Getting women more involved in European politics

Published: 4 March 2010 y., Thursday

Biuro darbuotoja
The Parliament needs to connect more with women voters as research shows them to be trapped in a vicious circle, being under-represented in the EP and EU politics in general and, therefore, less interested and less involved than men. On Tuesday 2 March a panel of MEPs and experts analysed the links between women and the EU concluding that greater female participation in politics is essential, especially in view of the 2014 EP elections, but will not be easy to achieve.

The hearing was organised by the Greek MEP Rodi Kratsa Tsagaropoulou (EPP), German Liberal Silvana Koch-Mehrin and Portuguese Socialist Edite Estrela.

The panel heard from researchers who had looked at why women were less represented. They noted that a significantly higher percentage of women consistently declared themselves less informed and less interested in the EU and in politics and had a less positive image of the Union.

Just over one-third female candidates

According to figures provided by Susan Balducci of the  University of Exeter, in the 2009 European elections women made up 35% of candidates, 34% in the top 3rd of party lists (Greece and Denmark being the exception), 34% of MEPs elected, but got 19% of media coverage, falling to single figures in some countries.

Hence the vicious circle that needs to be broken: reduced visibility of women in politics leads to reduced interest of women in politics and vice-versa.

Social issues to boost female interest

Among the solutions is a greater female presence in politics which, could lead to greater female engagement in the issues. Edite Estrela said a quota system would be one way to ensure greater female participation. In the discussions the importance of working through political parties to try and get more women involved was stressed.

In terms of policy, several MEPs said that the Parliament and the EU generally should put greater emphasis on “social” issues that seem to be of greater interest to women voters thus making the Union more relevant to women in order to increase their interest for a greater participation in the elections.

 

Šaltinis: europarl.europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Dalai Lama 50 years in exile

It's 50 years since Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled here from Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. more »

Europe for women

Women across the EU earn on average 17.4% less than men, according to new EU statistics, released as part of a commission campaign to narrow the pay gap between the sexes. more »

Ventontene Manifesto lives on in the EP

It's 1941 and the height of WWII. Amid all the suffering, a couple of Italians imprisoned for anti-fascism sketched out a vision of how post-war Europe could look on cigarette papers. more »

Kenyan president in polygamy claims

Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki denies press accusations that he has a second wife. more »

How has the EU improved gender equality in the past 30 years?

In the last 30 years the European Union has striven to seek gender equality in all aspects of its work. more »

Rights for shoppers - MEPs back public consultation

Proposals to boost shopper's confidence on the high street and the internet will be opened to public debate by MEPs Monday afternoon. more »

Imagine, create, innovate

How the EU promotes creativity and innovation – 20 projects showcased in Brussels more »

Race to save beached whales

A desperate battle to save the lives of hundreds of pilot whales beached on an island off Tasmania. more »

Family refuse to bury dead son

Four year old Krishna Goraik‘s family refuse to arrange his funeral because child‘s mother believes by offering prayers he will come back to life after seven days. more »

Nicole Kidman joins MEPs to say NO to violence against women

Leading MEPs have joined Nicole Kidman and the UN in the “Say NO to violence against women” campaign. more »