Europe and the CIS

There’s a scenario in which the presidents of the EU’s main institutions could all be women.

After the EU election in June, the top jobs at the European Council, the Commission and the Parliament — plus the head of the European External Action Service — will be distributed among the main political groups.

BRUSSELS — The European Parliament is considering changing its rules to improve the gender balance of its committees.

The measures are designed to address “striking disparities” in the gender balance of committees and delegations across the institution, according to an internal letter, seen by POLITICO, from senior Greek MEP Dimitrios Papadimoulis. 

Regional and local leaders across the European Union, non-governmental organisations and researchers attending the European Committee of the Regions' (CoR) conference "Local and regional strategies for closing the gender gap in politics: Roads taken and what´s next?" call on decision-makers to introduce concrete solutions like quotas or parity requirements to achieve gender equality in political representation.

On 6-9 July, the Alliance of Her held its first summer retreat, gathering passionate young women in politics from across Europe.

The retreat brought together 20 young female liberal leaders under 30, representing 20 liberal parties from 16 countries at the Domaine de Ronchinne in Belgium. Engaging sessions were led by experts including Estonian Member of Parliament Yoko Alender, from ALDE Party member Reformierakond, as well as several guest speakers.

On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, held every year on 25 November, the spokesperson for the Council of Europe Congress on Gender Equality, Ms Eirini Dourou (SOC, Greece), made the following statement:

Today, the European Parliament has formally adopted the new EU law on gender balance on corporate boards. By 2026, companies will need to have 40% of the underrepresented sex among non-executive directors or 33% among all directors.

On this occasion, President von der Leyen together with Vice-President Jourová and Commissioner Dalli issued the following statement:

• 40% of non-executive director posts should go to the under-represented sex 
• Dissuasive penalties for non-compliance 
• Small and medium-sized enterprises with up to 249 employees will be excluded 

After being blocked in the Council for a decade, EP and EU countries’ negotiators finally agreed on a bill to increase the presence of women on corporate boards.