The European Parliament's political group Renew Europe held a New Year seminar on 7 January on a 'Simone Veil Pact' for gender equality. This was a campaign promise of the French liberal candidates during the European elections.
But what exactly is it? For French MEP Nathalie Loiseau, the pact is based on two stages. "The first stage would be to take stock of the best national regulatory tools and practices for the full range of women's rights (professional equality, real equality at all lifestages, sexual and reproductive rights, combatting violence against women, the presence of women in the public sphere)", she explained during the seminar, before going into detail about the second stage. "On this basis, Member States adhering to the Pact should commit themselves to harmonising their national legislation from the top down".
The group, which spoke to an almost full room, was even able to count on the presence of the new Commissioner Helena Dalli and, on behalf of the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, the Croatian Secretary of State for Social Policy, Margareta Mađerić.
However, it is difficult to imagine that such a pact will really improve things, since it merely advocates convergence from above, as the European Pillar of Social Rights has already done (one of its 20 principles relates to gender equality). In fact, there are many divisions in this area: we recall, for example, the recent EU Council conclusions striking out any reference to gays and lesbians to avoid controversy, the draft legislation blocked in the EU Council on quotas for women on the boards of directors of listed companies or the difficult process of the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention. However, at the beginning of this year, optimism is in the air and good resolutions have their place. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)