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The European Union’s three largest economies are stuck in a deep structural slump. The budget is a mess, with money running out. And the bloc is rapidly losing competitiveness. Meanwhile, populist parties committed to overthrowing the organization are coming closer to power all the time. You might think that the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had enough serious problems to deal with it. Yet somehow she is finding time for something else: aiming for gender parity. There’s just one problem: jobs for the girls won’t rescue the EU.
It is hard to see how carving out lucrative jobs for a handful of women is going to fix anything
As she sorts out the roles in her soon-to-be-announced commission, von der Leyen faces a tricky issue. The member states have not nominated enough women to take up the roles. For a body that is committed to gender parity, and even has a “commissioner for equality” that is, to put it politely, slightly embarrassing.
To try and even out the numbers, von der Leyen is now reported to be putting pressure on some of the smaller EU states, such as Malta and Slovenia, to get rid of the men they’ve put forward and replace them with women instead. Given that commissioners get close to $28,000 a month tax-free plus expenses for dreaming up a few minor regulations, it could well be a struggle. Many smaller countries’ political hacks regard it as a prize that is not to be given up lightly.
Sure, there is nothing wrong with aiming for gender parity, and most EU commissioners are of such low quality they would hardly be missed. If France could be persuaded to replace the preening Thierry Breton with someone who spent more of their energy on the role than picking self-publicizing fights with Elon Musk that would be a relief for everyone.
But there are a few problems with strong-arming minor states in this gender drive. First, it is more important to find the right person for each job than to meet a box-ticking quota. More crucially, von der Leyen surely has bigger issues to be focussing on. After all, the EU is facing some major challenges, not least the huge task of integrating Ukraine into the bloc — never mind standing up to Russia. It is hard to see how carving out some more lucrative jobs for a handful of women is going to fix any of that. In reality, von der Leyen’s gender mission is just another pointless distraction.
This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.
