EP Groups: by age, sex and gender
Extract from "Political Parties in the European Union."
Simon Hix and Christopher Lord pg.82-3
|
Age Profile |
Gender |
|
Under 40 |
40-60 |
Over 60 |
Proportions of women |
| ERA |
3.8 |
84.7 |
11.5 |
23.1 |
| EN |
7.7 |
84.6 |
7.7 |
17.3 |
| ELDR |
13.5 |
75.0 |
11.5 |
27.0 |
| FE |
20.7 |
65.5 |
13.8 |
13.8 |
| UEL |
6.5 |
77.4 |
16.1 |
38.7 |
| EPP |
10.4 |
71.7 |
17.9 |
23.1 |
| PSE |
16.2 |
73.8 |
10.0 |
29.4 |
| UPE |
11.1 |
73.6 |
15.3 |
19.2 |
| V |
24.0 |
68.3 |
7.7 |
44.0 |
| EP Average |
14.2 |
72.2 |
13.6 |
26.6 |
- The EP as a whole has more female representation than most national
assemblies in Western Europe. But the probability that any one of its party
groups will include women diminishes with movement from the left to the right of
the hemicycle. The Greens and the UEL have the most female representation, the
EN and the UPE the least, and of the three main party groups the Socialists have
more than the Christian Democrats/Conservatives or the Liberals.
- The EP has only a narrow generational base with both the old and the young
finding litde representation there. Between 65 per cent and 85 per cent of each
group were between 40 and 60 years old at the beginning of the 1 994-9
parliament. The party groups which best represent the young are those made up of
new parties at the national level, the Greens, and before they joined with the
UPE, Forza Europa. Low representation of the old confirms the passing from the
party groups of the immediate postwar generation with its emotional commitment
to European integration, though more recent generations may have an advantage
over the 'pioneers' in having had the opportunity to observe a great deal of
practical experimentation in differing approaches to common policy-making during
their political lifetimes.