Vice-President
D 104542 04.11.2024
IPOL-COM-FEMM D(2024) 32922
To:
Presidents of National Parliaments of the European Union
Subject:
European Gender Equality Week in the European Parliament, 9-13
December 2024
Dear President,
Following the success of four European Gender Equality Weeks organised by the European
Parliament in the previous parliamentary term, I would like to invite the National Parliaments
of the EU to join the European Parliament in this important initiative and to contribute to
increasing the visibility of gender equality in the European Union.
In 2020, the European Parliament decided to hold for the first time European Gender Equality
Week in October of that year. This initiative is a big success and it is now a standing annual
event of the European Parliament.
Through the years, the European Gender Equality Week became an all-inclusive Parliament’s
initiative with a big number of external stakeholders also joining in. Last year the invitation to
join the European Gender Equality Week was extended to the National Parliaments of the EU
and we are grateful to those Parliaments, which joined this initiative. Following this, also for
this edition the European Parliament invites all the National Parliaments to organise hearings,
conferences, seminars, publications, presswork or any other action addressing gender equality
issues.
The European Gender Equality Week this year will take place in the second week of December:
9-13 December 2024.
Progress in the area of gender equality and women’s rights continues to be registered thanks to
our joint efforts. During last parliamentary term, the EU acceded to the Istanbul Convention
and a number of important legislation was adopted, such as Women on Boards Directive,
Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women or Pay Transparency Directive, to name a
few. Nevertheless, our joint efforts need to continue.