministers for Equal Opportunities also differ in the type of policy tools they prefer. While Mieke Vogels preferred to impose parity on electoral lists by gender quotas, the other Ministers did not take such a clear-cut position on this issue. Kathleen Van Brempt is officially against gender quotas, as much as she is against a gender impact assessment, an instrument of which the development was initiated under Anne Van Asbroeck and refined under Brigitte Grouwels and Mieke Vogels. Even though she is only in power since a short period of time, she already made clear that gender equality is not her priority and that she prefers to promote it through soft measures and initiatives, being very much in favour of the open method of coordination (Van Brempt 2004). While the budget for equal opportunities increased over time and was already three times the initial amount in 2001, it again is marginal as compared to other government competences. Furthermore, the share set aside for gender equality suffers from the increased number of target groups (Plasman and Sissoko 2003). The Flemish Minister of Equal Opportunities disposes of roughly the same number of advisors as her colleague at the federal level, but her public administration is smaller. Both have 3 to 4 advisors on equal opportunities 4, but the Flemish public administration for equal opportunities only comprises 4 to 5 staff members and not 15 to 20 as does the federal one. Also different from the federal public administration is that the Flemish women s policy agency is part of the horizontally or transversally oriented Department of Coordination and not of one of the thematically organised pillars of the Flemish public administration. One explanation for this is the early conceptualisation of Equal Opportunities as a horizontal competence in Flanders. Inspired by the fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing, equal opportunities were from the beginning defined as a horizontal competence and gender mainstreaming was high on the agenda of the women s policy agency. This explains for instance the early focus on gender impact assessment (1996). Contrary to this, the federal women s policy agency started to adopt a horizontal approach from 2000 onwards and it was then that issues such as gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting came on the federal agenda. 4 This is an average number of advisors for a given competence. Only Kathleen Van Brempt s number of advisors on mobility is more than the double of her number of advisors on equal opportunities. 6

8 In all other regions and communities the women s policy agency is of limited size or (still) non-existent. Since the 2004 regional elections, the Walloon government has a fully-fledged Minister of Equal Opportunities, the Social-Democrat Christiane Vienne. She combines this competence with Public Health and Social Action. Equal opportunities are actually framed in terms of Social Action, promoting the employment and training of women. The Minister has one advisor working specifically on the issue of equal opportunities. The Ministry of the Walloon Government has no women s policy agency. The government of Brussels Capital Region also has a State Secretary for Equal Opportunities since the 2004 elections. Brigitte Grouwels, former Minister of Equal Opportunities in the Flemish Government, combines this competence with the Civil Service Affairs and the Port of Brussels. She has three advisors on equal opportunities but again no real women s policy agency at the level of the public administration. No Minister of the Francophone Community Government is in charge of equal opportunities. The Minister-President officially ensures that a gender dimension is considered in the bills the government submits to parliament (Plasman and Sissoko 2003). But no advisor on equal opportunities is attached to her or to any of her colleagues. The Ministry of the Francophone Community contains a unit of equal opportunities right from the beginning. It includes a similar number of staff members as its Flemish counterpart but has a more limited budget and function. The German-speaking Community has no women s policy agency. Finally, most parliaments in Belgium have an advisory committee on gender equality. The House of Representatives and the Senate of the federal Belgian parliament have respectively the Advisory Committee for Social Emancipation (set up in 1987), and the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (set up in 1995), both focusing on gender equality. They advise on request and on their own initiative, but their real power is limited (Meier 2005). Since 1995 the Flemish Parliament has an advisory committee on equal opportunities. For the moment being these matters are grouped in one Advisory Committee also dealing with Housing, Urban Issues, and Integration and the president is of the Far Right party Vlaams Belang. In 1997 the Parliament of the Francophone Community set up an Advisory Committee examining questions related to Equal Opportunities between Men and Women and the Walloon Parliament did the same in XXXX. The Parliament of Brussels Capital Region and of the German-speaking Community have no similar advisory committee. 