Gender Equality: Equal opportunities means understanding the barriers and lowering them

"If it was an easy job, there would be someone else doing it." 

As part of the CoR's contribution to improving gender equality and to building a more inclusive, gender-equal and fair EU, it has put in place since end of 2023 a dedicated Gender Equality Action Plan, which summarises its own processes and practices aiming to improve gender equality at the Committee of the Regions. To support this process the Bureau appointed a special Bureau rapporteur on the CoR Gender Equality Action Plan, Ms Sari RAUTIO​ (FI/EPP), Member of Hämeenlinna City Council.​

1. Please introduce you briefly and how you are engaged with the topic of gender equality, including in politics?

I have four kids, already adults, who are all special for me, but our son is on the autism spectrum. When he was small, I realised that if I wanted the world to treat him and us all equally, I needed to take action. So, I started politics on a local level – which is the place where the implementation of law is made, and the everyday choices of equality are done. Quickly I understood that equality is a wider issue – we are all similar, and we are all different. In order to have equal opportunities, we have to have an understanding of the barriers, and lower them. Equality is good for everyone, and we definitely need everyone to have the possibility to do their bit for a better future. And for gender equality – for me it is obvious – we can not afford to lose half of the population. 

2. Why is gender equality in political bodies and policy-making so important?

Diversity helps to make better decisions -- that has been shown in a variety of studies. And particularly in times of changes, and when dealing with wicked problems, we definitely need all types of brains and ideas, to help us find new ideas and solutions. Gender equality is not only for women, but for all sexes. We see that already in Finland. 

3. What is your key angle for this dossier, which is technical but also very directly relevant to our everyday lives?

For a start, we need to make the situation visible. At the moment, there are only about 25% women in CoR, and the percentage is even lower in the bureau. Also, rapporteurs are much more often men. So, first, we have started to present the statistics, including to national delegations, to raise awareness and prompt discussion. The second thing is to work on our rules of procedure, so that the situation is thought about whenever choices are made and elections held. And the third aspect is communication, both inside the CoR and beyond the house. 

4. Which are the main challenges identified so far, and how, in your view, could these be tackled?

If and when we want the CoR to have even more influence on EU decision-making, we have to follow the common EU agreements, including on gender equality. We are still behind other institutions in this, and I am so happy that we can learn from the European Parliament and from good practices there. We also have to raise awareness in Member States that when they are selecting new members through their own procedures, they also take a closer look at gender within the delegation. And when we look at the YEPs programme, for young elected politicians, we can see that there is already gender equality there – so we can also learn from them. This is work that needs all of us, and we and our regions will all benefit from this.

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