👫Webinar “Equality and inclusion”

The webinar “Equality and inclusion” looked at the state of knowledge on equality and inclusion in the European Parliament elections analysed similarities and differences across the EU, with a focus on women’s participation in politics, accessibility for persons with disabilities and youth participation. Voter mobilisation is a key component of community belonging. Empowered transnational partnerships and citizens networks are the engines that can strengthen and advocate for EU citizenship-based values, producing a collective advocacy agenda for inclusive and engaging elections. In this first webinar, we explored the state of knowledge on equality and inclusion in the European Parliament elections analysing similarities and differences across the EU, with a focus on women’s participation in politics, accessibility for persons with disabilities and youth participation.

Speakers noted that there are still legal and practical barriers to voter participation for persons with disabilities. While legal barriers mainly affect people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, millions of people still suffer from practical barriers ranging from the physical accessibility of the voting process to the accessibility of relevant information. The discussion resulted in a call for better cooperation between organisations advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities and the electoral authority to remove the remaining barriers. Another outcome of the discussion was that citizen election observation is not yet equally possible everywhere in the EU due to heterogeneous legislations, but that enabling such active participation in the electoral process would further increase young people's participation in elections and contribute to more transparency and accountability.

Recommendations of the webinar: Further concerted efforts are required on the part of European Institutions and EU MS to continue the initiated electoral reforms.

• Consider additional common European voter and candidate eligibility criteria to ensure the equality of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate across the EU.

• Implement additional measures to support the equal participation of women and men to alleviate the obstacles faced by women candidates. This can be remedied, for example, through provisions for candidate registration. In particular gender related online hate speech should be addressed as a priority.

• Remove remaining barriers to effective electoral participation of persons with disabilities, including those related to restrictions based on mental/intellectual disability, to the lack of access to polling stations, and to barriers to accessible information. Measures aimed at supporting independent and informed voting and decision-making such as the free choice of assistance and assistive tools should be prioritised.

• Conduct regular targeted information campaigns and activities to explain European institutions and democratic processes to continue fostering youth participation in elections.

• Include provisions in EU MS legislation to explicitly allow impartial citizen-led election observation throughout the electoral process, including access and accreditation, as it reveals shortcomings and highlights best electoral practices.

• Engage in an inclusive, consultative and participatory electoral reform process with the involvement of all stakeholders, including civil society and underrepresented groups.

You can find the full webinar uploaded online here.

The project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.