Posted on 13 June 2016
Former member of the European Parliament, Bárbara Dührkop, recently visited the European University Institute and participated at the educational programme for Florentine secondary schools of the Historical Archives. The Archives had two Florentine schools visiting and engaging in the “little European Parliament” in which the students have a mock session debating current European political issues. Ms. Dührkop spoke to the students and presided over the Parliament debate on the issue of the Schengen Treaty and related questions of security and border controls in Europe. Also, Ms. Dührkop participated in the “Gender issues in Europe” debate at Badia Fiesolana organized by the EUI Gender Project Group and the Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre on 22 March.
During her visit, an interview was conducted with Ms. Dührkop on her experience as Member of European Parliament and the gender debate in Europe.
As former Member of the European Parliament what was the most important experience for you in the Parliament?
The most important one was to see the difference in the work of the Parliament. It is so completely different from the national party. There is much more cooperation between political groups and between deputies, which you seldom see in a national parliament. In a national parliament the antagonist situation is very pronounced, and this is not the case in the European Parliament because we do directive laws which concern so many countries. That needs a lot of exchange of ideas.
After well 20 years in politics and in the Parliament, what are you doing now?
Now I am really only retired. But I am still doing a couple of things that have to do with the Parliament. I am a member of the Management Board of the Former Members Association and we fulfill programs which we call EP to Campus. When former parliamentarians get invited by universities and institutions to take part in conferences, heading roundtables and things like that, we attend these events. So in that sense I am still involved but perhaps in a very gratifying way.
You have been awarded the title “Progressive Woman of the Year” award and you were also the first female rapporteur of the EU’s General Budget. The EUI’s State of the Union conference 2016 has a focus on Women in Europe and the world. What are your thoughts on this?
Generally speaking, there has been some progress in women taking part in politics and having political posts high up, but we are still very long way from having equality, real equality. This means we will still have to struggle for being in decision taking positions. You only have to look at the European Council, the ministers of the EU, and count how many women there are. So we are still very far away from the absolute equality.
How has this situation changed since your time in the European Parliament?
There is a high percentage of women in the European Parliament but now I think it has gone down from the time I came in, because Eastern countries have less women coming in. So there has been fluctuation which is not exactly positive, but it’s coming from new countries where surely it will someday get better. As a whole, in the Parliament it has become much more difficult to take decisions because we have to see to the interests of 28 countries instead of 12 when I came in. That is a drawback but that is the price of being so many, which is as such a good thing.
During the last four years in the Parliament, you were member of the Civil Liberties Committee, and the author of various reports on security and fight against terrorism. What are currently the most pressing matters in this field in Europe?
The most pressing matter is to cope with the fear for the refugees being, for many, a potential threat of terrorist influx, which I think is exaggerated. The second question is how we take security measures that will not suppress or abolish the freedom of movement. This is where we are now, freedom of movement against security. How can we combine them without making one of the most precious values of the EU, free movement of people, vulnerable?
Lastly, what do you think of your visit to the Archives and the debate at the EUI?
I am absolutely delighted. It’s been a marvelous and very fine experience. The site is incredible. The Archives is impressive. I met a lot of students from many countries and they’ve been very interested in the gender debate in Europe. I really enjoyed it. It comes back to my profession since I am a teacher.
Ms. Dührkop was born in Germany and brought up in Sweden. She became a language teacher and taught Nordic languages in Germany and English in Spain, to where she moved in the late 1970s. In Spain she joined the Spanish Socialist Party and got into politics. In 1987 she joined the European Parliament where she served until 2009 as a member of various committees and delegations. For instance, she was the Vice-Chair of the Budgets Committee during legislative period 1994-1999 and a member of the Civil Liberties Committee during 2004-2009.