Does the European Commission match its own diversity goals?

Despite a European Commission policy to follow Europe’s commitment for equality by making its workforce more diverse, the incoming college of commissioners lacks not only gender balance but also ethnic diversity. 

The Commission set itself the goal of “leading by example” in its 2023-2024 Action Plan on Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace. 

“In its new HR strategy, it aims to improve diversity among its staff to better reflect the diversity of the European population,” the EU executive plan said.

However, of the 27 EU Commission nominees put forward by their national governments – who are facing confirmation hearings before taking office by the end of this year – just one has an ethnic minority background: Belgian-born Hadja Labib, with parents of Algerian origin. 

In fact she is the first ever EU Commissioner-designate to have a non-EU background, but not the first to represent a minority. 

In the Commission led by José Manuel Barroso, Romania nominated Leonard Orban after the country joined the EU in 2007. Orban, who was a Commissioner in charge of Multilingualism in the period 2007-2010, was born to an ethnic Hungarian father and a Romanian mother. 

The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) told Euronews that it welcomes the appointment of Labib.

“[But] representation alone is not enough. We urge the Commission to enhance its efforts, particularly by implementing stronger participatory mechanisms for racialised communities, ensuring their input is central to policy-making, and addressing the democratic deficit while adhering to equality and anti-racist principals,” a spokesperson said.

Survey

Among the Commission’s Action Plan goals is a target to “better attract, support and include ethnic minority staff so that our own workforce better reflects the societies we serve.”

Figures from ENAR suggest that racial and ethnic minorities make up at least 10% of the European Union population.

In 2021, the Commission conducted a survey – which looked at employees with disabilities, from the LGBTIQ community and representing different religions – to find out more about perceptions of diversity and inclusion among its institutional workforce, the executive agencies and the European External Action Service.

Some 7.3% of the 10,000 participants responding to the survey said they were from an ethnic minority background. The questionnaire showed that 70% of respondents felt valued and respected; 80% would recommend their employer as an employer of choice for diversity & inclusion. But respondents with disabilities and respondents from an ethnic minority background tended to be less satisfied than the average.

“To move beyond superficial diversity, we need systemic change that tackles underrepresentation and ensures voices from racialised communities are not only heard but also have a seat at the decision-making table,” ENAR said.

Euronews reported last month that diversity among members of the European Parliament is low. Some 37 of the newly elected 720 MEPs have a diverse background, this is about the same figure as in 2019, when the previous EU election was held.

In a letter sent to the incoming Commission, more than 130 civil society organisations – including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch — called for equality and non-discrimination to be included as central priorities in its work for the next five years. They called for the appointment of a Commissioner for Equality and Fundamental Rights, with the aim to ensure that the next mandate has the power to renew the Union of Equality agenda.

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Gender

Another pressing issue among the commissioners is gender balance. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has asked national governments for a choice of male and female candidates to pick from for her new executive. 

Women represent only nine of the 27 most senior officials currently nominated for the Brussels EU executive, excluding Bulgaria, which nominated both a female and male candidate, as requested. This number might change if Parliament rejects candidates.

One of the political priorities in the Commission mandate (2019-2024) is to achieve gender parity at all management levels. By mid-2024, the share of women in management functions went up nearly 10 percentage points overall: to 48.8%.

The EU executive said this places the Commission among the very few public administrations around the world with the highest share of women in leadership positions.

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