09/10/2018 (Agence Europe) – A number of European political figures have made calls in favour of the participation and representativeness of women in the forthcoming European elections. The declaration, which was published on the day before the meeting of the European Council of Women, is supported by Deputy Presidents of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuiness (EPP, Ireland), Evelyne Gebhardt (S&D, Germany) and Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland), and Commissioners Violeta Bulc, Elzbieta Bienkowska and Mariya Gabriel. It refers in particular to the most senior positions and calls on the European political parties to pay particular attention to this when they appoint their candidates for the presidency of the European Commission, and on the governments of the EU to ensure that there are sufficient female candidates for other senior positions at EU level next year. (SPj)