Despite the fact that equality between men and women has been a political priority for some time in Europe, progress remains very slow. Even if women have the same rights as men, they do not have the same access to opportunities offered to men and the claims to their rights are often unsuccessful. In some areas, such as the salary gap - estimates show that it is close to 20% - a regression has even been found in some countries.

One more significant indicator in this regard is women’s access to stand for elected political office: women are eligible, but their presence, with some exceptions, is still marginal in political life. In 2003, the Council of Europe recommended that the representation of either women or men in any decision-making body in political or public life should not fall below 40%. However, a recently published report shows that the average number of women ministers is 28.6% and the average representation of women in national parliaments is not more than 21.7%. There has been some progress since 2005, when only 19.9% of ministers were women, but the situation in parliaments has not changed.

Most discriminatory laws and regulations have been reformed or abolished in the last decades and many policies have been launched. Nevertheless, women still do not always have the same opportunities due to problems such as violence, marginalisation in political and economic life, discrimination in employment and difficulties in reconciling professional and private life.

Real gender equality does not only imply equality in law, it also means that women and men have equal visibility, empowerment, responsibility and participation in all spheres of public and political life.

Equality does not necessarily imply treating people in the same way, quite the opposite. In fact, the problem of inequality between men and women should be dealt with using a policy of differentiation. Many policies have been put in place in Europe in the last years - including positive action such as quotas, programmes for supporting specific women’s needs, promoting education of women and business projects led by women. They are producing timid results but we need to evaluate their impact and to formulate new ones in case they are not efficient enough.

We need concrete actions with specific goals in order to increase women’s participation in decision-making bodies. Women need to be financially independent and governments must ensure that equality is respected in the labour market.

Gender equality measures are needed to help parents reconcile professional and family life, for instance through the development of quality services to families, the review of working and school time and the equal sharing of care-giving and household responsibilities.

We have to place gender equality at the heart of political action. Giving a gender equality dimension to all public policies, elaborating public budgets addressing the specific needs of men and women and increasing positive action are imperative steps.

It is likely that the persistence of gender roles and deep cultural factors are hindering further progress. Only by acting at the root of the problem we will be effective. A cultural change is needed, a change that is only feasible through education at school and within families, and with the full commitment of media. As long as gender stereotypes remain, discrimination will persist, because today they are - and not laws or regulations - the key obstacle for the advancement of women.

In the current economic and social crisis, there is the risk of reducing the attention to gender equality policies. This would be a mistake. These policies should not be considered a cost but an investment. They can significantly contribute to society by allowing the full use of competences, skills and creativity of women and men alike.

Fighting discrimination is a long journey, but we must cut the distance. In the future, when it will be no breaking news that a woman is elected or appointed to an important post or whenever a woman achieves something which men have been accomplishing for decades or even centuries, equality between women and men will be closer to reality.

Equality between men and women in law and in practice is an integral part of human rights and democracy. We cannot afford to let inequalities persist, because without equality democracy is incomplete.