WUNRN
European Women's Lobby - EWL
EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 2014
MANIFESTO OF THE EUROPEAN WOMEN’S LOBBY
50/50 CAMPAIGN: NO MODERN EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY WITHOUT GENDER EQUALITY!
February 2013 - The European Women’s Lobby (EWL), representing over 2000 European women’s associations in the
European Union has adopted the following 50/50 Manifesto in order to trigger
concrete actions on women’s rights and gender equality in the run up to the
European elections in 2014.
In 2014, Europeans will elect a new European
Parliament and the renewal of the European Commission will also take place. The
EWL believes that this is a key opportunity to achieve parity amongst the
Members of the European Parliament, for the European Parliament to be led by a
woman after 13 years of male leadership, and for the new European Commission to
be equally composed of women and men and led by a woman for the first time
since it existence. It is time to
establish issues related to women’s rights and equality between women as a
priority on the European political agenda, especially in times of crisis and the
risk of setbacks in relation to those rights.
We recall that equality
between women and men is one of the main objectives and fundamental values of
the European Union. Despite numerous commitments and action, the democratic
legitimacy of the European Union, which would be demonstrated in both women and
men participating equally in decision making in all European institutions has
not been realised: less than 35% of Members of the European Parliament and 33%
of the European Commission are women and the EP has been only been chaired by a
women twice.
We state that parity democracy
i.e. the equal representation of women and men in decision-making is a crucial
step in the democratisation process and a way to progress towards the
realisation of gender equality. Women constitute more than half of the
population and they must be equally represented whenever and wherever decisions
affecting their lives are made. For the EWL, parity in decision-making is also
an issue of social progress at EU and national levels, in line with the EU’s
Treaty commitments to democracy and fundamental rights. The equal
representation of women and men in decision making is related to the broader
question of equality in the EU and genuine representation of the whole of
European society. Studies also show greater female representation in parliament
contributes to stronger attention to women’s issues.[1][1]
The change of policies to an equal, inclusive and
just democracy and the mainstreaming of gender equality in all areas of
politics have to be the final goal of parity.
Only European decision-making
bodies that accurately represent their population are in a position to make
more just and inclusive policies in order to address the needs of those who are
affected by them.
We state that the democratic
legitimacy of the European Union depends on the way in which all the European
institutions represent all of the
European population, to reflect parity but also the diversity of the EU and of
women and men living in
We launch the 50/50 Campaign: No Modern European Democracy without Gender
Equality ahead of the European elections in 2014 to push for parity in
all European institutions, and to raise awareness of the measures which have to
be implemented to achieve true gender equality in
We affirm that gender
equality is a requirement for modernising our political systems, to ensure that
women and men in all their diversity equally share rights, responsibilities,
and power. Gender equality should be at the heart of European initiatives to
engage citizens in decision-making, to increase the legitimacy of the European
Union, and to progress towards policies that reflect the needs and aspirations
of all Europeans.
To achieve 50/50 in European
institutions after the 2014 elections and renewal of the European Commission,
the EWL demands that all European decision-makers act NOW to make parity a
reality in European institutions.
Concerning the election of the European Parliament in 2014
We call on national political
parties, in preparation of the European elections in 2014 to compose their
electoral lists in a way that will ensure gender parity results. For example,
for proportional representation the zipper system combined with effective
sanctions is a robust approach to ensuring gender parity.
We call on national and
European political parties, to fully include issues of women’s rights and
gender equality
in preparation for the European elections in
2014.
We call upon the European
Parliament political groups to nominate one female and one male candidate for
the presidential elections of the European Parliament.
We call upon the European
Parliament political groups to ensure gender parity in the nomination of
chairpersons within the committees, as well as in the composition of the Bureau
of the European Parliament.
We demand that the European
political parties promote and ensure gender representation in their
bureau/decision-making bodies, and promote women candidates as well as
candidates committed to women’s rights and gender equality for decision-making
positions in the European Parliament.
We call on all
decision-makers, individuals and organisations interested in promoting
democracy and justice to support the 50/50 Campaign at all levels, across
geographical boundaries and political parties.
Concerning the European Commission and other European institutions in 2014
We call upon each
We call upon EU Member States
to make efforts towards the nomination of a woman president of the European
Commission.
We demand from
We call on the European
Council to put women in policy decision-making/parity as a priority on the
political agenda at the highest level.
[1][1] Julie Ballington: Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties – A Good Practice Guide To Promote Women’s Political Participation, UNDP 2012.