Gender balance in politics - N ovember 2023

Further action needed to translate quotas into gender balance in the European Parliament and national parliaments In November 2023, 40.0 % of MEPs were women and 60.0 % were the respective candidate quota set for the European Parliament (see men (Figure 1), while, of the combined members of the single/lower Figure 1) (3). [...] For example, in Spain, the quota of 40 % of either sex To date, the proportion of elected women MEPs in four Member has to be respected not only in the list as a whole but also in every States (Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg and Poland) matches or exceeds group of five candidates in the list. [...] Share of women members in the single/lower houses of national parliaments and in the European Parliament (EP) by Member State, and quota thresholds for candidate lists for national and European elections, November 2023 % Women (national parliaments) % Women (EP) Quota (national parliaments) Quota (EP) 80 40.0 60 33.0 40 20 0 NB: Member States are listed in descending order of the percentage of wom. [...] It will take 17 years to achieve gender balance among Members of the European Parliament in Member States with no quotas Legislation to boost the presence of women in parliaments (including The share of women MEPs in the quota Member States dropped in the European Parliament) was introduced first in France (2000), and subsequent years, as Poland (2011) and Greece (2012) adopted quo- then in Belgiu. [...] the number of women elected to the European Parliament dropped In 2009, when data on national delegations to the European Parlia- slightly in six of the eight Member States with a quota at the time ( 7).