MORE THAN A DOZEN WOMEN MEPs SUPPORT AALEP’S WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT RELATIONS’ INITIATIVE

We’re most pleased to report that to-date more than a dozen distinguished Women MEPs from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom support AALEP’s ‘Women in Government Relations’ Initiative.

The breakdown among EU Member States is the following:

1. Denmark (1 MEP)
2. France (3 MEPs)
3. Germany (3 MEPs)
4. Italy (1 MEP)
5. Sweden (2 MEPs)
6. United Kingdom (5 MEPs)

We note with regret the absence of Women MEPs from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rpublic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

For the sake of full transparency, we reproduce here below the replies we’ve received from their offices:

Ms. Britta Thomsen (Denmark) writes: “Ms. Thomsen will be happy to support this project. She would be honoured to become an AALEP Emeritus Member”.

Ms. Nathalie Griesbeck (France) writes: "J'ai bien reçu votre Email et je vous en remercie vivement. Je suis très heureuse de votre initiative "Women in Government Relations et je serais très heureuse de participer à votre réseau européen de femmes travaillant dans les affaires publiques et à votre groupe de travail au sein du Parlement Européen"

Ms. Véronique Mathieu-Houillon (France) writes : “ Madame Véronique Mathieu Houillon a prie bonne note de votre message et vous en remercie. Celle-ci me prie de vous faire savoir qu’elle apporte son soutien à votre initiative.”

Ms. Elisabeth Morin-Chartier (France) writes: “Je reviens vers vous pour vous confirmer l’accord de Madame Morin-Chartier à votre initiative”.

Ms. Hiltrud Breyer (Germany) writes: “Ms Breyer is interested in your work and would like to have further information in the planed European Parliament Relations Taskforce.”

Ms. Silvana Koch-Merin (Germany) writes: “Thank you for your e-mail. I congratulate you for this initiative and I am happy to be an AALEP Emeritus Member. Please kindly inform my office about any activities/obligations that arise from this.”

Ms. Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (Germany) writes: “I am interested in your initiative and would like to have an exchange of views on the topics in the next weeks.”

Ms. Barbara Matera (Italy) writes: “Thank you for your invitation to join the AALEP’s ‘Women in Government Relations’. Please keep us informed with the progress of this initiative and send us further information regarding the exact role of an Emeritus Member.”

Ms. Amelia Andersdotter (Sweden) writes: Thank you for your invitation. Women reach top level positions in different ways and different ambitions. In many cases, the base problems seem additionally not to be caused by women already at the top, but rather a lot of social structures applied to girls at a young age. I would be interested to hear your  further thoughts and ideas how this forum could be useful.”

Ms. Anna Maria Corezza Bildt (Sweden) writes: “Thank you for your e-mail and for the invitation to support a European network of women in public affairs. I am very committed to empowering women at all levels and in all sectors, so I would be happy to support your initiative.”

Ms. Julie Girling (United Kingdom) writes: “Thank you for your e-mail. Mrs. Girling would be pleased to support this initiative.”

Ms. Fiona Hall (United Kingdom) writes: “Thank you for your kind offer of Emeritus Membership of the AALEP. The details you provided about what this may involve were very useful and I appreciate that Fiona would have no designated responsibilities upon accepting this membership. Please send us more detail on what the expectations would be-both in terms of what she would be expected to contribute, and in terms of how her name/endorsement would be used ?”

Ms. Mary Honeyball (United Kingdom) writes: Ms. Honeyball is pleased to accept your invitation to join AALEP’s Women in Government Relations’ as Emeritus Member.”

Ms. Arlene McCarthy (United Kingdom) writes: “I would be delighted to participate as an Emeritus Member and would be happy to assist with the establishment of a European Parliament Relations Task Force.”

Ms. Rebecca Taylor (United Kingdom) writes: " Rebecca Taylor welcomes your initiative and would be happy to hear more about the work and projects underway by AALEP. Please send us more details about the upcoming projects and contributions and also on how Rebecca Taylor's name/endorsement would be used"