The EU Member States’ ministers responsible for equality will meet again on Wednesday 16 April for an informal meeting in Warsaw organised by the Polish Presidency of the EU Council.
Discussions will open with a session dedicated to combating gender inequality in digital environments. The ministers will debate the role of artificial intelligence and digital platforms in reproducing sexist stereotypes.
This issue was raised in the European Parliament at the end of 2024 (see EUROPE 13544/19) during a hearing held by the Committee on Women’s Rights to demonstrate the extent of digital violence against women, particularly through falsified content (‘deepfakes’), 96% of which is pornographic and concerns women, according to a study by the start-up Sensity AI.
This figure was put forward at the informal ministerial meeting organised under the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council in February 2024, during which former Secretary of State for Gender Equality Marie-Colline Leroy warned of the risk of emerging technologies “perpetuating or exacerbating existing gender inequalities” (see EUROPE 13359/21).
A second working session will be devoted to the issue of stereotypes and disinformation about the Roma.
On 7 April, to mark International Roma Day (see EUROPE 13616/25), Roxana Minzatu, executive vice-president of the European Commission, and the European commissioners responsible for equality, Hadja Lahbib, and enlargement, Marta Kos, jointly called for greater efforts to combat the discrimination suffered by this community, which remains Europe’s largest ethnic minority.
According to the Commission, 80% of Roma living in the EU are at risk of poverty, compared with 17% of the population as a whole.
At midday on Wednesday, the current trio of EU Council presidencies - Poland, Denmark and Cyprus - will sign a declaration on gender equality.
The day will end with a session entitled ‘Ensuring that no one is left behind in European equality policies’, devoted to the inclusiveness of European policies.
The agenda for the informal ministerial meeting: https://aeur.eu/f/gf2 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)