Taking Stock of Women’s Representation in Politics across Europe
[Brussels, 1 March 2023] In 2022, EIGE Gender Equality Index for the sub-domain of power scored 57.2 points, the lowest score of all domains. In Europe, when it comes to women accessing decision-making positions in politics, the sector is still heavily segregated: women respectively represent only 33.4% of Ministers and 33% of Members of Parliaments. Furthermore, in the EU Parliament there are only 17 female MEPs from ethnic minorities. Yet, women, in all their diversity, should be equally represented in decision-making positions and women’s interests should be high on the political agenda.
That is why with its new study "Taking Stock of Women’s Representation in Politics across Europe", the EWL maps out the current state of women’s representation in politics across Europe, highlights the different pieces of legislation and initiatives that exist in different European countries, as well as their success and limitations. These findings should inform policy making and support ambitious and binding measures at the European Union level when it comes to women’s representation in politics. This study should enable EU decision-makers to take concrete actions to realise the EU legal obligation of equality between women and men.
This study presents:
• an understanding of the EU current state of affairs and challenges to overcome in relation to EU competences and the principle of subsidiarity;
• an overview of EU precedents to support advocating for more ambitious EU (binding) tools on the representation of women in decision-making bodies;
• an overview of 20 national case studies to be leveraged at the EU level;
• an overview of the European Political Parties’ Initiatives to Improve the Representation of Women.
