A woman's place?

Why the European Union has so few women on top

Is the European Union at heart a female project? Margot Wallstrom, a vice-president and thus the most senior woman in the European Commission, rather thinks so. She points to the EU's fondness for compromise and listening, and its rejection of horrid things like conflict. Ms Wallstrom, who is charged with selling the EU project to the public, suggests that this is a good reason for giving women a bigger share of the union's top jobs.

Specifically, Ms Wallstrom thinks it is shameful that only men's names (eg, those of Tony Blair, Jean-Claude Juncker, Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Wolfgang Schüssel) are being bandied about in connection with three important posts to be divvied up in the coming months: president of the European Commission; EU foreign-policy chief (or “high representative”); and the new position of full-time president of the European Council, representing national leaders. It is all very well for Brussels types to fuss about parity between big countries and small, north and south, or left and right, she argues. Any chance of a candidate who is not a man in a grey suit and tie?

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