Gender equality in the European Institutions
Published:
Although female political representation across Europe has increased, it is happening at a slow pace. The most influential leadership roles in the European Parliament remain dominated by men. This raises questions about the possible need to resort to stronger measures to improve female representation in the EU institutions.
Gender imbalance in leadership roles within the committees is an issue across all parties. According to Vilde Renman and Caroline Conroy, researchers from CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) the outcome of the EP elections fell short of expectations. Although the female share of MEPss has increased, women continue to account for less than half (37%) of the 751 MEPs despite constituting more than half of the EU population. Looking at leadership roles within the political groups, CEPS found that five out of the seven political groups are led by men as well as the majority of vice-chairs also being male.
Although the gender ratio has been slowly improving within European institutions, a majority of women (46%) still feel that their interests are not well represented by the European Union. One possible explanation could be the lack of female leaders to champion the causes and issues that mostly concern women. Gender inequality is still perceived to be a social issue, and the recent economic crisis exacerbated the problem by diverting attention and funding away from the issues of equality and diversity.