Women’s rights expected to take a leap forward today

Today, Thursday, the Plenary Session of the Congress of Deputies will debate, and is expected to approve the draft Organic Law on equal representation and balanced presence of women and men, better known as the Parity Law, which will allow women to exceed 60% of representation and reach up to 100% in the public and private sector, thanks to an agreement between PSOE and Podemos. Once approved by the Lower House chamber, the text will be sent to the Senate.

Last week, the Congressional Equality Commission approved the opinion on the Parity Law, with the support of all groups except the PP and Vox. Specifically, it obtained 20 votes in favour, 17 against and no abstentions.

The opinion contemplates several transactional amendments, among them, one agreed between PSOE and Podemos by which, as sources from the Ministry of Equality have confirmed, women will be able to represent the percentage of 100% representation, for example, in listed companies. or on the electoral lists. This specific amendment has been approved again with the votes in favour of all groups, except those of the PP and Vox.

Likewise, Podemos sources have indicated that this change will affect spaces such as electoral lists, the Constitutional Court, the General Council of the Judiciary, and the administrative bodies of listed companies.

The bill states that, with this rule, it is required that there be a presence of at least 40% of women in the Government, the boards of directors of large companies, electoral candidates and constitutional bodies. Thus, to comply with balanced presence, the law opts for the 60/40 rule.

However, the agreement introduces a new additional provision that establishes that “the criterion of equal representation and balanced presence between women and men may not be applied, in line with the principle of positive action, when there is a higher representation of women to 60% which, in any case, must be justified”.

“Equal representation and balanced presence between women and men is understood to be that situation in which people of each sex do not exceed sixty percent nor are they less than forty percent in a given area,” the amendment establishes.

Among the amendments that the text incorporates after the Commission, is that of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) to apply corrective factors that benefit researchers who may suffer penalties for interruptions in their professional activity due to personal reasons, such as periods of pregnancy, or childcare.

In addition, PSOE and Sumar added an amendment to remove from the Senate its irrevocable veto on the spending ceiling, which was incorporated into the Parity Law in the presentation phase, which is held behind closed doors.

Likewise, PSOE and Sumar introduced a transactional amendment to the Parity Law, which establishes that the rule must be applied to IBEX companies before June 30, 2025, the rest of the listed companies will have to do so in 2026, and in Instead, unions and business associations will have until 2028.