Gender equality in parliaments across the EU and the European Parliament in 2019.
Date: 2019-12-03
Institutions: European Institute for Gender Equality
Subjects: European Parliament, equal treatment, female worker, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, information technology applications, national parliament, policymaking, position of women

Gender Mainstreaming

Gender equality in parliaments 
across the EU and the European 
Parliament in 2019

What is EIGE‘s Gender-sensitive 
Parliaments tool?
A gender-sensitive parliament is one which ensures that there 
are no barriers to women and men participating equally and 
having  equal  influence  over  decision-making.  Parliaments 
should serve as positive examples of gender-equal workplac-
es,  promoting  this  principle  both  internally  and  externally 
through gender-sensitive laws and policies.

The  European  Institute  for  Gender  Equality’s  (EIGE)  Gen-
der-sensitive Parliaments tool monitors and assesses gender 
sensitivity  in  the  organisation  and  working  procedures  of 
parliaments by analysing the proportions, roles and positions 
of  women  and  men.  The  tool  also  allows  for  an  assessment 
of  how  parliamentary  operations,  actions  and  legislative  de-
cisions  respect  and  promote  gender  equality.  The  general 

version  of  the  tool  is  available  to  anyone,  while  an  in-depth 
version is available for national and regional parliaments.

The tool in action
Between  April  and  June  2019,  EIGE  collected  information 
to  complete  the  general  version  of  the  tool  for  the  national 
parliaments  of  all  28  EU  Member  States  and  the  European 
Parliament, based on publicly available data. Information was 
collected  across  five  areas,  each  dedicated  to  measuring  a 
specific aspect of gender sensitivity in parliaments. The main 
findings  for  each  of  these  areas  are  presented  in  this  fact-
sheet.

These results show the strengths and weaknesses of parlia-
ments in terms of their gender sensitivity and can serve as a 
benchmark to help track and analyse progress in enhancing 
gender equality in parliamentary work over time.

Area 1: Do women and men have equal opportunities to ENTER the parliament?

The  European  Parliament  has  achieved  its  most  gen-
der-balanced  composition  to  date,  with  the  share  of 
women  MEPs  having  increased  from  36  %  in  2014  to  41 
% following the 2019 elections, surpassing both the world 
and  EU  averages  for  national  parliaments.  However,  the 
European  Parliament  does  not  apply  an  EU-wide  gender 
quota to its electoral system, instead relying on Member 
State  measures  to  achieve  a  gender  balance  in  the  Par-
liament.

Despite this positive progress, on average women still repre-
sent less than one third of MPs in EU national parliaments. A 
larger  proportion  of  women  candidates  (34  %)  than  elected 
female MPs (29 %) suggests that women are disadvantaged 
as  candidates,  with  men  occupying  the  top  positions  on 
party lists, as well as ‘safe’ or ‘winnable’ seats. Furthermore, 
most  Member  States  do  not  apply  a  system-wide  quota  to 
their national electoral system — only 10 Member States ap-
ply system-wide quotas (BE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, PL, PT, SI).

Figure 1. Women members of national parliaments, EU-28 (2019) and European Parliament (2014 and 2019)

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Explore the tool at: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/toolkits/gender-sensitive-parliaments

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Area 2: Do women and men have equal opportunities to INFLUENCE the parlia-
ment’s working procedures?

While  women’s  representation  among  MEPs  has  improved, 
leadership  of  certain  EU  parliamentary  committees  is  still 
highly  segregated.  Following  the  2019  European  Parliament 
elections, all four of the committees on sociocultural functions 
are chaired by women and three of the six committees on ba-
sic  functions  are  chaired  by  women.  However,  women  head 
only  two  of  the  six  committees  on  infrastructural  functions 
and two of the six committees on economic functions. A sim-
ilar  pattern  can  be  seen  among  national  parliaments,  where 
only 28 % of parliamentary committees are led by women.

Figure 2. Committees of the European Parliament chaired 
by women, by type of function (2019-2024 term)

Sociocultural

100 %

Basic

50 %

Infrastructure

Economy

33 %

33 %

Having  equal  opportunities  to  influence  parliamentary  work 
also  implies  that  women  and  men  have  equal  access  to  a 
safe  working  environment.  In  February  2019,  the  European 
Parliament  included  a  standard  of  conduct  in  its  Rules  of 
Procedure that Members shall refrain from any type of psy-

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chological  or  sexual  harassment.  At  the  national  level,  only 
nine Member States’ parliaments publish information on the 
existence  of  mechanisms  for  preventing  gender-based  dis-
crimination against MPs (DK, EL, IE, HR, LV, MT, FI, SE, UK).

Area 3: Do women’s interests and concerns have adequate SPACE on the parliamen-
tary agenda?

A  number  of  dedicated  bodies  within  the  European  Parlia-
ment,  such  as  the  Committee  on  Women’s  Rights  and  Gen-
der  Equality  (FEMM)  and  the  High-Level  Group  on  Gender 
Equality and Diversity, aim to promote and protect women’s 
rights, and to implement gender mainstreaming in the Euro-
pean Parliament’s activities, structures and bodies. However, 
effective and systematic use of gender budgeting is still lack-
ing in EU institutions.

