(Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, USA/Wikimedia Commons) Gender Equality: Beyond the statistics, let’s create a democratic Europe! European Alternatives is committed to gender equality: it is a fundamental issue because it is the most patent indicator of respect for equalities more generally. It is not a question of quotas for every distinguishable group, but rather a question of democracy and representation. The European Commission should be representative of the European people: the next European Commission looks likely to include even less women than the last. European Alternatives finds this situation unacceptable and launches a campaign to change it (click here to go to campaign page). The creation of a more equal political space at the European level must be done in a way that is more egalitarian than the construction of national democracy was. European Alternatives proposes 5 measures to promote a more equal European political space: • The President of the Commission should take an active role to ensure Gender Equality. So far national political spaces have not proved successful in ensuring diversity and equality. They have been largely built by men and they remain largely governed by men. Europe must lead the way in terms of equality and diversity, and this means it cannot be dependent on the nation states alone to propose candidates for the important posts of the Union. If the list of candidates proposed to the President of the Commission does not respect gender equality, and the commission proposed is unequal, then the President should reject it. • The European Parliament has the power to reject an unequal European Commission nominated by the European Council and the President of the Commission. If the Commission includes less than 1/3 females, the Commission should be rejected by the Parliament • European political parties must ensure the construction of a more equal political space. If the Parliament does censure the Commission, the European political parties themselves should propose and support candidates for the Commission, as several have done actively with the appointment of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs. More generally, European Political parties should take an active role in proposing candidates for the commission, and should promote equalities issues throughout their activities. • The newly created post of Commissioner for Justice and Fundamental Rights must have it in her or his brief to improve the situation with regards to equalities and diversities issues at the European level, and the respect of the relevant rights defined in the Charter for Fundamental Rights. She or he must actively make the other members of the Commission take equalities issues seriously and must propose a plan for tackling equalities problems at the European level. • The Observatory for Gender Equality created in 2006 by the European Council and the European Parliament can no longer be delayed. The Observatory must be given a meaningful brief of proposing more gender progressive policies at both the European and national levels. In addition its brief should be enlarged to consider equalities and diversities issues more generally.