Women's rights are mentioned in most of the programmes of traditional European parties, with the exception of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (ACRE), which makes no sectoral proposals. Overall, this theme is approached very differently by right-wing and left-wing parties.
The right: the on-the-spot or backward movement
To the right, first. There is no manifesto of extreme right-wing parties, but the positions of Vox in Spain or La Lega in Italy generally call for a reversal of legal provisions specifically favourable to women.
The European People's Party (EPP) is not there yet. But Christian values are strongly pushed forward throughout the manifesto. On the specific issue of women's rights, the party suggests that the Member States should be left to “the closest to the citizens”.
It merely supports a better balance between private and professional life, an issue on which Europe has just taken a position by introducing a minimum of 10 days of paternity leave at European level and new arrangements for parental leave (see EUROPE 12179/2). “We believe that by giving parents and caregivers more choice in how they balance work and care responsibilities, we can achieve more equity for men and women and better well-being for families”, says the EPP in its manifesto.
The left and the centre, more progressive
The other traditional parties, namely the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the European Green Party (EGP), the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the Party of the European Left (EL), go further. They address sexual and reproductive health rights, the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people, gender-based violence and the end of glass ceilings.
The PES and ALDE highlight the need to provide all women with sexual and reproductive health services that are accessible, affordable and of good quality. But they do not explicitly name access to abortion, which is what the EGP and the EL do. The Greens call for the right to abortion to be enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the far left pleads for the decriminalisation of abortion.
No reference to quotas
Overall, all parties in the centre or left are calling for an end to glass ceilings and an end to gender-based pay inequalities. However, none of them are in favour of introducing legislative quotas, even though a proposal has been discussed at European level for six years without winning the Council of the EU's support (see EUROPE 12184/13).
Regarding the fight against violence against women, the Greens and the ALDE are the only ones to make a clear reference to the Istanbul Convention, still awaiting ratification by the EU and seven Member States (see EUROPE 12228/4).
And as far as the LGBTQI community is concerned, the PES, ALDE, EGP and EL talk about it, the EL even going so far as to ask for the introduction of the right to legal gender recognition, civil marriage and child adoption for LGBTQI couples (I for intersex). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)