Gender, Power and Parliamentary Leadership in the European Parliament’s External Delegations

Pathways to women’s leadership in the European institutions has been the focus of much attention (Müller and Tömmel 2022). However, women’s presence as inter-parliamentary delegation leaders – formal actors for the external relations of the European Parliament (EP) – has so far been neglected (cf Miller and Santini 2024). EP delegations are simultaneously permanent actors and infrastructures of parliamentary diplomacy – that is the international web of actors, practices and structures that connect parliamentary bodies with other countries, regions or multilateral organizations. Against this background, this paper examines the gendered composition of the EP’s inter-parliamentary delegation bureaus; the gendered pathways to ascend to these leaderships; and the exercise of leadership therein. The paper is structured into two parts. First, we analyze gendered positional leadership – defined as occupying positions of authority, in delegation bureaus. Specifically, we look at the interplay between formal prescriptions in rules of procedure and informal practices and norms that structure parliamentary career pathways, such as political group membership and seniority. Second, once occupying these decision-making positions, we explore gendered practices of behavioral leadership – referring to the performance of functions associated with the office, agency, authority and reciprocal relationships with delegation members. To this end, we explore the policy implications for gender equality promotion of both positional and behavioral leadership. The paper utilizes a mixed-method approach combining quantitative and qualitative data. Our analysis is informed by an original quantitative dataset – totaling 282 datapoints on the composition of delegation Bureaus at the end of the ninth (EP9, 2019-2024) and constitutive tenth legislature (EP10, 2024-2029). We also draw upon a qualitative dataset of over 30 semi-structured qualitative interviews with Members of the EP (MEPs)‚ EP administration and group staff, observational and ethnographic data collected between 2023-2025. Regarding positional leadership, we find that the EP has introduced formal initiatives aimed at improving women’s representation in leadership positions – such as new Rule 219 stipulating that delegations’ chairs and first vice-chairs must be of different genders. This rule elicited contestations from the right-wing political groups. However, beneath this formal rule, informal practices and norms have meant that the share of women delegation leaders has fallen from 36% in EP9 to 22% in EP10. It follows that women are over-represented in the secondary leadership positions of first-vice chairs. We also explore women’s leadership presence by delegation type and find that women are better represented in bilateral delegations, whilst men are better represented as leaders of delegations to joint parliamentary committees and assemblies. Overall, we argue that once occupying positions of power, delegation leaders are plausibly positioned to project feminist ideas both inwards – shaping internal institutional arrangements – and outwards – in external diplomatic engagements. However, this empowerment is situated within institutional constraints. Looking at inter-parliamentary delegation leaders enables a more comprehensive study of women’s access to and performance of parliamentary leadership positions. Whilst this study focuses on the EP case, our findings may be, somewhat, generalizable to occupants of such positions in other parliaments.