Widmann-Mauz resigns: Fight for equality in the CDU continues!

Widmann-Mauz resigns: Fight for equality in the CDU continues!

Reutlingen, Deutschland - On March 7, 2025, Annette Widmann-Mauz announced her retirement as head of the CDU women's union. After 30 years on the federal executive board, including 10 years as federal chair and 20 years as the state chair in Baden-Württemberg, she would now like to clear the way for an active parliamentarian at the head of the Women's Union. Her relationship with CDU party leader Friedrich Merz was not unproblematic since she supported Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in the competition for the party chair in 2018.

Widmann-Mauz warned the need for women and men to assume responsibility within the party. "Women should not only be decorative accessories," she emphasized, and called for an equal occupation of all management positions in the CDU. This is particularly relevant according to the Bundestag election defeat, which motivates many women in the party to bring in their concerns, including social security and the situation of mini-jobbers.

achievements and challenges

The successes of the Women's Union under Widmann-Mauz include the enforcement of the principle "No means no" in the Criminal Code, laws for women in management positions and the legal entitlement to all-day care in primary school age. The CDU's new basic program for equality bears the manuscript of the Women's Union. The binding quota of offices and mandates is also an achievement that goes back to the work of this association.

The women's union has currently raised its voice for more women in management positions, especially in view of the fact that only 12 percent of the CDU district chairman are women, while the proportion of women in CDU membership is around 26 percent. This is in contrast to the measures taken in the Bundestag for more gender parity, according to which companies are obliged to hire at least 30 percent women on their supervisory boards.

The future of the Women's Union

The new chair of the Women's Union will be elected at the Federal Delegate Day on May 24th and 25th in Reutlingen. Until then, the Women's Union is planning a digital conference to discuss the concerns of the mandate holders. Against the background of the second management position law, companies will have to ensure a minimum participation of women on management levels in the future, which illustrates how important it is that women become visible in all political and economic areas.

Although in 2022 the EU introduced binding gender quotas in listed companies from a certain number of employees, the actual representation of women at management levels in many organizations remains inadequate. In the DAX companies, only 7.2 percent of the board positions and 14.5 percent of the first management level are currently occupied by women, which underlines the urgency of the demands of the Women's Union.

The challenges remain an open dialogue in order to continue to promote equality in the CDU and on management levels. A renewal of the party culture could only be achieved with a strong participation and representation of women.