The leaders of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party have agreed that men and women should be equally represented in key party positions by 2025. The proposed amendment will be voted on at the party conference in December. 

50 percent women’s quota by 2025

After nearly 11 hours of overnight negotiations, the CDU leadership agreed to a binding “women’s quota” of 50 percent from 2025 onwards. According to the plan, women must make up 30 percent of all regional and national governing bodies by 2021, rising to 40 percent by 2023 and 50 percent by 2025.

The rule will be applied during the drawing up of candidate lists for state, national and European elections in Germany. Local party organisations will also have to give regular updates on the progress they have made with increasing their share of female members. However, the quota will not apply if there are not enough female candidates. 

Only a quarter of CDU members are currently women

Although the party is currently chaired by a woman, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and gave Germany its first female Chancellor in Angela Merkel, women currently only make up 26 percent of its members and a fifth of its Bundestag members - something that the party is keen to change. 

Other political parties in Germany, particularly the Greens, have long utilised policies to ensure women’s prominence in the party, for instance by always having a man and a woman as co-party leaders. Overall, women make up a third of Bundestag members.

The plan now needs to be formally adopted. This will most likely take place at the CDU party conference in Stuttgart, which is currently scheduled for December.