After a few discreet calls from Ministers (see EUROPE 12524/7) and other political figures (see EUROPE 12441/8), it is now the European Parliament that is calling for the creation of a new EU Council formation devoted to gender equality (see EUROPE 12605/24).
Most of the political groups and Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli expressed this wish in a plenary debate on Wednesday 16 December.
A motion for a resolution to this effect - presented by Renew Europe and by the EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL - was put to a vote late that evening. The outcome of the vote, although still unknown at press time, left little room for doubt.
In an interview with EUROPE, Irène Tolleret (Renew Europe, France), one of the MEPs behind the text, assured that her group had had no difficulty in rallying the other four groups.
“Obtaining a very large majority would be a strong political signal that we all agree that this is a priority issue and that it will not move forward without providing the relevant ministers with a dedicated space for discussion”, she stressed.
Enabling regular dialogue
In their motion for a resolution, MEPs believe that a regular meeting of ministers and secretaries of State responsible for gender equality would make it possible to better integrate this subject into EU policies and to draw up sound European legislation in this area.
For the time being, the issue is still being dealt with in a piecemeal and ad hoc manner by one or another of the EU Council formations - which are sometimes too busy with the other subjects for which they are responsible, noted EPP coordinator Frances Fitzgerald (Ireland) during the debate.
The motion for a resolution stresses that a dedicated formation would allow for a more coherent approach and for the establishment of regular dialogue and exchanges of best practices.
“We must be able to hold discussions, in particular with those who regularly constitute a blocking minority”, Ms Tolleret insisted to EUROPE. “The subject should no longer just be addressed informally or unofficially”, she added.
An intersectional approach
A dedicated EU Council formation is also presented in the proposal as “a key element” to advance negotiations on the ratification of the Istanbul Convention (see EUROPE 12609/5), the Women on Board Directive (see EUROPE 12575/19), and the Equal Treatment Directive (see EUROPE 12356/16), all of which have been blocked in the EU Council since 2017, 2013, and 2008 respectively.
Finally, the motion for a resolution emphasises the importance of ensuring that gender equality issues are debated while taking into account the fact that some women suffer simultaneously from several distinct forms of discrimination: racialised women, women belonging to religious minorities, LGBTI women, women with disabilities, and women refugees.
“It will be necessary to adopt an intersectional approach”, Mrs Tolleret insisted.
Perpetually discordant voices
These positions, mocked in plenary by the ID coordinator, Nicolaus Fest (Germany), are not entirely unanimous in Parliament.
The ECR, whose coordinator, Jadwiga Wiśniewska (Poland), accused “the left” of wanting to “impose its political agenda”, therefore presented its own resolution.
It maintains that the lack of a dedicated formation “does not automatically mean a lack of political commitment” and that the EU Council should continue to address this issue in a cross-disciplinary manner, its formations having been established so that each State can adapt its governmental structure to it, the ECR stresses.
For the ID and ECR groups, the EU is already doing enough. According to Irène Tolleret, “the facts and figures speak for themselves: the 16% wage gap (see EUROPE 12595/23), the tripling of violence against women since the beginning of lockdown, and the decline in access to abortion” (see EUROPE 12611/18). The MEP reiterated this in the Chamber: “No, Europe is not up to the job”.
See the motion for a resolution from the five groups: https://bit.ly/37u5sW5; from the ECR: https://bit.ly/3gTsTed (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)