2.4 Effects of the federalisation processes on the women s policy agencies On the whole, the last decade has been of major importance for the Belgian women s policy agencies. But only some of these evolutions are related to the federalisation process. The steady upgrading of the women s policy agency at the federal level to a fully-fledged Minister and, from 1999 to 2003 to the inner cabinet, is not related to federalisation processes. The same goes for the recent ambivalent position of its administrative branch because of the transfer to the Institute for Equality of Women and Men. And while the personal affinity for gender equality of the top person in charge of the women s policy agency (State Secretary, Minister, Vice-Premier, Minister-President) strongly influences the extent to which gender equality is a priority and gets a feminist reading, it is not directly related to the federalisation of the Belgian state. A result of the federalisation processes is the multiplication of women s policy agencies operating at different levels. From the end of the 1980s onwards the women s policy agency at the central state level initiated the development of local gender equality policies, which fit into the general trend to decentralise decision-making. But the creation of Ministers of Equal 7

9 Opportunities and of women s policy agencies in the regions and communities throughout the last decade is a direct consequence of the federalisation of the Belgian state. These different women s policy agencies developed and function in different contexts. This allows them to adapt themselves to the specific needs of the surrounding context, but it can also involve a certain degree of asymmetry. From the end of the 1990s onwards the federal women s policy agency weakened as a feminist actor, given the change in Minister, even though the formal structure was strengthened. Simultaneously, in Flanders the context seemed to be open to an efficient establishment of a women s policy agency in the middle of the 1990s. The other regions and communities follow but a decade later, in 2004, and set up women s policy agencies with a more limited scope. Given the central role of women s policy agencies in generating laws and/or actions to foster gender equality, this asymmetry can create a vacuum on gender equality policies at certain policy levels. The absence of a women s policy agency at a certain level increases the risks that at certain levels gender equality is not an issue fostered through public policies or that certain policy areas are not gender mainstreamed. Given the separation of competences prevailing in a federal state, and the exclusive location of certain competences to specific policy-making entities, such a gap cannot necessarily be filled in by another policy-making level. An asymmetric women s policy agencies structure might also refrain the federal women s policy agency to stimulate cooperation with the existing regional women s policy agencies, in order to avoid preferential treatment of one or some region(s). The possible asymmetric structure of the women s policy agencies structure in a federal state also has implications for actors depending on these agencies. The rising Flemish women s policy agency became an important partner for Flemish women s organisations and institutions, but for the other regions and communities the situation was more problematic during the second half of the 1990s. Women s organisations and institutions had no women s policy agency to turn to. This lack of support for organisations and institutions was explicitly recognised in 2000, when the federal Minister in charge of Equal Opportunities financed a couple of francophone chairs of feminist studies. This initiative was interesting because an equal treatment of and balance between the various regions but especially communities had traditionally been respected. Research projects for instance always implied partners from both major language groups and generally from institutions representing philosophical or ideological differences. Financing but francophone chairs in feminist studies was a clear rupture with this tradition, even though it was justified by the argument that this unilateral financing was an effort to make the Francophone scientific community catch up with the Flemish one. It implied that federal subsidies filled in the gap provided by the fact that the Francophone side of the country missed its own women s policy agencies. But the federal women s policy agency does not tend to lend itself for this kind of compensation. Another result of the federalisation process is that the women s policy agencies partly deal with the same policy matters. The radius of action of women s policy agencies in a federal structure depends on the policy competences of the level at which it is situated. In Belgium, the powers of the communities relate to education, culture, and other matters that involve services to individuals (health, for example). The regions have competencies in socioeconomic matters such as housing and employment. National defence, justice and social security, for instance, remain federal responsibilities. Economy, environment and transportation are examples of policy fields that are shared between the federal state and the regions. This division of competences has important implications for the mandate of women s policy agencies. Nonetheless, even though there are specific agreements on responsibilities and competences, there is an overlap in policy initiatives. All women s policy agencies, for instance, pay attention to the position of women in decision-making. The federal and the 8

