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Where are the women in EU leadership positions?

2024-08-08 09:24:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

In the coming weeks, Ursula von der Leyen has to decide a difficult task: which team she will work with in her second term at the head of the European Commission. The specific task is: division of tasks so that each EU member state is at least somewhat satisfied. Not all departments in the European Commission have the same influence and the same reputation. In the end, there will be both disappointments and consolation prizes.

But there is an additional difficult task. Ursula von der Leyen wants to repeat what she achieved in her first term as president of the European Union Commission. When she meets with trustees once a week, she wants to have an equal number of women and men around the big table. Until now, the ratio was 14 men to 13 women.

EU members decide together

But not everything is in the hands of Ursula von der Leyen when she wants to achieve equality between women and men. It is true that she has the final say in personnel decisions, but proposals for potential commissioners come from the governments of EU member states. Each country is entitled to one seat on the Commission. Germany and Estonia are already represented: President von der Leyen is from Germany and Commissioner for Foreign Policy Kaja Kallas is from Estonia.

What about the others? Last week, von der Leyen sent letters to the presidents of states and governments and asked them to send their names, one man and one woman each. Exceptions are those commissioners who remain in their current position. Slovakia once again chose Marosh Shevcovic, France decided on Thierry Breton and Croatia Dubravka Shuican.

With the current supply of names it is difficult to achieve the goal

It is possible that von der Leyen has already given some suggestions to the presidents of states and governments: it is worth proposing a woman and a man when handing out portfolios with different appeals. But it is already clear that many governments do not adhere to the wishes of the President of the Commission. Ireland appointed Michael McGrath, who has since resigned as finance minister.

Prime Minister Harris says that in the circumstances it would not be fair to send another name to Brussels. Slovenia and the Czech Republic chose one man each. Sweden and Spain compete with only one woman each. According to the current situation, it seems that an equal distribution between men and women will not be possible.

Complicated procedure

Ursula von der Leyen asked heads of state and government to respond by August 30. The commission did not want to say how many responses it has received so far, according to an investigation by German television ARD. But even after the expiration of that period, it will not be clear what the ratio of men and women is in the commission. Only those who pass the several-hour hearing in the European Parliament enter the Commission.

There are definitely too many women in leadership positions in the European Union so far. Ursula von der Leyen retains the post of Commission President, perhaps the most influential post in Brussels. The gender equality strategy has its origins in her first mandate.

Several points have already been reached, such as a package of protective measures against violence or a law that guarantees balance on the supervisory boards of large companies. The head of the European Central Bank (ECB) is Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Investment Bank is the Spanish Nadja Calvinho. The first European Chief Prosecutor is Laura Kövesi.

The expert committees are mainly composed of men

It is different in the European Parliament. For the presidency, the work regulations provide for a balanced relationship between the sexes. The EP has 14 vice-presidents. President Roberta Metsola remains in charge.

But in expert committees and subcommittees, where a chairman and four deputies are elected, the situation is different. So far, 114 out of 120 officials have been elected. The percentage of women is 43.9 percent. If we look at presidential positions, the percentage of women is even lower: 37.5 percent.

The fight against the right is more important than gender equality

Sometimes the goal of gender equality is deliberately violated - for political reasons. Parties that define themselves as the political center aim to prevent far-right parties from gaining any leadership positions.

A concrete example: in the Committee for Foreign Policy, the position of the fourth deputy had to go to a woman. The Patriots for Europe group has nominated Kinga Gal from the Hungarian Fidesz and there were no counter-candidates from the center parties, in the end a Christian Democrat from Romania was elected. In that case, the bulwark against the radical right was more important than gender equality. /DW