No Seat At The Table For A Woman-Literally!

The reaction to EC President being left without a seat at a recent meeting says a lot.

Did you ever play musical chairs as a child? The game where you start with maybe 12 kids, you put out 11 chairs, and start some music. While the music plays the kids dance around the room and when it stops each kid must find a chair, and find it fast!

Bet you never thought you might have to play that game if you rose to the dizzy heights of President of the EU Commission. But that is exactly where Ursula von der Leyen found herself at a meeting in Turkey this week. This also took place in full view of TV cameras.

The reaction to what happened was equally fascinating and tells us a lot.

Video clips of the event are all over YouTube, and #sofagate was trending on social media within an hour of the issue being made public.

The president of the EU Commission, along with the EU Council President, was meeting with the Turkish President on an official visit to Turkey this week. After the obligatory photographs in front of the building, the trio entered the room for another customary photo as talks got underway.

This is where it gets interesting. Three key people, two chairs, grouped together as the key focus, oh and two sofas, off to the side. The protocol of the EU gives equal status to the president of the EU Commission and the EU Council President for official visits. Mrs von der Leyen was no doubt expecting to sit as part of a group of three. But she was mistaken.

The EU Council President, showing a speed of foot that marks him out as someone who I’d guess left many a kid’s parties with the top prize, pounced on the second chair without hesitation. The EU Commission President, after an uncomfortable moment, clearly visible on the video, took a seat on one of the nearby sofas.

If you want another dose of irony, just look at the overall size of the room on the video. It’s not like a gathering at a friend’s tiny apartment for dinner, where someone always has to squeeze in up against the wall.

People shared clips of the meeting almost immediately, and they provoked a quick response on social media. This is where it gets even more interesting.

• Some people are critical of Turkish President Erdogan for deliberately arranging the meeting this way and therefore orchestrating the event.
• Others put some of the blame onto the EU Council President and say he should have given up his seat, or asked for a third seat.
• An EU spokesperson has issued a statement saying that the EU protocol for official visits should be respected at all times, and they have communicated this clearly to avoid any reoccurrence.
• Quite a few commentators on social media moved to personalize the issue, saying that, based on her recent performance, the EU Commission President is lucky to have a seat in the room at all.
• Others say that it reflects attitudes to women in Turkey and that the issue has highlighted this for the world media.
• Commentators also used it as an opportunity to voice their criticism of the EU as an institution.
• Some have also noted that the EU Council President took advantage of the situation to strengthen his own position, following recent criticism of the EU.

My Takeaway From The Issue

Mrs von der Leyden, while visibly uncomfortable on the video clip, handled the issue with dignity and restraint. Her spokesperson said afterward that she focused on the substance of the meeting rather than the breach of protocol.

I think we can all think of at least one person who would have reacted differently and possibly kicked over the chairs before storming out of the room.

I find it hard to believe that the breach of protocol was accidental, given the level of planning that goes into all foreign state visits.

The key issue should not come down to gender at all. The official and agreed protocol for state visits should apply in all cases. It is gender-neutral, and so it should be.

While incidents like this will always provoke a wide range of comments, those who linked it to performance and personality missed the point in some ways. Countries and international bodies agree to the protocol for these visits. This includes agreeing on who will take part in the visit. You don’t have to earn the right to be seated at the table once each party has issued and accepted the invitation.

Protocol, based on the hierarchy of each party, should determine the order of precedence at any meetings. If there is to be any deviation, someone should flag it well in advance and agree to it with the other side.

Gender should never determine the order of precedence, but nor should it be subject to who can make it fastest across the room!