10 Flemish women s policy agency ordered similar research over the last years on the evolution of a gender balance in electoral politics, on the factors influencing this evolution, including selection procedures or the impact of the electoral system and of gender quotas. But since these studies were not jointly decided on and since it is for instance excluded to collect data on the Walloon Region with Flemish subsidies, the data of the different projects are to a large extent incompatible. The federalisation process led to a fragmentation of different types of resources, which, if taken together, could generate more output. But the multitude of women s policy agencies dealing with similar policies also increases the windows of opportunities to promote a feminist agenda, whenever women s policy agencies show different degrees of permeability for feminist issues. Furthermore, the multitude of women s policy agencies in similar but competing positions can have a contagion effect as known from the interplay of parties, whereby parties tend to excel regarding the adoption of gender quotas (Matland and Studlar 1996; Meier 2004). Since the federal structure involves a certain degree of competition among the federal level and the regions or communities but also among the regions and communities, a similar contagion effect might rise regarding gender equality policies. The early Flemish focus on gender mainstreaming was for instance the result of the wish to be more progressive than the federal gender equality policies. Another result of a contagion effect might be the boost of women s policy agencies in the other regions and communities than the Flemish one. Another consequence of the federalisation processes is the turnover of Ministers in charge for gender equality. The changing political colour of Ministers is due to the similar strength of parties and of coalition cabinets. But to mark the federal character of the Belgian state, the elections for the federal parliament and those for the regions and communities have consciously been dissociated. The first take place at least every four years, the others have a fixed term of five years. This leads to a quasi-permanent electoral climate. Since electoral outcomes at one level impact the others, and since politicians are not strictly attached to one level but move back and forth, the federalisation process stimulated the turnover in Ministers in charge of gender equality. In 2003, Mieke Vogels withdrew from the Flemish government that had one more year to go because her party booked disastrous results in federal elections. A year later Marie Arena left her post in the federal government which she had occupied but one year because her party was very successful in regional and community elections. Since next to the coalition agreements, Ministers and their advisors to a large extent decide on the priorities and head lines of their policies, the turnover of Ministers leads to a frequent reorientation of policies. Again, this effect of federalisation can be positive, increasing the windows of opportunities for femocrats to occupy such a position. But it can also be negative and in any case leads to a lack of continuity in gender equality policies, because each Minister wants to leave personal marks. All of these issues require further analysis, what we express here are rather suggestions than firm findings. They nonetheless deserve attention because they put the potential of women s policy agencies in a multi-level system in perspective. 3. The evolution of the Belgian women s movements since the 1990s 3.1 The diversity of the Belgian women s movements Two central features of the Belgian society determine to a high extend the structure of the Belgian women's movements: the compartmentalisation along ideological and philosophical 9

11 lines ('pillarisation') and the progressive federalisation of the Belgian state. Although the pillarisation of the Belgian society is on the way down, the women's movements still reflects this segmentation by identifying itself with one of the existing tendencies or by explicitly respecting a philosophical and ideological balance among its members. Furthermore, the main organisations of the women's movements are situated in Flanders or in Wallonia. Women's movements active on a national level are extremely rare. 5 Finally, women's movements diverge in size, structure, strategies and aims (Wiercx 2005). The Belgian women's movements are not only divers and fragmented, they also regroup numerous organisations. Defining the women's movements as 'organisations that address women and/or strive for equality between men and women', a recent inquiry identified 900 organisations that fitted this label (Amazone et al. 2002). This puts the finding that the women's movements membership declined in the 1990s in perspective (Meireman 2000). In order to capture the main features of the Belgian women's movements in the 1990s, we focus on the major integrated and autonomous women's organisations. More