Malta has recorded the second largest increase in female representation in parliament across the European Union over the past decade, according to new figures released by Eurostat.Between 2015 and 2025, the share of women in Malta’s parliament rose by 14.8 percentage points, with only Latvia recording a bigger increase at 19 percentage points.France (+10.9 percentage points) and Czechia (+10.6 percentage points) were the only other EU countries to register double-digit gains over the same period.The increase follows the introduction of Malta’s gender-corrective mechanism ahead of the 2022 General Election. The system is designed to improve gender balance in Parliament by allocating additional seats whenever either gender holds fewer than 40% of parliamentary seats.Following this year’s General Election, the mechanism was triggered once again, resulting in 12 women entering Parliament through the scheme.Across the European Union, women now make up 33.6% of national parliamentarians, up from 28.2% in 2015.While Malta has been one of Europe’s fastest-improving countries for female representation, Finland currently has the highest proportion of women in parliament at 46%, followed by Sweden (44.8%) and Denmark (44.7%).Do you think Malta’s gender corrective mechanism is still needed today?•