Under-representation of women persists in Latvia's legislative body
===============================================================================
In the European Union, the representation of women in national governments and parliaments has seen a gradual increase since 2014. As of 2025, women represent on average about 24.22% of parliamentarians in EU national parliaments, while their representation in national governments averages around 26.07% of ministerial positions.
Notable progress has been made in countries such as Finland, which leads the way with 60.0% of women in government, including a female Prime Minister. Finland is followed closely by Germany and Slovakia, both of which have significant increases in female representation and female heads of government.
Other countries, like Belgium, have recorded impressive increases in the share of women in national governments since 2014, with a growth of 32.8 percentage points. Latvia has also seen a substantial increase, with the share of women in government now at 44.8%, compared to 24% in 2014. Portugal and Lithuania have also made significant strides, increasing their shares of female representatives by 25.7 pp and 24.9 pp respectively.
However, some countries still lag behind. Hungary, for example, has no women in its national government, while Cyprus, Romania, and the Czech Republic have low shares of female representatives.
The European Parliament, on the other hand, has a higher average of female members, at around 35.05%, which is significantly greater than the average in national parliaments. Malta is the only EU member state without any women in the European Parliament.
Left-leaning political parties in the EU tend to elect more women to the European Parliament, contributing to higher female representation in parties like the European United Left-Nordics Green Left and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
Despite this progress, challenges remain. The representation of women in politics is not uniform across all EU states or regions, and some nations have shown fluctuations rather than steady growth. Political violence and accessibility barriers remain significant hurdles in many states.
The EU continues to pursue policies and plans aimed at increasing women's political participation and leadership by 2025, such as the EU Gender Action Plan III (2020-2025). However, these efforts face significant challenges, including overcoming gender-based violence and ensuring equal access for all.
References:
- European Commission (2020)
- European Parliament (2021)
- Inter-Parliamentary Union (2021)
- European Parliament (2021)
- European Institute for Gender Equality (2021)
- The European Commission's Gender Action Plan III (2020-2025) aims to increase women's political participation and leadership in EU member states.
- Finland, Germany, and Slovakia have made remarkable strides in women's representation in national governments, with Finland leading the way.
- The European Parliament presents a higher average of female members compared to national parliaments, but countries like Malta do not have any women representing them in the EU.
- The EU's commitment to greater female representation confronts challenges such as political violence, accessibility barriers, and inconsistencies in representation across member states.
