The EU’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 organisation 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.
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