Global Backsliding on Gender Parity Puts EU Ambitions at Risk
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s executive arm is set to miss a target to achieve gender balance among its highest-level members, as national governments around the world and power brokers in Brussels walk away from high-profile equality commitments.
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Political expediency and institutional hurdles have complicated EU efforts to meet wide-ranging gender-parity goals. As well as the European Commission’s failure to uphold its equality targets, the European Parliament decided to rescind its own rules among certain committee members.
The failure in the EU to uphold its equality targets mimics a similar trend in the US, where conservative organizations have organized social media campaigns and lawsuits against companies that promote diverse hiring practices. In Europe, nationalist parties have gained support in recent elections, forcing the political center to shift further right.
“EU decision makers have a legal obligation to ensure equality between women and men and gender mainstreaming in EU policies. This should start by an equal representation of women and men in all European Parliament Committees,” said Jeromine Andolfatto, policy and campaigns officer at the European Women’s Lobby. “The exceptions granted are disappointing.”
Some political groups in the US have attacked efforts by states and companies to expand diversity and equality. Certain companies, such as the world’s top farm machinery maker Deere & Co., have pulled back from diversity measures in the face of conservative criticism. Others have scaled back programs meant to encourage the advancement of the gender agenda and marginalized groups.
The EU backsliding comes even as several of the bloc’s top institutional jobs are filled by women. Ursula von der Leyen, a former German defense minister, was recently reelected to head the commission; Roberta Metsola was also chosen for a second term as the president of the parliament; and former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will become the EU’s top diplomat.
This past week, the largest group in parliament, von der Leyen’s center-right European People’s Party, pushed to revoke a gender balance rule for committee leadership positions. The initiative, which was meant to facilitate the election of one of the vice presidencies in some committees, was adopted with the support of the Green and Liberal parties. The Socialists opposed the move.
In addition to this decision, only nine female lawmakers were elected to lead the parliament’s 24 committees and subcommittees.
“Gender equality and a balance representation between men and women is a priority for the Progressive family,” Socialist President Iratxe Garcia Perez said in an interview. “Gender balance is not an option – it is obligatory and without possibility of derogation.”
Following her confirmation by the parliament, von der Leyen asked the 27 member states to submit one male and one female candidate from which she would choose one to fill the posts of her college of commissioners, the executive body’s political leadership. She said she would pick the most suitable applicants in pursuit of an “equal share of men and women at the college.”
But some governments have already publicly said that they will submit a single, male candidate, likely putting college parity out of reach.
Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris already announced that he would send only one candidate to von der Leyen, Michael McGrath, who had been finance minister. Harris argued that McGrath needed to step down from the cabinet role and would need “clarity that they are going to be the nominee.”
The Czech Republic also intends to send just one name, which will likely be Trade Minister Jozef Sikela, according to a person familiar with the choice who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The government hasn’t made a formal decision yet, which could happen by the end of August.
Slovenia also said it would nominate just one person, Tomaz Vesel. The deadline for nominations is Aug. 30.
Von der Leyen said in case of sitting commissioners, countries only needed to submit one name. All the nominees and front-runners from the outgoing commission are male members: Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis, Slovakia’s Maros Sefcovic, The Netherlands’ Wopke Hoekstra, France’s Thierry Breton and possibly Hungary’s Oliver Varhelyi.
The difficulties inside the institutions to progress on this front contrast with the relevance given to women rights’ agenda at the very top.
Von der Leyen will keep the commissioner for Equality portfolio she created five years ago and wants a new Gender Equality Strategy after 2025. The roadmap will set out the commission’s plan “to strengthen women’s rights across the board, from the fight against gender-based violence to empowering women in politics and the labor market, across the EU, as well as across the EU institutions,” according to her political guidelines.
“We cannot leave Europe a better place if too many women are still unable to feel part of it,” Metsola said in her acceptance speech on 16 July.
“Too many women are still abused, still beaten, still murdered in our Europe,” Metsola said. “Too many women are still fighting for rights. Too many women still earn less than men for the same job. Too many women still feel afraid. This must become their Europe too.”
--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss and Kevin Whitelaw.
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