2019: About

We have witnessed groundbreaking environmental campaigns in recent years: Greta Thurnberg’s #fridaysforfuture fervour, the #imadeyourclothes anti-fast fashion campaign and the #breakfreefromplastic movement. Young womxn have mobilised in immense numbers for these environmental issues, but there is another call to action on the horizon. The European Parliamentary Election 2019 is your next chance to stand up for the protection of equality, climate and our health. We, at WECF, decided to cut through the jargon in party manifestos and policy statements to bring you a manifesto scorecard which ranks party commitments to a gender-just and sustainable Europe. We want the #ecofeministsscorecard to be the next campaign championed by womxn in Europe. As Greta Thurnberg’s small beginnings have shown us, an enormous amount of impact can be made through collective action.

Ecofeminist scorecard

Take the temperature of your country's parties, how ecofeminist are they really? The scorecard shows issues which matter to us and our partners. It doesn't cover everything, but it is a good starting point for you to dig deeper and learn more about issues that matters to you.

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How to use the scorecard

First, start by downloading our ecofeminist scorecard. We currently have it available in English, German & French, they can all be found here. You can print it if needed, or work on it from your computer.

Next step is to find the manifestos from your country parties. We struggled a little bit at this step, as some parties have not yet published their EU manifestos on their websites. If that’s the case, find their contact details and give them a call or send them an email to ask when it will be made available.

Use the keywords, you can find in the tab on the left, and search through the manifesto to see if they are mentioned in relation to the topic. To search within a document, you can press the CTRL and F buttons at the same time, then enter the keyword. You will have to translate them into your language, and the list we have created is not extensive, so you might add some keywords to your list. Please also note that the keywords we have written down are not always an indication of good policies, for example “nuclear”.

Take notes of what they say and then score them according to the scoring instructions.

Once scored, submit it to us, so that we can publish it on our website and share it with our networks. You can also send it to your networks and share it on social media. Use the hashtag #EcofeministScorecard in all your communication so that we can share your messages.

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Scoring instructions

Committed

This scoring indicates that the party has made a strong social impact analysis on the issue and mentioned many of policies which is listed under the heading on the left-hand side on the scorecard.

Partially committed

This scoring indicates that the party has progressive demands around the issue, but the social impact analysis is lacking or very weak.

Not committed

This scoring indicates that the party has either not mentioned the issue at all in their manifesto, or the committment is there but it is very vague as to how they will achieve it. It might also mean that the party is actively opposed taken action on the issue.

Climate change

Just transition, extractive industries, coal, robus, drastic, urgent, higher ambition, human rights, militarisation, responsibility to Global south, planetary boundaries, polluters pay, gender equality, pollution, GHG, greenhouse gases

Energy

Coal, fossil fuels, sustainable energy, renewable energy, nuclear (false solution), decentralisation, energy poverty

Chemicals

Health, hormone, disruptive, pesticides, organic farming, sustainable farming, harmful chemicals, reproductive health, SAICM, GMO, biodiversity, precautionary principle, agriculture, waste management

Water

Greywater, water, river, clean, safe, sustainable, sanitation, water sanitation plan

Menstruation

Menstruation, menstrual hygiene management, tampon tax, plastic, toxins, school toilets

Plastic

Microplastics, waste management, EU's resonsibility, waste export, single-use plastic, plastic

Fashion

Free trade, occupational health, decent work, decent pay, garment industry, waste collection, textile industry, climate change, GHG, slow fashion, fast fashion

Gender quotas

Gender equality, corporations, decision-making, public participation, governance, STEM, quota

EU political groups & parties, what are they?

Have you been struggling to understand the difference between EU political groups and EU political parties? Don’t worry, below is a short explanation to clear up all the confusion between the two!

EU political groups

You might have heard your national politicians speak about what political group in the European Parliament they are in? In the European Parliament, all the elected national politicians come together in clusters, well groups, based on issues and common political analysis, and not by nationality. There are currently 8 recognised groups in the EU Parliament: European People’s Party (Christian Democrats); Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament; European Conservatives and Reformists;  Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; Nordic Green Left; Greens/European Free Alliance; Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy; Europe of Nations and Freedom. To be officially recognized, a group needs at least 25 member states to be part of it. In the future there might also be a feminist group recognised under the EU Parliament, as some politicians in the EU have come together to set up a network called: FUN Europe, Feminists United Network Europe. You do not vote on the groups. This is very important to understand. They are not legal bodies that take decisions, but they are the networks bringing together decision-makers with similar political leanings. We called around, and the political groups do not have common manifestos, or position papers, but the members of the groups do strategise together on how to vote in parliament. Learn more, visit: www.euparl.europa.eu

EU parties

Some parties exist in several countries, and they have a European level network that brings them together. The parties have common manifestos that are translated to apply to the national contexts by the national branches. All members of these networks are part of the same party. Some of the groups have the same names as some of the political parties. This is really where it gets a little bit tricky. The groups with the same name as a political party is not limited to only politicians from that party. So in short, groups consists of decision-makers from different political parties with similar political agendas, while EU parties consists of national affiliations of the same party.

Ok, so what does this mean in practice?

Let’s use an example, Xena is a politician from the EU member state Ypsis. Xena is from the ecofeminist party GreenFemmes (GF) and had most votes within her party during the EU elections in Ypsis. She now lives in Brussels, together with many other politicians from Ypsis. Though she is the only person from GF, and the only person working on issues from an ecofeminist point of view from her country. So she needs support, to more easily get her politics through the Parliament. She has therefore joined the Greens Group and found some people in that network who has similar political leanings like her. Together with them, she strategizes politically on how they best can achieve their political goals and how they should vote in Parliament. However when working as a group, she might have to make compromises on some of her party’s political demands. Xerxes is from the Ypsis Green Party, it is the national affiliation of the European Green Party. Xerxes works alongside Xena in the Greens Group.

Why does it matter to me as a voter?

It’s good to have an understanding of the group and/or European level party your MEP (Member of the European Parliament) is part of to better understand what compromises they might need to do.

Find out which group your MEP belongs to

Manifestos of EU parties

ALDE Link
ENF N/A Hard to find
EPP
Will be released end of April
Party of the European Left Link
PES Link
EDP Link
EFA Link
Greens Link
ECMP
ACRE

Other manifestos

European women’s lobby – “Women for Europe”

Read more

Want to learn more about our ecofeminist positions, and how sustainable development is related to gender equality and women's rights? Then check out these resources:

Submit your scorecard

Please send us your completed scorecards, including a short summary of of what you found when filling in the scorecard. We will publish it on our website below. Don’t forget to spread the word! Share it with your family and friends, colleagues and facebook groups etc. Remember to always use the hashtag #EcofeministScorecard.

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Informed decisions matter

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How-to-vote guide

EU members are voting for a new parliament 23-26 May 2019. If you are an EU citizen and over 18 years you have a right to vote (Malta and Austria from 16 years and Greece from 17 years). If you live abroad, you can either vote for candidates in your home country or in your country of residence, but no voting twice! Wherever you’re voting, you must play by the electoral rules of that system. In some countries registration to vote is automatic with residency, in some you need to complete this yourself.

Learn more