Last week, the European Parliament adopted its position on the European Gender Equality Strategy post-2025.
This will influence the new Gender Equality Strategy presented by the European Commission in March 2026. It calls for a strategy that upholds the standards already achieved while providing the tools to empower genuine equality in everyday life.
Liberals played a key role in pushing for stronger use of existing EU legislation on equal treatment and gender-based violence, closing the gender pay and pension gaps and women’s equal participation in political and economic decision-making.
The European Parliament also called for guarantees on equal access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health and rights and to include the right to safe and legal abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Investment in care services to tackle the gender care gap and break stereotypes in education are also promoted.
As women’s rights and gender equality are increasingly challenged by anti-feminist and anti-democratic forces across Europe and beyond, the vote comes at a critical moment. Defending these values is central to the European project itself.
The European Parliament sent a clear message through adopting this position that equality and freedom are non-negotiable. Europe must protect the rights that women fought to achieve and commit to a stronger future for equality.
Lucia Yar MEP (Progresívne Slovensko, SK) spoke about the vote:
“For the first time, the European Parliament’s position on the Gender Equality Strategy calls for the inclusion of the right to safe and legal abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. This marks a historic step for women’s freedom and equality in Europe. Sexual and reproductive health and rights are not optional, they are the foundation of dignity, autonomy and democracy.
Women deserve safety from violence, equal pay, equal pensions, and the chance to lead on equal terms. The Strategy post-2025 must turn these principles into reality and ensure that existing rights are finally enforced in every Member State. Women have waited long enough, equality must be felt, not promised.”