Percentage of women in the European Parliament has fallen for the first time in 45 years

Only the Greens/EFA group will have parity, with 50.9% female MEPs within its ranks.

Transcript

00:00For the first time in 45 years of European elections, the proportion of women in the

00:04European Parliament decreases compared to the previous Parliament.

00:07Female MEPs in the 10th legislature represent 38.7% of the total, which is 1% less than

00:13those elected in 2019.

00:16The data analysed by think tank EU Matrix shows parity is achieved in the Greens EFA

00:20group with 50.9% women, while it's around 45% each for left and for the Liberal Renew

00:27Group.

00:28The percentage decreases drastically in all other groups, with the lowest being 21.7%

00:34in the ultra-conservative ECR.

00:36The CEO of EUMatrix.eu told Euronews that this is one of the impacts of the shift to

00:41the right.

00:42This has to do with a lot of factors, but most of this is because the parties to the

00:47right of the political spectrum have gained seats.

00:49Traditionally, there is a bigger representation of women in the centre and left-wing groups,

00:56so it's more of a sociological phenomenon.

00:59It has less to do, let's say, with the participation of women in politics as such.

01:04The average age has only slightly increased from 49.5 to 50 years old, the youngest MEP

01:08being Austrian Lena Schilling of 23 years old and the oldest Italian Leoluca Orlando

01:13of 76 years old.

01:15The MEPs that are under 40 years old make only 20.4% of the overall.

01:19For political group, the highest percentage of young MEPs are in Greens EFA with 41.5%.

01:26The lowest percentage, on the other hand, are in EPP of centre-right with only 11.1%.

01:31The proportion of members over 60 years old is similar, 19.4% of the total.

01:36And the highest percentage is in the EPP, with 22.8%.

01:40We have to take into account that also in the last five years the lifespan of the European

01:45society has also increased.

01:47In general, young people who want to get involved in politics have to find the fastest way towards

01:53the top.

01:54And the fastest way is not through the traditional parties because there are still a lot of personalities

01:58in these parties.

01:59So if they want to reach the top fast, they have to go through new parties.

02:03That's why we're seeing a proliferation of new parties across the continent because young

02:07people do want to get involved.

02:10Around 54% of the MEPs are newcomers that will have to learn the ins and outs of the

02:14legislative machine in Brussels and Strasbourg.