Prominent and Promising 

Women in the EU

Portrait Project by Carla van de Puttelaar

In collaboration with the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the EU

“A woman's place is truly where she wants to be. Be that standing in Parliament, heading a company, presiding a courtroom, or leading a nation to prosperity.”

Roberta Metsola (b. 1979, Malta) was elected President of the European Parliament in January 2022. She was first elected to the European Parliament in 2013 and as Parliament’s First Vice-President in 2020. President Metsola is a lawyer specialising in European law and politics. She served within the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union and as the legal advisor to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Born in 1979, Roberta Metsola is married to Ukko Metsola and is the mother of four boys.

"Our Union is a unique aspiration. 

It is built on the idea of a society where you can be who you are, live where you like, love who you want and aim as high as you want.

This is Europe’s promise.

And this is what we are working towards, tirelessly.

Long live Europe!"

Ursula von der Leyen (b. 1958, Brussels, Belgium) was elected as President of the European Commission in 2019. As the head of the European executive, she has defined six headline ambitions for Europe for her mandate: a European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, an economy that works for people, a stronger Europe in the world, promoting our European way of life, and a new push for European democracy. Before 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was Minister at federal level in Germany for more than 14 years and responsible for family, then labour and social affairs, and later defence.

“I joined this project because I think we should be known for what we do, not for who we are. Yet in order to give people the chance to know what we do, they need to know who we are.’’

Laura Codruța Kövesi (b. 1973, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania) is the former chief prosecutor of Romania's National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA in Romanian), a position she held from 2013 to 9 July 2018. Prior to this, between 2006 and 2012 Laura Kövesi was the Prosecutor General of Romania, attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. She was the first female and the youngest Prosecutor General in Romania's history. In October 2019, Laura Kövesi was confirmed by the European Parliament and the Council as the first European Chief Prosecutor to head the recently created European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO).

“Women, Life, Freedom ! ’’

Abir Al-Sahlani (b. 1976, Iraq) is a Member of the European Parliament for the Swedish Center Party. Being born in Iraq she had to flee the country during Saddam Hussein's regime, coming to Sweden as an unaccompanied minor. Abir has long been active in the fight against racism, for equality. Abir made headlines around the world in the autumn of 2022, cutting her hair in the Parliament as she showed her support for the women of Iran.

“We don't want representation for representation's sake. We need women, in particular those from marginalised communities, to be in policy making in order to shift the balance of power and ensure politics serves us, too.’’

Sarah Chander (b. 1991) is Senior Policy Adviser at European Digital Rights (EDRi) a civil society organisation representing rights and freedoms in the digital environment. There she leads advocacy work on Artificial Intelligence and the intersection between digital and discrimination. She is also Co-Founder of Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice, advocating for rights and justice for racialised people in Europe. Sarah holds an MSc at Distinction level in Migration, Mobility and Development at SOAS, London, and a law degree from Warwick University.

“I think of the generations of ‘promising’ Irish women before me promised so little by their own state and so little granted until Ireland joined this European Union. The possibility of this portrait was unimaginable to my mother and to my grandmothers and I dedicate it to them.”

Emily O’Reilly (b. 1957, Ireland) is European Ombudsman since 2013, - elected three times by the European Parliament - Emily O’Reilly investigates EU institutional maladministration. Awarded the Schwarzkopf Europe Award in 2017 and the University of Flensburg Europa Prize in 2021, she also received two Honorary Doctorates in Law for her work as Irish Ombudsman. Her previous career as a journalist and author gained international recognition, including a Harvard University Fellowship. She is mother to five children.

"We, women and men, need to join forces and talents to secure our future. Not using the potential of girls and women in a society is like walking on one leg."

Maryem van den Heuvel (b. 1962, The Netherlands) is Director General for External Relations at the General Secretariat of the Council, advising and supporting the European Council and the Council and their Presidents in all areas related to the EU’s external action and crisis management. Previously, she was Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the European Council, member of the Secretariat of the Convention on the Future of Europe and worked both in the Council and the Commission. As a senior member of the Dutch diplomatic service she served as Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Belgium, in the Permanent Representation to the EU and the Embassy in Paris. In The Hague she was Managing Director for the America’s and held several positions in the field of human rights, humanitarian assistance, international cooperation and the Middle East. Maryem van den Heuvel has a degree (cum laude) in Middle Eastern studies, Arabic and philosophy from the University of Nijmegen.

“You are the artist of your own life. Create something worth looking at.’’

Ivana Michelot Radova (b. 1986, Czechia) is Chair of the Politico-Military Working Group at the European External Action Service where she leads negotiations of EU Member States on EU Common Security and Defence Policy. A graduate in Security Studies and Political Science, she has devoted her career to EU foreign and security policy, including at the Czech Permanent Representation in Brussels or the Ministry of Defence. Previously, she also oversaw international cooperation of the Prague Institute of Planning and Development and the Ministry of Environment.

”I want to contribute to building a sustainable, peaceful and just Europe by bringing in voices from grassroots. Social, economic, racial, gender and environmental justice are core elements of this vision.’’

Jagoda Munic (b. 1970, Croatia) is Director of Friends of the Earth Europe, a grassroots environmental network in Europe, uniting more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups and bringing people power to decision makers in Brussels. Previously, she was a chairperson of the Friends of the Earth International and worked more than 20 years in Croatia and the Western Balkans, building capacities of an environmental civil society to campaign on environmental and climate justice.

“I believe I can make changes, have impact on the policies and to protect human rights inside and outside of the EU. I also believe that it is important to support and empower those, whose voices aren’t usually heard.’’

Tinatin Tsertsvadze (b. 1982, Georgia) is Associate Director, Multilateral Outreach (EU foreign policy, sanctions, human rights) at the Open Society Foundations. Previously she was Senior Policy Analyst at the same organisation. She graduated in Tbilisi, from The University of Georgia, with a master’s degree in European studies. Tinatin moved to Brussels in 2007 to work on European integration. Since then, she has devoted her career to the EU foreign policy with a focus on human rights, civil society empowerment, justice, gender equality and democracy. Tinatin Tsertsvadze has worked at European think-tanks and civil society organizations.