Gender parity in Team Ursula and a dedicated portfolio for Equality are seen as moves to strengthen the position of women in the EU, but will it be enough?
ADVERTISEMENTEliane Vogel-Polsky, one of the so called "mothers of the European social model" in the 1960s.
She would likely have appreciated the two measures to advance women's rights taken by the first female president of the European Commission.
Gender parity in the college and a dedicated portfolio for Equality are seen as moves to strengthen the position of women, but one Danish human rights activist wants more.
"To foster the quotation (means quotas system) in the member states and work on that - because we see that it can actually work like it happens in the Commission - would be a good way to have member states to push more on gender equality," explains Julie M. Rosenkilde, NYT EUROPE coordinator.
A new documentary about the Belgian lawyer that fought for equal pay between men and women was shown in a session in Lisbon - promoted by the Portuguese Women's Rights Platform.
A gender expert that co-directed the film sees greater engagement from the youngest generation.
"I am a teacher so I also have a lot of female students and I can see that they are more confident of their own value and also much more confident about their contributions in creating a world that suits better their needs," explains Agnés Hubert, president of Genderfiveplus.
The EU Commission's Equality portfolio is set to go to Helena Dalli, a former minister in charge of that area in the Maltese government.
One MEP present for her confirmatory hearing says some portfolio titles are obscure.
"The first challenge is for us to understand what will be the financing level for each one of the policies. The second one is to understand was exact policies are hidden behind the titles given to each of the commissioners," Margarida Marques, MEP, Socialist and Democrats, Portugal tells our reporter.
A new Commission-wide Task Force for Equality will be created to advance the goals defended by Eliane Vogel-Polsky.