specifically, we address the political women's wings of the three major political families (the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats and the Liberals) and four central autonomous organisations. Other important parties in the 1990s are the green parties - Groen! (Flemish) and Ecolo (Francophone) - and the Flemish far right (Vlaams Belang). Both have no formal women s section. In the ecologist party this is due to an overall belief that a women section is superfluous given the balance between women and men in the party. The absence of a women s section in the far right party is mainly linked to their traditional view on the (political) role of women (Van Molle and Gubin 1998). By discussing both categories of women's movements, it becomes clear that their situation in the 1990s is the outcome of processes that started earlier. In terms of its composition and structure, no major shifts occurred during the 1990s. An exception to this might be the establishment in 1995 of Amazone, which was set up as a national contact centre for women and women's organisations The integrated women's movements: the women's wings of the political parties The political women's sections conceive the political party as an instrument to reach their feminist goals and often behave as a lobby group within the party. In theory this is an efficient strategy in a particracy such as Belgium. In order to be successful the women's section has to be an important and well-integrated branch of the political party. They vary though with regard to the extent to which they are incorporated in the political party. The price women's movements pay for their closeness to 'the centre of power' (and for their financing), is that they have to invest in their structural integration in the mother party and a limitation of their autonomy. For parties themselves it is interesting to integrate the members and mobilizing potential of the women's movement. The women's movement is a powerful tool in the 'pillarisation' of society and in enlarging electoral support. The price parties pay is to consider the demands of their women's wing: the inclusion of women in the party structures and of women's requests in the political agenda. The Christian Democratic women's movement includes a wide range of socio-cultural and political groups. The former include organisations such as the Catholic Labour Women and the Catholic Women of the Middle Classes. Although their impact on the emancipation of 5 An exception of this kind is Sophia, the Belgian network for women's studies, which aims at bridging the gap between researchers, femocrats and women's movements of Flanders and Wallonia

12 Belgian women is substantive, this section focuses on the political women s movements. After the Second World War a Flemish and a Walloon women s section were created as parts of the rejuvenated and modernized Christian Democratic Party that strived for a powerful catholic power block (Witte et al. 1997; Gerard 1991; Van Molle and Gubin 1998; Osaer et al. 1991). The mission of these women s sections was to develop political activities, such as propaganda and political training, addressing the female citizens, who would become an electorate in Having this common mission, the women s sections focused strongly op the national level. One of the more important activities concerned the national study group, the core of the socio-cultural training provided by the women s sections. The fact that the first female member of the national government was a Christian Democrat 7 encouraged their activities on the national level. But even in the early years the women s sections paid attention to the local level, promoting women in local elections and cooperating with the socio-cultural women s movements. In step with the federalisation of the Belgian state, the Christian Democratic Party subdivided into a Flemish and a Walloon party in This split involved a separation of the women s sections: the Femmes PSC (Walloon women s section) and Vrouw en Maatschappij (Flemish women s section). Although on the short term it slowed down the development of the women s sections, in the long run it provided the opportunity to establish women s wings firmly embedded in the new mother parties. The Flemish women s section was overall the more successful. From the start in 1974, Vrouw en Maatschappij focused on national politics. In 1978, it opted for integration in the party, rejecting the option of becoming a party itself. The latter would create a barrier between men and women and would make it easier for the party leaders to ignore the demands of their women s wing, especially concerning the influx of women in the party structure and electoral lists (Van Molle and Gubin 1998:132). Vrouw en Maatschappij was successful in this and in inserting women s interests in the party program, even if this occasionally led to open conflicts, for instance in the case of part time employment and of abortion (Celis 2001). This success story taught other women s organisations that integration in the party structures could be a successful strategy. This is at least partly due to the efforts of their president Miet Smet, the first State Secretary of Emancipation and later the Minister of Equal Opportunities. The success of Vrouw en