Young elected politicians – How is your region or city dealing with gender equality in policy making?
Brussels, 4-5 March 2020
EU Member States are committed to promoting the equal participation of women and men in decision making at all levels and in all fields by the European Pact for Gender Equality (2011-2020). However, women remain significantly underrepresented in local decision-making bodies across the EU. The latest Gender Equality Index from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) shows that the EU still has a way to go to reach gender equality in all areas. According to CEMR's 2019 study on Women in politics: local and European trends, only a third of political decision-makers in Europe and around 15% of mayors are women. The top f ive EU countries in terms of most women as local councillors are Sweden, France, Finland, Norway and Belgium.
In April 2019, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) published its strategy for a gender balance among its members. Following this first step, on the occasion of International Women's Day and the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, the CoR would like to invite young elected politicians to express their views and recommendations on how to ensure equal participation in politics and decision making in all areas of life.
Are you committed to ensuring gender equality in your region or city? What is your constituency doing to advance gender equality? What results have been achieved?
The CoR would like to hear of your experience, the solutions you have implemented and your recommendations on measures that should be put in place to eliminate individual, organisational and social obstacles that dissuade women from entering politics.
Programme of the event
This event has been cancelled due to the covid-19 situation.
The initiative
"Young Elected Politicians United 4 Climate" took place during the
CoR Plenary Session in Brussels on 3-5 December 2019. On 3 December, young elected politicians have been involved in three main "Participatory Workshops" on:
Renewable energy and prosumers;
Energy efficiency and circular economy;
Low-carbon modes of transport.
The results of the three participatory workshops have led to the drafting of 8 main recommendations on how to accelerate climate action locally. The "
Local Climate Action Footprint" has been handed over to the President of the European Committee of the Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz and to the Executive Vice-President
responsible for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans on the occasion of the
debate on the European Green Deal during the 137th CoR Plenary Session.
See how the young elected politicians delivered their message at the CoR Plenary Session!
The selection has been based on ensuring the best possible balance of nationality, regional and local representation, political affiliation, and on gender, for which the CoR is strongly committed to reach a balance.
European Week of Regions and Cities, 7-10 October 2019, Brussels
In June 2019, the CoR launched a new call of expression of interest in taking part in the European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) running from 7 to 10 October 2019. More than 700 applications were received over three weeks, leading to invitations going out to around 100 young elected politicians from all over Europe. The
programme covered attendance at #EuRegionsWeek key sessions, discussions with high-level Eu politicians, meetings with political groups represented in the European Committee of the Regions and many other networking opportunities.
The
five young elected politicians listed below have been among the speakers of the
Opening Session of the #EURegionsWeek, together with the President of the CoR Karl-Heinz Lambertz, the EU Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska and the Vice-President of the EP Klára Dobrev, contributing to the debate on the future of the EU:
- Ms Miia Eskelinen-Fingerroos, City Councillor, Municipality of Kuopio, Finland.
- Ms Laura Sparavigna, City Councillor, Municipality of Firenze, Italy.
- Mr Vincent Chauvet, Mayor, Municipality of Autun, France;
- Mr Kirsteen Currie, Councillor, The Highland Council, United Kingdom;
- Mr Radosław Swół, City Councillor, Mielec City Council, Poland.
8th European Summit of Regions and Cities, 15-15 March 2019, Bucharest
In March 2019, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) invited 100 young elected politicians at local and regional level (YEPs) to take part in the
8th European Summit of Regions and Cities and discuss the future of the European Union and how to involve the citizens more effectively in the European project through local and regional authorities.
YEPs took part in several sessions of the programme, in particular:
- Welcoming event for Young Elected Politicians, moderator: Jennifer Baker, Brussels, Belgium;
-
What young local and regional leaders expect from the EU- Part 1
- What young local and regional leaders expect from the EU - Part 2
- EU Regions and Cities building a sustainable future