Vrouwen nog ondervertegenwoordigd in Europees Parlement (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Women are still not as well represented as men in the European Parliament where the latest figures from June's election show that the total number of women elected as MEPs remains at around 30 percent.

This figure is slightly lower than the 31.31 percent in the previous legislature.

From the 25 EU states, Sweden is the only EU country that elected more female than male MEPs - 11 out of its 19 elected MEPs are women.

In some other countries representation remains extremely poor.

Cyprus and Malta, the two Mediterranean islands which entered the EU in May, are the only two countries which did not elect any women, while Poland - the largest from the new EU states - elected only 7 women from its 54 MEPs.

Concerns were raised last year that enlargement would bring about a decrease in the number of female MEPs, since only around 15 percent of observer MEPs were women.

And, although slightly more women were elected from the "old" member states, only one-fifth of MEPs from the new member states are women, leading to a drop in the overall figures.