On 24 February 2006, Frieda Brepoels, Member of the European Parliament for the New Flemish Alliance spoke to FEW members about her experiences as a woman in politics.

Ms Brepoels began her career practising as an architect, but has been involved in politics in Belgium for over 20 years.  She has been an elected representative at both regional and federal level in Belgium and spoke about the differences between national and European politics – in particular emphasising the more consensual approach to policy-making at European level.

As a member of various Committees of the Parliament, Ms Brepoels gave us an insight into the huge variety of work that an MEP can become involved in and the amount of time – in particular, time away from home – it takes to manage this workload.  One effect of the need to spend long periods away from home can be to make it difficult to balance the demands of a political career with family life, which can discourage women from pursuing a political career.  Ms Brepoels talked about some of the measures, such as imposition of quota systems, which have been taken in Belgium to improve the representation of women in politics.

In addition, Ms Brepoels underlined the role that organisations such as FEW play in helping to provide women with positive role models and support networks to encourage their participation and progress in political and business careers.

The talk was preceded by a buffet lunch and an opportunity for FEW members to mingle and network.

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