Maatschappij is most certainly also due to the fact that the mother party was the first party in Flanders until The Femmes PSC realized a solid structure and anchoring in the PSC during the 1970s and early 1980s (Van Molle and Gubin 1998: ), but their main field of action was local and not national. After a period of diminished activity in the 1980s, a new president, Michèle Bribosia, gave a new impetus to the Femmes PSC at the end of the decennium. Besides, the think tank Femmes et Société was created as a forum for national MPs and advisors of Ministers to study issues of importance for women. In the 1990s the success and level of liveliness of the Femmes PSC varied strongly. Some districts such as Namur, Liège, Brussels and Charleroi were strikingly more active than others. The liaison between the socialist party and their political women s movements is a different story (De Weerdt 1997; Witte 1988). Their relation has long been problematic and this for several reasons. The ideological subordination of the emancipation of women to that of the working class and the prevailing misogynist culture explain the late establishment of a political women s section in the socialist party. A second and not less important explanation is the existence of a socialist women s movement that provided the socialist party with an (electoral) access to women and that included them in the socialist pillar : the Socialistische 7 Marguerite De Riemaecker-Legot became Minister of Family and Housing in

13 Vooruitziende Vrouwen Femmes Prévoyantes Socialistes (SVV-FPS). Although it was a health service, it was also active on the political level. SVV-FPS owed its strong position to its numerical power: in 1984 SVV-FPS comprised no less than members. The attempts to create a women s wing within the party (such as the creation of the Nationaal Comité der Socialistische vrouwen in 1947) remained without success. The second Feminist Wave in the 1970s altered this situation. The new feminist movements and their more radical opinions changed the party s mentality and favoured an active and exclusively political women s organisation within the party structure. When the party split into a Flemish and a Walloon party in 1978, the political women s organisations were structured along these lines. On the Walloon side, an inquiry among the socialist women in 1977 revealed that integration in the party structures was needed. The Commission Interféderale des Femmes was created (Van Molle and Gubin 1998: ). It would coordinate the local sections and supervise the embedding of their activities within the party. Local problems and the fact that some local sections held on to their autonomy hindered a good communication between the women s wing and its mother party until the 1990s. On the Flemish side a political women s organisation (the Flemish Nationaal Socialistische Vrouwen) was created in Although this organisation was numerically strong for the single reason that all female party members became automatically member of the women s wing, it received little recognition from the party. A firm integration in the party statutes was only reached in 1983 with the creation of the Socialistische Vrouwen (SV) (Van Molle and Gubin 1998: ). Like other associations the SV became affiliated to the socialist party in Since 1996 it draws up a cooperation agreement with the socialist party every two years. The SV is now represented in the party structure on every level. The Flemish and the Walloon sections aimed at a solid integration in the mother party to improve the status of women in society and to increase the number of women in the party hierarchy and in politics. The women s wings managed to integrate in the party with varying success. While it provided them with structural and financial support, it also hindered their lobbying capacity. Especially in Flanders where the electoral support for the socialist party declined in the 1990s, the possibilities to raise the number of elected women for instance diminished substantially. Historically there was a big cleavage between the important positions liberal women such as Marthe Boël and Georgette Ciselet held in the women s movement and the weak women s section within the liberal party (Van Molle and Gubin 1998:182). The usual explanation for this refers to the party s individualistic ideology. An additional reason might be the less extensive creation of a societal power block integrating social, cultural and professional organisations. The liberal party did not need a women s movement in the same way as did the others. The liberal women s movement (the Nationale Federatie van Liberale Vrouwen Féderation Nationale des Femmes Libérales) was brought into the party as part of its modernisation in 1961 (Van Molle and Gubin 1998: ). Similarly to what happened with the Social Democratic and the Christian Democratic political women s sections, the Flemish PVV Vrouwen 8 were established in 1978 and the Femmes PLP one year later 9. The ideological resistance against quota resulted in the absence of guarantees for the presence of women in the party structures. There still is a relative good cooperation between the liberal women s 8 PVV: Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang. 9 PLP: Parti de la Liberté et du Pogrès. 12