Percentage of women in European Parliament falls for first time in 45 years

This article was originally published in English

The proportion of women in the European Parliament has decreased for the first time in its history, according to available data, while the average age has increased slightly.

The 720 newly elected MEPs will travel to Strasbourg next week for the first plenary session of the tenth legislature.

EUMatrix data shows that women will represent 38.75% of MEPs.

“This is in fact the first time since the elections for the European Parliament took place in 1979 that the proportion of women has decreased compared to the previous legislature.“, Doru Frantescu, founder and CEO of the socio-political research platform, told Euronews.

“It is not a big drop, just 1%. But it is the first time that the upward trend towards parity has not taken place.“, he added.

Only the Greens/EFA group will achieve parity, with 50.9% of MEPs in its ranks. The Left group and the centrist Renew group come next with around 45% women, while just over a fifth (21.7%) of MEPs in the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group will be women, the lowest figure of all groups.

The lower proportion of women, according to Mr Frantescu, is explained by the election results, which saw the Greens/EFA, Renew and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) lose seats. Only the Left group increased its number of MEPs on the left wing of the chamber.

At the same time, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and ECR gained seats, as did far-right Eurosceptic forces which now form two groups: Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations.

“Traditionally, women are more represented in the center and left groups. This is therefore a mainly sociological phenomenon, which has nothing to do with the possibility for women to participate in political life.“, Mr. Frantescu said.

Non-traditional parties attract young MPs

The average age has increased slightly from 49.5 to 50, according to EUMatrix, with around a fifth of MEPs under 40 and another fifth over 60.

The youngest MEP is Austrian climate activist Lena Schilling, aged 23, and the oldest is Leoluca Orlando, former mayor of Palermo, aged 76, both from the Greens/EFA group.

“Young people tend to opt for newer parties, such as the Greens (41.5%) and some new left-wing parties. More traditional parties have a slightly higher average age.“, Mr. Frantescu said.

The EPP has the lowest proportion of MEPs under 40 (11.17%), while the Europe of Sovereign Nations (far right) and the Greens/EFA have the highest proportion, with 32.14% and 41.51% respectively.

“In general, young people who want to get involved in politics have to find the fastest way to get to the top. And the fastest way is not through traditional parties, because there are still many important figures who play a leading role.“, Mr. Frantescu said.

“That’s why we’re seeing a proliferation of new parties all over the continent, including within the radical right, because young people want to get involved. They realize that it’s now easier to create new political movements, which is good for democracy. On the other hand, it’s more negative in terms of stability and predictability of the political spectrum. There’s a lot of debate about this, but I would say that in general, political life is becoming more dynamic.“, he added.

Most MEPs come from non-governmental parties

Another interesting statistic from the new Parliament is that almost two thirds (61.5%) of MEPs come from non-governmental parties.

This could have an impact on inter-institutional relations, Mr. Frantescu said, because “These MEPs have no interest in supporting what their government is defending at the European Council level.“.

“Therefore, they often behave in opposition to the Council and the Commission, especially because it was not their parties that chose the Commissioners. In the case of the European Commission, they are more interested in criticism, control“, he added.

Two of the most affected member states are France and Germany, considered the driving force of the Union.

“85% of French MEPs in the European Parliament do not belong to the party of the current government in Paris, of President Emmanuel Macron. This means that the majority of MEPs will criticize everything Macron does in the European Council.“, said Mr. Frantescu

“In Germany, the ruling parties also performed very, very poorly, with the majority of MPs coming from the CDU (centre-right) and the Alternative for Germany (far-right). Only in a few countries, such as Italy, Poland and Greece, did the governing parties manage to win the elections.”.

Finally, more than half of the MEPs are newcomers, and it will take them about six months to get to grips with how the European Parliament works, Mr Frantescu estimates.

The elders should therefore have the advantage, because they “know how to become more influential and can more easily become rapporteurs and committee chairs“, did he declare.