Oxfam: EU election threatens progress on gender equality 

Oxfam warns that the European Parliament elections in June could be disastrous for gender equality. The reason? Far-right populist parties are increasingly gaining ground in EU countries, including Sweden, and opinion polls suggest that this may be reflected in the EU elections. Support for gender equality issues differs greatly between party groups in the European Parliament, with right-wing parties most often opposing proposals that would lead to greater gender equality. 

Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8 and the EU elections in June, Oxfam released the report "A Feminist Europe?" which analyzes EU gender equality policies since 2019. It shows that the last five years have seen major steps forward in terms of gender equality, including the appointment of the first Commissioner for Equality and the adoption of a gender equality strategy. However, the strategy lacks measures to implement it, so gender equality is treated as a separate issue. The European Commission has ambitions to increase gender equality, but the European Parliament and member states are more divided on the issue of gender equality. But Oxfam's report also shows that the EU has failed to mainstream gender equality in policies, despite promises to do so. 

"Some key EU initiatives are blind to the issue of gender equality - this means they ignore gender norms and roles, and can therefore contribute to reinforcing gender discrimination and stereotypes. A clear example is the Commission's Green Deal. It is incomprehensible that it completely ignores the different consequences of budgeting and policies for women and men."

Evelien van Roemburg, Director of Oxfam International's EU office.

With over 447 million people in the Union and as the world's largest aid donor, the EU has a huge opportunity and responsibility to contribute to an equal future. Although Europe, together with North America, is the most advanced region in the world in terms of gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum, Europe will not achieve gender equality until 2082. The events of recent years - the pandemic, war and inflation - have affected women globally and in the EU, reducing their employment opportunities due to redundancies and domestic care responsibilities, and increasing the cost of living. The pandemic also led to increased vulnerability to violence.  

"We continue to face major global challenges: hunger, poverty and climate-related disasters, and we know that women and children are the hardest hit. Unfortunately, Oxfam's report gives the EU a low rating as a donor, and calls on the EU to adopt a feminist foreign policy, which can better contribute to systemic and structural change. In the next mandate, the EU has a great opportunity to contribute to a more equal and fair world also beyond its borders."

Suzanne Standfast, Secretary General of Oxfam Sweden.

In the report, Oxfam shows large differences between how the party groups in the EU vote on gender equality issues. Party groups with the lowest proportion of women in Brussels and on the right, such as the conservative ECR and the far-right ID, strongly oppose proposals that increase gender equality, while those on the left, the Left/GUE/NGL, Greens/EFA and S&D, support gender equality. Liberals and center parties, Renew and EPP, are more ambivalent in their positions and abstain from voting. Party groups working to keep gender equality on the agenda are dependent on an unpredictable EPP in votes.  

In several countries, including Sweden, far-right populist parties have become increasingly popular and opinion polls suggest that this may also be reflected in the EU elections. If the far-right gains ground in the EU elections, this is likely to affect the ability of the EU to pursue policies that promote gender equality and LGBTI+ rights and risks undermining the achievement of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. 

The EU is the world's largest aid donor and its actions on international development issues have a significant global impact. The report notes that between 2018 and 2022, the EU's Official Development Assistance (ODA) for gender equality has remained at 49% despite a target of 85%. Total support to women's rights organizations in the Global South in 2022 was only 6 cents per EU citizen. In the report, Oxfam makes a series of recommendations to future EU leaders, such as adopting an intersectional feminist perspective within the EU institutions, mainstreaming gender into all institutional practices, policies and laws, and coordinating and expanding gender-based data. 

Oxfam's recommendations to parties and candidates in the EU elections: 

• Commit to a genderbalance at all levels within the EU.

• Commit to adopt and implement a feminist foreign policy and ensure that at least 85% of EU ODA has gender equality as a significant objective and at least 20% has gender equality as a primary objective.

• Commit to providing at least €250 million per year (50 cents per EU citizen) for women's rights.s rights.

• Availableannual funding to Member States to prevent and combat genderbased violence and ensure that survivors have access to protection and effective, free and quality services.

• Foiling Europaparliament's recommendation on to include abortion as a right in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights..

• Adopt a comprehensive sustainability framework for the green transition that integrates environmental, economic and social factors and with emphasis on gender justice. In addition, the Commission should ensure that that all policy and funding within eEuropean grown give, the Common Agricultural Policy and the Farm to Fork Strategy have an intersectional gender perspective. Gender equality must be mainstreamed in climatepolicy in order to ensure coherence and to address the systemic problems caused by capitalism, patriarchy and racism that contribute to the social and climate crises.