Most Member States (71 %) have a dedicated gender-equality 
body  in  their  parliamentary  structure,  but  very  few  of  these 
have full legislative capacity (IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, CY, LU, AT, PT, 
RO, SE, UK). Despite these structures being in place, gender 
does not appear to be effectively mainstreamed in parliamen-
tary work — for instance, where parliaments have a strategic 
plan,  gender  equality  is  mentioned  only  infrequently.  There 
are also few internal bodies in charge of gender budgeting.

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Explore the tool at: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/toolkits/gender-sensitive-parliaments

European Institutefor Gender EqualityGender equality in parliaments across the EU and the European Parliament in 2019 
 
Area 4: Does the parliament produce gender-sensitive LEGISLATION?

Gender-sensitive  parliaments  should  produce  legislation  that 
considers and integrates women’s and men’s concerns into the 
political process and across all policy sectors. For example, the 
European Parliament adopted a range of legislation and policies 
to achieve the objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action. It is 
also taking steps to ratify the Istanbul Convention on prevent-
ing and combating violence against women and domestic vio-
lence  in  order  to  strengthen  the  legal  framework  for  address-
ing gender-based violence. Further, the gender-mainstreaming 
amendments introduced by the European Parliament empower 
the FEMM committee to ensure the inclusion of a gender per-
spective in the reports of other parliamentary committees.

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Most  Member  States  (except  LV,  HU,  SK)  have  adopted  spe-
cific  laws  or  legislative  quotas  to  enhance  gender  equality.  
Most  Member  States  (BE,  BG,  CZ,  DK,  EE,  IE,  EL,  ES,  FR,  HR, 
CY, LU, HU, MT, AT, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK) also have a ded-

icated  gender-equality  body  to  oversee  the  implementation 
of gender action plans and national programmes for enhanc-
ing  gender  equality,  and  for  implementing  the  Beijing  Plat-
form for Action.

Area 5: Does the parliament promote gender equality through its SYMBOLIC function?

The European Parliament shares important information on 
gender-equality  policies  and  initiatives  via  its  official  web-
site. It also publicises events organised by the FEMM com-
mittee  through  its  official  social  media  channels.  In  terms 
of the gender sensitivity of its premises, the European Par-
liament offers adequate childcare facilities for staff and vis-
itors.  However,  further  efforts  are  required  to  emphasise 
women’s contribution to politics and democracy in the Par-
liament  buildings,  given  that  most  spaces  are  still  named 
after men.

In  the  last  calendar  year,  most  national  parliaments  in  the  EU 
held  planned  initiatives  dedicated  to  gender  equality  on  their 
premises  (BG,  CZ,  EE,  IE,  EL,  ES,  FR,  IT,  LT,  LU,  HU,  MT,  NL,  AT, 
PT, RO, FI, SE, UK). Further, over half of the national parliaments 
disseminate information about parliamentary initiatives related 
to  gender  equality  (DK,  DE,  EL,  IE,  ES,  FR,  LT,  MT,  NL,  AT,  PT, 
RO, FI, SE, UK). However, information on gender-equality poli-
cies and initiatives continues to be absent from the majority of 
national parliament websites. Additionally, less than half of the 
national parliaments (DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, IT, LT, NL, AT, PT, SE, 
UK) have dedicated childcare facilities on their premises.

Figure 3. National parliaments with 
childcare facilities (%), EU

Figure 4. National parliaments which 
organised gender equality initiatives 
on their premises in 2018, EU

Figure 5. National parliaments which 
disseminate parliamentary initiatives 
related to gender equality, EU

46 %

68 %

56 %

Explore the tool at: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/toolkits/gender-sensitive-parliaments

Gender equality in parliaments across the EU and the European Parliament in 2019European Institutefor Gender Equality 
Gender equality in parliaments across the EU and the European 
Parliament in 2019

Equal opportunities to 
ENTER the parliament  

1)
11

of the 28 Member States 
applied gender quotas in 
the 2019 European 
Parliament elections

41 %

women MEPs

29 %

women MPs

Gender quotas applied to 
national parliamentary 
elections in 10 
Member States

IE

BE

PT

FR

ES

PL

SI

IT

HR

EL

Record-breaking share of women 
MEPs after the 2019 European 
Parliament elections

2)

Equal opportunities to 
INFLUENCE the parliament’s 
procedures

23 

national parliaments had a 
man president

Leaders of national 
parliamentary committees:

31 % 
Women

69 % 
Men

4)

The parliament produces 
gender-sensitive 
LEGISLATION

action plan or programme

21 Member States have a gender 
7

Member States have not ratified 
the Istanbul Convention on 
preventing and combating 
violence against women

Candidates in the last parliamentary elections 

(National level)

(European Parliament)

34 %

66 %

41 %

59 %

3)

Women’s interests and concerns 
have adequate SPACE on the 
parliamentary agenda

20

national parliaments have a 
gender equality body

...12

of which have full legislative capacity

5)

The parliament’s SYMBOLIC function

13

national 
parliaments 
have childcare 
facilities

19

national parliaments organised 
gender equality initiatives on 
their premises in 2018

European Institute for Gender Equality
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) is the EU knowledge 
centre on gender equality. EIGE supports policymakers and all relevant 
institutions in their efforts to make equality between women and men 
a reality for all Europeans by providing them with specific expertise and 
comparable and reliable data on gender equality in Europe.
© European Institute for Gender Equality, 2019

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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European Institutefor Gender EqualityGender equality in parliaments across the EU and the European Parliament in 2019