Interviewed by Aurélie Doré

“We know the male world isn't working, we already tried it, so we need to try something else!” Lina Gálvez Muñoz, Spanish economic historian and politician, serving as member of the European Parliament since 2019, spoke to us about cooperation in science, recovery strategy, individual freedom and her vision of the post-covid19 world.

The COVID-19 outbreak has been a crash test for European research and EU policies supporting researchers and innovators around the world. What has the COVID-19 pandemic outlined in terms of the EU’s capacity to coordinate research and innovation to respond to such a crisis? What impact will it have on the EU’s research and innovations strategy and policies?

In all aspects, the European Union has been slow in answering the COVID-19 pandemic but regarding research and innovation, the answer was actually fast. All the institutions were working quite early on that area and the resources were already mobilized: in January, over 1 billion of the Horizon 2020 budget has been allocated to answer the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In April, Ministers responsible for research and innovation supported the first 10 priority actions of the first ERAvsCorona Action Plan. One of these actions is to support innovative companies by using bottom-up calls where more than 1,000 coronavirus related applications have been received. We are opening to unconventional channels as never before, and the success of these calls show how open and fresh the innovation process is, which is a very good sign!

Most importantly, science has been a core part of the response, now let's hope it will be also a core aspect of the recovery plan. It will definitively change the way we approach research and funding!

All these initiatives show how important researches & innovation should be in that moment. The wellbeing of the European Union will depend on the budget we now invest in R&D. We need to think in a very brave way on how to finance a common budget but I'm not confident on the amount of financial resources we will have.

Cooperation in science, as well as research & innovation arekey to tackle coronavirus and for the recovery strategy.

You recently warned about the possible side effects of digital contact tracing applications used to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Will we have to give up privacy and individual freedom for security and health?

Technologies have an important role, and the way we think, design and regulate them today will have a decisive weight tomorrow. Tracing applications could be very useful in this context, however, there are a lot of risks. Technologies aren’t good or bad, it is how we use it that matters.

That is why we must not let ourselves be carried away by the rush that urgency demands, to evaluate and make good diagnoses that lead us to develop adequate responses, without neglecting privacy and respect for our fundamental rights and freedoms. The role of parliaments and civil society is fundamental to counteract that of governments and of the interests of economic and financial elites.

Trust is the first prerequisite: transparency and knowledge about how it works are key.  

Finally, we must be aware that technology does not offer miraculous solutions: tracing applications cannot replace other policies, but it can complement other measures.

With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the working lives of millions of workers was hugely disrupted and upturned, proving to be a major tipping point for the digital transformation of the workplace. Trends were heading that way already, but the change was supposed to be gradual. What do you think COVID-19 will mean for the future of work?

We have to be alert to certain trends that COVID-19 is accelerating and that can have positive but also negative consequences in the world of work. We must establish a new social contract focused on people.

The speed of the changes should not divert our attention from what the future of work should be. It must guarantee the improvement of the quality of life of workers, expand their available options, close the gender gap, reverse the ravages of inequalities worldwide, and bet on the green economy - as well as the care economy - so that the automation of production processes and the aging of the population not only puts pressure on our social security systems but also serves as an opportunity to generate societies based on inclusion, equality, social justice, careful, reinforcing our social fabric.

We know that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities and that its impacts are exacerbated for women and girls. It is also a major threat to women’s rights across the world, as we have already seen the Poland government for example taking actions to reduce abortion right. Are you afraid women’s rights might move backward?

To be honest, yes, there is definitively a risk. The COVID-19 crisis is a magnifying glass for a form of violence that was already deeply rooted and widespread in Europe. Ultraconservatives movements (in the United States, Hungary or Poland) that are anti-women and anti-feminism were already limiting women’s rights and now they may use the distraction of the coronavirus pandemic to push through dangerous legislations.

There is obviously a gender impact resulting from all crisis of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. In past recessions, men have faced greater risk of unemployment than women, partly because of the gender composition of different sectors of the economy. But even if this time, men are at home, it hasn’t really changed, and the employment drop has a large impact on sectors with high female employment shares. In addition, closures of schools and daycare centers have massively increased child care needs, which has a particularly large impact on working mothers.

Several studies have shown these days that confined female scientists are submitting fewer articles for journal publication that facilitate their career advancement, compared to confined male scientific colleagues. And the effects of the crisis on working mothers are likely to be persistent, as male employment usually recovers faster than female employment.

The good news is that we have a very strong feminist movement, and I'm confident that we'll not let that to happen, or not for free!

There is definitively a risk women’s rights might move backward, but the good news is that we have a very strong feminist movement, and I'm confident that we'll not let that to happen, or not for free!

In recent weeks, we have seen a string of articles sharing only male leaders’ perspectives on the post-covid19 world and/or specific committees, such as scientific committees, set up with a vast majority of men. Why do you think women should not be excluded from the fight against this crisis and from the post Covid-19 reconstruction of our societies?

I think it is a scandal! For already 20 years, women have earned more degrees in many countries. However, most power positions are still held by men. Even the concept of success is still very much related to opportunities male have had historically.

Also, the authority is not something you gain or not. We still live in patriarchal societies that give men the authority. It all start when we are children, men have been trained for it: they are very good and confident in showing themselves, being an expert.

I remember when I was in my mid-thirty, I was appointed vice-rector of the university. In the governing board, there were 27 men and only 3 women! My ideas were rephrased by men, and if I hadn’t been prepared for it, I would have certainly lost confidence in myself and in my capacities.

We must have an inclusive gender perspective in the policy responses to COVID-19. Male dominance may be weakening, but it's not gone, so media can and should play a part in making these voices heard. The change must come from political measures and actions, and we as a society, must push for it.

And, finally, what will the world post COVID-19 look like according to you?

We cannot build up a post Covid-19 world without the participation of women. First, we are more than half of the population!

In the world we need to build to enter the ecological transition, to have a society where workers are more in the center, our views are more important than anyone else. Most of the time, the feminist proposals are usually much better.

We know the male world isn't working, we already tried it, so we need to try something else!