A Gendered Division of Labour - Women’s Representation in the European Parliament Committees

Abstract

The powers and influence of the European Parliament (EP) and its committees have grown, mainly by the extension of the co-decision procedure through the Lisbon Treaty, and the increase in number of decisions and policy areas handled by the Parliament. It is in the parliamentary committees – whose political composition reflects that of the Parliament as a whole - that most of the work, deliberation and informal decision-making of the EP take place. Consequently, it is increasingly important to examine the internal organisation of the committees to understand how Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) organise within the parliament, including their concerns such as committee membership. This thesis explores the gendered power structures of EU decision-making by examining the representation of women within the European Parliament and by comparing the political/ideological and national dimensions of women’s representation in its committees. It finds considerable divisions of men and women within the different policy areas. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that gender differences in the examined committees are more significant in the large political groups of Socialists & Democrats and the Christian Democrats compared to the Liberal and the Green groups. Moreover, member states with more ‘Gender traditional’ cultures have more gender-segregated composition in the examined committees compared with more ‘Gender Egalitarian’ member states. The MEP Gender Database developed for this thesis could serve as an important tool for future research on women’s organisation and influence in the EP.