I went into politics because I want to be part of the change that is needed

On Thursday, 27 January 2022, MEP Irena Joveva was invited to take part in an online dialogue with young people held under the rEUral Europe project. They discussed the work of the European Parliament, equality of women in politics, youth engagement and other topical issues.

The young participants raised many interesting questions, with the usual icebreaker being the one about the reasons for her entering the world of politics. Joveva explained that she had followed politics with her father from early age. As a journalist, she experienced, saw and heard many things which made her feel angry and disappointed. When she was invited to go into politics, she couldn’t refuse, as it meant an opportunity to try to do things the way she thinks is right. Her primary focus is on young people and on the situation in the media and journalism, where pressure has been growing over recent months: “What is happening is alarming. Regrettably, the institutions do not have enough appropriate tools to react, and the usual answer is that this matter falls under the responsibility of Member States, which indeed is largely the case.” This is why she believes that the European Media Freedom Act will be crucial, as it is the first piece of legislation in this area.

In her work in the European Parliament, Joveva does not feel gender inequality or unequal treatment based on sex, but the two are more pronounced on social media: “You are judged on the basis of gender, origin, previous occupation, youth. There is quite a number of comments that I think would not have been made if I were a man, ”  she said, adding: “This is widespread, especially on Twitter, which is a cesspit of anything you can imagine. There is also a lot of patronising.” She even receives threats on social media, mainly anonymous, and she feels that the negative trend has grown worse in recent months. She attributes this to the change in the general social climate, because some politicians who are in power afford to make comments that should have no place in public discourse and, as a result, people are emboldened to say or do more. Joveva believes that the under-representation of women in politics is mainly due to stereotypes and social conditioning: “The profession of a politician is among those that are perceived as pertaining to men, which is why far fewer women decide to enter politics. In addition, the conditions are not particularly conducive to family life, especially if you have or intend to have small children. It is not sufficiently understood that genders are interconnected and not disconnected.” Joveva supports gender quotas, because without them the number of women in politics would be even lower, but believes that the solution for the future lies in neutral quotas and education.

The MEP also spoke about the negative aspects of Brussels: “What bothers me the most is that many of my colleagues have lost touch with reality.” The Parliament is a huge system and a kind of bubble, where it is difficult to keep in touch with reality, but for herself, she is very mindful of “keeping both feet firmly on the ground”, as she put it. She finds the two seats of the European Parliament, one in Brussels and one in Strasbourg, utterly absurd, but regrettably has no influence on the matter. Still, she is happy to be able to do a lot in other fields: “With amendments, reports, lobbying and forging friendships one can achieve and get a lot. This journey is not in vain. Some of my expectations have crumbled, but others have been consolidated.”

Joveva’s priorities for the second part of the term include two key objectives. She sees the European Year of Youth as an opportunity to raise awareness about young people’s problems and to develop projects linked to Slovenia: “I intend to set up a website where young people can submit their ideas and, on this basis, I will decide what can best be done — perhaps to put a question to the Commission, send a letter to the relevant authorities, draft a report, or submit an amendment to a legislative proposal.” She also wants to be actively involved in the drafting of the European Media Freedom Act. At the same time, she is linked to a smaller group of MEPs who are seeking to ensure that the European Parliament retains the possibility of teleworking in certain segments, which is particularly important for women Members who are or are about to become new mothers, as the office of an MEP does not provide for maternity leave: “We want to make it easier for women to decide to have children, because working conditions for them will be friendlier, if we maintain the current teleworking method.”

Joveva also believes that young people are not taken seriously enough when they participate in public debate. “We all talk about the future of Europe and refer to the next generation, we are even holding a conference where young people are supposed to have a leading role, and then the Committee consists of people who are not even my age, but much older. And when conferences on youth are organised in Slovenia, the speakers are in their 70s,” she added, alluding again to the patronising attitude which abounds in politics. According to her, young people would not perceive politics as something negative if most politicians were to set a good example. But if the people in power think that they can do whatever they please, this influences the young who then think that all politicians are the same.

“What should be done? A lot can be done, but some politicians will never change, so it is up to people to remove them from office. And this is done in elections.”

Joveva also answered a question about the absurd situation of the balance of power between the European Parliament and the Council: “This is indeed a tremendous problem, but, regrettably, it is almost never spoken about and nothing is done. The Council and the Parliament are co-legislators. We pass laws by a majority. In the Council, however, decisions are normally taken by consensus, and this is the main problem because all Member States need to be in favour.” She highlighted some legislative solutions, such as the Pact on Migration, which are victims of the partial political interests of individual Member States, which have for a long time not acted in line with European values. “I think that at least two Member States should no longer be members of the EU at all, but the European Parliament is not able to change this singlehandedly,” she concluded.