EU's lack of diversity angers MEPs

STRASBOURG - Three senior ALDE deputies have called on member states to recognise the lack of diversity in the EU.

There are only male candidates being touted for four top posts created by the treaty of Lisbon for 2009, they told journalists in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

"The frustrations that some of us feel are that already names have been mentioned for the top posts after the treaty of Lisbon. All of these, without exception, are male," said Diana Wallis, vice president of the European parliament.

"We know that Sarkozy wants to make a deal by the end of this year," she added.

Already in the press, former British premier Tony Blair, Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern and outgoing Italian leader Romano Prodi have been mentioned for the post.

Competition chief Neelie Kroes said that she doesn't think she would have been offered her job in 2004 if it hadn't been for the quota system introduced to the commission by José Manuel Barroso, and said such quotas should be increased.

"I’m absolutely sure that I wouldn't have been a commissioner if that [quota] wasn't maintained at that time," she said 

"We need more quotas," she added.

Kroes also referred to the quota system in Norway that requires a 40 per cent female presence in top posts in order for a company to become listed on the stock market.

Karin Riis-Jørgensen, vice-chair of the ALDE group, said that she and the women within her group were sending a signal to heads of state meeting in Brussels this week to have a female face at the top of the EU.

Former Finnish prime minister and ALDE deputy Anneli Jäätteenmäki said that they were not asking for radical changes.

"We don't require gender balance, we're only talking about minimum one woman," she said.

"The reason there are so few women is attitudes. There isn't any political will at the European level to speak about gender equality," she added.

The MEPs say that their declaration is just a first step to raise awareness of the problem, and they will continue to highlight it after EU ministers meet this week.

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