EU states dash von der Leyen's gender-equal top team dream

The first female European Commission president with the first gender-balanced top team to match: German conservative Ursula von der Leyen was lauded as a trailblazer back in 2019 when she insisted on parity of men and women among the 27 European commissioners.

Every member state was instructed to nominate one woman and one man, with von der Leyen then divvying out the powerful portfolios spanning everything from trade, foreign policy, the economy and the climate. A newbie in EU politics, capitals nonetheless obeyed her. After weeks of grappling and a grilling of candidates by the European Parliament, she pulled it off, with 13 women including herself and 14 men.

Five years on, and von der Leyen has been successfully reappointed for a second term at the head of the European Union's executive arm. Her orders to the other 26 countries — she herself represents Germany — were the same: gender parity, please.

'Sausage fest' in the making

But this time round, von der Leyen's request has been roundly ignored. The deadline she set for nominations has passed and, as of Monday, 17 EU states had put forward a man for the job and no female nominee. Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden have nominated a woman, while Bulgaria has nominated a man and a woman.

Von der Leyen should start interviewing candidates and handing out jobs in the coming weeks, but she has been dealt a deck of cards stacked with men — one that news outlet Politico branded a "sausage fest."

For those closely watching the dial of equality, it's more than unfortunate. "Your leadership in achieving a gender-balanced Commission in the last term was a groundbreaking step that set a new standard for governance within the EU and beyond," the European Women's Lobby wrote in an open letter to von der Leyen last week, urging her to stand her ground.

"The continued pursuit of this balance is crucial, particularly now that women's rights are under threat in various parts of the world," the umbrella association of women's rights organizations wrote.

A 'shocking' lack of respect for equality

At stake is more than just optics, according to Elizabeth Kuiper of the European Policy Centre. This is about real power and policy, she said, describing member states' behavior as "shocking" in a written statement sent to DW on Monday.

The EU politics expert pointed to key initiatives from von der Leyen's first term that bore the imprint of a gender-equal Commission: work on fighting gender-based violence and on the role of women in politics and the labor market, including addressing the gender pay gap.

It's also about the image the bloc projects on the world stage. "Internationally, it shows that the EU walks the talk when it comes to values like inclusion and diversity," said Kuiper. "Frankly, heads of state are showing a lack of political will and deterioration in respect for women's rights."

Von der Leyen in a bind

The European Commission president has yet to publicly comment on the snubbing of her orders. "The president has been very clear in what her ambition is," EU spokesperson Arianna Podesta said Monday at a press conference in Brussels. "She is doing everything in her power to have a gender-balanced college for the next mandate."

The problem for von der Leyen is there aren't many options to force the member states to play ball.

"What she could do is veto the nominees but that's unprecedented — and for a good reason," Sophia Russack, a researcher at the Center for European Policy Studies, explained in a recent statement. "By putting her foot down [e.g. on gender parity] she might spoil the beginning of a five-year working relationship with member state governments."

Kuiper of the European Policy Centrr think tank agrees. "She can decide to make a point and ask member states for additional names, but the question is whether she would like to do this, considering it will delay the start of the new European Commission," she said.

Backroom persuasion and strategic appointments

Rather than entering into public showdowns, von der Leyen seems to be working behind the scenes to convince member states to fall in line. Romania swapped out its male candidate for a women at the last minute, several media outlets reported on Monday. The government in Valletta also came under pressure from von der Leyen to change its nominee, local newspaper the Times of Malta reported last week.

In addition, von der Leyen has the option to give women more powerful portfolios, sending a message back to the EU capitals. One of the most important ones is set to be filled by a woman: Kaja Kallas, until recently Estonia's prime minister, has been tapped to become the bloc's top diplomat.

Once von der Leyen has vetted the nominees, the ball passes to the European Parliament, who must accept or reject them after a series of hearings. The whole process takes weeks: last time round, von der Leyen and her team officially took office at the start of December.

Von der Leyen may well hope she can quietly extract a few more changes of heart in the next week. But as of Monday, with 18 male nominees to 10 women, according to various media reports, for just 26 spots, she was still a long way from parity.

The European Women's Lobby, for one, is hoping EU lawmakers, who have the power to veto nominations but not propose commissioners themselves, will flex their muscle.

"We count on von der Leyen and the European Parliament to show to the member states that EU leadership isn't a boys' club anymore," European Women's Lobby spokesperson Mirta Baselovic told DW on Monday.

Edited by: Andreas Illmer