As the European Parliament enters a new term, Director Carlien Scheele introduced the Agency to FEMM Committee members on 5 September, calling for further dedication and commitment for gender equality to make a lasting difference…
Good afternoon, dear colleagues and friends,
Firstly, I’d like to congratulate you all on being appointed committee members.
My Agency - the European Institute for Gender Equality – has a strong history of cooperation with the Committee – one we are looking forward to continuing by boosting your work on gender equality with our evidence and data.
So, where do we stand today? We are still 60 years away from reaching full gender equality in the EU.
No country has ever achieved full gender equality. And for this reason, we need to power up our efforts. Because gender equality positively impacts our societies and economies.
Even if we see that our recent legislative processes are going in the right direction, we can’t necessarily say the same about attitudes.
If you ask the average person what they think about gender equality, it’s a mixed bag.
Some people will roll their eyes at you.
Some people will shrug their shoulders.
Some people will roll up their sleeves, ready to fight the good fight.
I would say that out of these three groups, we don’t have to worry about the last one – and I know this room is full of allies who are on board to build on the successes of the previous mandate and protect the precious and historic gains for gender equality.
Where our efforts should be directed is at the first two groups. We need them to join us.
Because if we can convince them that gender equality affects their lives and is something they should care about rather than question “why is this relevant to me?” then we can safely say we are advancing our Union of Equality.
In a time where women’s rights and gender equality could be thrown into disarray, I have a deep appreciation for the FEMM Committee.
The Committee’s last term was testament to where ambitious targets and bold promises can lead. At the end of a brilliant five-year run, the Committee delivered tangible progress for gender equality, addressing systemic issues like gender-based violence, equal pay for equal work, standards for equality bodies and gender-balance on corporate boards.
President Von der Leyen also commended the powerful outcomes of the portfolio in the last five years during her statement for a second mandate in the European Commission.
But at the same time she expressed concern over the “deeply worrying trends” threatening to overthrow and undermine not just women’s rights but human rights.
As you are aware we are facing a tide of anti-gender initiatives, damaging disinformation and purposeful hate towards our Union of Equality.
It’s polarizing our societies and widening the gender gaps that we are working so tirelessly to close.
We just published our latest data on the lack of gender balance in the outcomes of the European Parliamentary elections.
We found that until June 2024, the level of women’s representation in the European Parliament had increased at every election since the first elections in 1979 where it finally breached the 40 % barrier in 2019.
But now for the first time in the history of the Parliament, the share of women members (MEPs) fell compared to the previous election.
It’s a cautionary tale like any other. Gains cannot be taken for granted. They need protecting and full-time attention. A slip can snowball.
And this does not just apply to politics, gender equality in all areas of life needs ongoing commitment.
And that is where my Agency comes in. We are the EU’s only Agency focused on gender equality – bringing independent research and evidence to shape policies and mindsets to advance our societies and economies.
So, now I’m going to share with you some examples of what we do and how our work contributes to EU policymaking.
Firstly, our flagship product is the Gender Equality Index which measures the state of gender equality across the EU and Member States through six core areas of life: work, health, power, knowledge, money and time. Two additional areas we work on are violence against women and intersecting inequalities.
It is by far our most popular and used tool among our stakeholders – including the FEMM Committee as it helps you understand the gains and gaps in gender equality in critical detail.
Where we can, we provide technical assistance to Member States on ways to strengthen data collection and mainstream a gender perspective into policies.
Our Agency currently supports the transposition and implementation of the most recent gender equality Directives, namely
- pay transparency
- gender balance on corporate boards
- work life balance
- combating violence against women and domestic violence
- binding standards for equality bodies
We offer long-standing support to EU institutions and Member States to mainstream gender in the EU budget and resulting investment packages (i.e. gender budgeting), as well as strengthening gender equality institutions (including parliaments and gender equality bodies).
We also cooperate closely with the Presidencies of the Council of the European Union. With our evidence and data, we support them to integrate gender considerations in their Presidency agenda. Our concrete contributions include a key piece of research to ground Council Conclusions.
We have just released a brief providing a gender analysis on what the labour market looks like following parental leave, which could support Council Conclusions on work life balance under the Hungarian Presidency.
And then looking further ahead to the upcoming Polish Presidency, my Agency is conducting a horizontal overview to mark 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action. We will look at how much progress we’ve achieved on gender equality in the EU since the last review in 2019.
Violence against women remains a pandemic in its own right in the EU and must be stopped. However, over time, as an Agency we have raised awareness which will have indisputably improved the lives of many women. And from there, I believe more women are bravely standing up and reporting cases when historically they wouldn’t.
When it comes to understanding the scope and scale of violence against women, data is crucial. My Agency’s role in monitoring the implementation of the Directive on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence focuses mainly on data collection.
Towards the end of the year, after over a decade since the last release, we are revealing the results of a joint survey on violence against women with the Fundamental Rights Agency and Eurostat.
In the meantime, my Agency has also been working to refine the indicators to effectively measure violence against women, to help Member States tailor a victim-centric response for prevention, protection, prosecution and integrated policies.
And finally we are hosting our second Gender Equality Forum on 10 and 11 December in Brussels and online.
We always say that high quality data is a backbone for change but so are conversations that turn into action. Now that we are in a post elections Europe, we are evolving our Forum 2022 discussions around two thematic strands. They are:
- Taking stock of gender equality in Europe: now and beyond 2025.
- Tackling gender-based violence in the EU: Persistent and emerging challenges and how can we address them?
Our Forum discussions will also center on key political priorities such as security, defence, borders, migration. And making a compelling case for why we need to keep gender equality as a focus within these cascading challenges.
Because what is focusing on defence, security and migration worth if we still live in a world where women are treated worse than men? Not forgetting as well, if we consider the gender aspects to all these issues, we can expect better outcomes for everyone.
Because everyone has a right to feel safe whatever their status, wherever they are.
As part of mapping the solutions to the problems we face, we are placing strong emphasis on integrating the voices and views of the youth – who are undeniably the changemakers for a fairer Europe. We need to listen, learn and lead by their ideas and experiences.
As I wrap up now, I want to come back to what we already know to be true: we have a road ahead of us.
But I am confident that in your position to make a difference within the FEMM Committee you will not keep words on paper. You will drive the Commission’s dedication towards gender equality and beat that 60-year projection to a pulp!
From here, I look forward to seeing EIGE and the Committee’s longevity continue, grow, evolve and strengthen. And I hope to see the same for a more gender-equal Europe.
Thank you.