S&D MEPs today demanded action from the European Council to ensure greater gender balance on the European Court of Justice.

S&D MEP Mady Delvaux, who put the question to the Council at today's Parliament plenary session in Brussels, said:

“Only five of the 28 judges who sit on the European Court of Justice (ECJ) are women, less than 20%. This is simply not acceptable in the 21st Century. Last year the Council promised to ensure that member states put forward more female candidates. However, the opposite has happened – when judges were appointed to the General Court last year, only three of the 15 newly appointed judges were women. We demand that the Council explain why this was the case and what measures it intends to take to ensure member states nominate more women to the court in the future.”

Jytte Guteland, S&D MEP spokesperson for gender mainstreaming in the legal affairs committee, added:

“The ECJ takes decisions that affect the lives of 500 million Europeans. It is essential that the Court reflects the diversity of the continent. Last year the Council agreed with this and committed to ensuring gender balance on the court. However, so far, we have seen no action and new appointments continue to be overwhelmingly men. The Council must urgently outline how it intends to pressure national governments into putting forward more female candidates.”