Women in Parliament - how does the European Parliament compare?
Statistics on MEPs
Ahead of international women's day this Saturday 8 March, we had a look at the balance between the sexes in the European Parliament and at other legislatures around Europe. At present 31% of the 785 MEPs are female - up from 17% in 1979 when the first direct elections were held. Top of the list in terms of parity are the Netherlands and Estonia who both have 50%, while Malta and Cyprus have only male representatives.
In terms of women in senior positions, this is how the Parliament looks:
6 women chair one of the 23 committees.
13 of parliament's 37 delegations for relations with other countries have female chairs.
5 of the 14 Parliament vice-presidents are women.
2 of the 6 quaestors (who look after MEPs' interests) are women.
2 of the 12 Presidents since direct elections in 1979 have been women - Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999-2002).
In the European Union the number of women standing for Parliament and being elected has risen by over a half in the last decade. In 1997 just 16% of MPs were women while they now account for 24%.
According to a report by the European Commission in 2006, 20 countries around the world had 30% or more female MPs. Of those, eight are in the EU - Sweden (47%), Finland (42%), the Netherlands (39%), Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Austria..
EU states with a less enviable record (less than 15% of national MPs being women) include: Czech Republic, Cyprus, Ireland, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania and Malta.
To celebrate international women's day this Saturday, Parliament's women's rights committee is organising conferences on gender mainstreaming in Parliamentary work and women's role in intercultural dialogue.