No female candidate? MEPs rebuff top job pick

BRUSSELS: A key committee in the European Parliament on Friday voted down the European Banking Authority´s choice for director, angry that a woman was not put forward as a candidate. MEPs in the economic committee rejected Frenchman François-Louis Michaud by a narrow majority of 24 against to 23 in favour with ten abstentions. The question now heads to a full session of European Parliament, where the Greens vowed to block Michaud´s candidacy for good in a vote next week. “We Greens voted against the candidate in committee on principle and will do the same in plenary next week,” said German MEP Sven Giegold. Giegold referred to an EU Parliament resolution from last year in which MEPs demanded that shortlists of candidates for important jobs contain a woman. Gender balance is an increasing priority in filling top EU jobs, especially in financial roles where men outnumber women by a wide margin.