“Europe is missing women at the top table," mourns La Croix. As International Women's Day rolls around on March 8, the French newspaper paints a mixed picture of respect for gender parity inside the European institutions:
The European institutions are making progress. [...] The proportion of women in the Parliament today has gone up to 35.4 per cent, from 16.3 per cent in 1979. [But] as the level of responsibility increases, the number of women falls back[...] The situation of the European Commission is emblematic. [...] At the highest levels there are eight women, against 26 men.
La Croix also points out that the ECB, as well as the three main EU institutions (Commission, Parliament and Council) are headed by men - the same ones who went to Oslo on December 10 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the EU.
For La Croix, parity could “pose a challenge for the next legislature following the 2014 European Union elections.”