Window dressing or winding of opportunity – Gender, democracy and the Conference on the Future of Europe

After a late and rocky start, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) finally started in May 2021 and runs until spring 2022. Originally invented by French President Macron, the conference quickly became one of the key projects proposed by Commission President von der Leyen in her political guidelines. The CoFoE is an innovative attempt to democratize the debate on the state and future of the EU by bringing in citizens. The conference rests on a complex governance structure linking EU institutions, national and EU level actors, a digital participation platform and Transnational Citizens’ Assemblies (TCA). From the very start the conference was met with strong skepticism. Many observers rather classify it as mere window dressing without real impact. Others see it as a window of opportunity for opening the debate and bringing in different voices from citizens. What does the CoFoE entail for gender equality? Is it a success? Given that the conference ends in spring 2022 and the formal reporting will be done then, it is so far (autumn 2021) not possible to evaluate the CoFoE in total. But based on what we can see so far and in comparison to other historical constitution-making events, the paper will argue that the CoFoE – respectively parts thereof – is a great improvement in terms of descriptive representation. In contrast to the normal procedures of treaty changes and future debates of the past (Intergovernmental Conferences and especially the convention method), women are represented in great numbers in the CoFoE: parity is a formal requirement for the TCAs, more female delegates from the EU institutions and in the conference’s plenary – yet: weak participation by women in the digital platform. In terms of substantive representation and policy issues the evaluation is more complex and most likely rather mixed. There is no formal gender mainstreaming requirement, but gender equality is an issue related to some themes defined for the CoFoE. Also, many feminist NGOs and experts follow the conference and provide some input. Hence, there are certainly attempts to use it as a window of opportunity. The paper will investigate the CoFoE with a gender lens based on representation theory. It will draw some lessons with regard to current efforts to turn some elements such as the citizens’ assemblies into a permanent tool for deliberation and democratic innovation.