PES Women – which promotes gender equality and women’s representation both inside and outside the Party of European Socialists – was gathering for the first time since the European elections.
PES Women members unanimously adopted Call for a feminist Europe, reiterating and outlining the steps the EU institutions must take to achieve greater gender equality.
PES Women President Zita Gurmai, said:
“We are entering the ninth mandate of the European Parliament, and yet we have still not achieved gender equality. Last month’s vote saw an increase in the number of women elected to the European Parliament, which is very welcome. But despite this, no institution comes close to ensuring equal representation in decision-making for women, or gender equality more generally. So after the PES feminist campaign, this is what we are reiterating today. It is time for a feminist Europe where every woman and girl can exercise her freedoms, choices and rights.”
2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action – an agenda for women’s empowerment adopted at the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, China, 1995). As this anniversary is approached, Call for a feminist Europe picks up many of the areas the Platform for Action identified.
The PES Women statement calls for:
- Gender-balanced committees, committee chairs and heads of delegations in the European Parliament;
- That national governments propose two candidates, a woman and a man, for Commissioner to ensure gender parity in the Commission’s college;
- Gender equality as a stand-alone European Commission portfolio, and as a priority of the Commission President or Vice-President, and a feminist approach to overall Commission policy-making;
- The European Commission to introduce gender budgeting, and more resources to strengthen women’s rights, including for the European Institute for Gender Equality;
- All institutions to amplify their ambitions to create and adopt legislation that improves the lives of women and girls in Europe; and, reaffirm their aim to achieve full gender equality, including through training for staff and policy-makers on gender mainstreaming.
- All institutions to introduce reporting mechanisms and mandatory training for staff and elected members on all types of harassment and sexism.
The statement also advocates for an ambitious and binding EU Gender Equality Strategy that ends all gender gaps – especially the gender pay gap, makes the work-life-balance Directive a reality, empowers women, combats gender-based violence, and ensures access to sexual and reproductive rights. This was a key proposal of PES Common Candidate Frans Timmermans, who PES Women continue to fully support for the President of the European Commission.
Together with Iratxe Garcia Perez, newly elected President of the Social Democratic Group, PES Women will continue its commitment to women’s rights, further enhancing the chances of successfully taking forward gender equality policies in the European Parliament.
Read Call for a feminist Europe here.
