Call to safeguard women’s rights and gender equality in the 2024-2029 EU mandate
[Brussels, 27 May 2024]
With the 2024 EU elections around the corner and a new EU institutions’ mandate about to start, the European Women’s Lobby renews its call to future decision-makers to commit to the EU legal obligation to deliver on equality between women and men.
More than ever, it is crucial that EU leaders strive for the accomplishment of the European project for peace, democracy, inclusion, equality and solidarity. This aim demands the equal representation and participation of women in every area and across all levels of society.
It is paramount to look at the progress made for women’s rights in the past mandate and ensure those are sustainable. Under the leadership of its first-ever female President, the European Commission, with its team of Commissioners with almost 50/50 gender parity, was instrumental in championing legislation and initiatives advancing women’s rights, including the adoption of the Directive on Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence and unblocking and subsequent adoption of the Women on Boards Directive.
We call on future EU decision-makers to take concrete measures to safeguard women’s rights and gender equality and go further to truly materialise equality between women and men.
This is why, we call on future EU decision-makers:
- To ensure the designation of a Commissioner on Equality with a portfolio including women’s rights and gender equality;
- To nominate both a woman and a man as nominee Commissioners in 2024, thus enabling the designated European Commission’s President to choose her/his team ensuring an equal representation of women and men in the College;
- To support the establishment of a formal EU Council configuration on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality;
- To renew the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, and include a dedicated budget for this strategy;
- Following the EU accession to the Istanbul Convention, to appoint an EU Coordinator for ending all forms of VAWG, who ensures coherence in the implementation of the different legislative instruments (Istanbul Convention, Directive on Violence Against Women and domestic violence, Directive on Victims’ Rights, Directive on Trafficking in Human Beings, etc.).
The past years have shown that conservatism is on the rise across all European Member States and society is increasingly fragmented. Europe is at a crossroads and it is no time to shy away from protecting fundamental rights and women’s human rights. That is why we also call on EU future decision-makers to give a strong mandate to the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).
We call on all stakeholders to take responsibility for materialising a Union of Equality and a Feminist Europe and invite them to find inspiration on how to reach these objectives in our manifesto.
