Equality is enshrined as a principle at the heart of the European Union, yet only about one-third of Euro MPs are women. Gender discrimination remains widespread in Europe.

Here European Commission Vice-President Margot Wallstrom explains why she is campaigning to get more women into senior EU positions. This is part of a viewpoint series ahead of the June European elections.

I am lucky to come from a country – Sweden – where gender equality is practically taken for granted.

Nearly 100 years old, International Women’s Day on 8 March marks an ongoing worldwide battle to ensure equal rights for half the globe’s population on issues such as work, voting and abortion.

One of this year’s key events will be a massive Women’s Day meet this weekend in Liberia, hosted by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, to focus on the future of women in the world.

The European Union took a step closer on Monday towards banning products made from seals with a vote against the practice by a committee of its parliament.

The European Parliament’s internal market and consumer affairs committee voted to ban products made from seals, with an exception made for traditional Inuit hunting.

“The ban would cover bringing to market products derived from seals, the import (to the EU), their transit through EU territory and their export from it,” a statement from the parliament said.

Manufacturing activity in the eurozone fell to its lowest level in 12 years in February, according to new figures.

The purchasing managers index (PMI), compiled by research group Markit, fell from 34.4 in the previous month to 33.5 – its lowest level on record.

Rising activity in January had led some analysts to believe that the eurozone manufacturing sector had reached a turning point.

New orders fell to 28.2, also reached the lowest level on record.

Several EU leaders on Sunday opened the door for the first time to the possibility of fast-track membership of the eurozone, while ruling out a relaxation of the tough rules for adopting the currency.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after an EU summit in Brussels that the bloc “could consider” accelerating the candidacy process and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that “the debate is open”.

The European leaders promised to extend a helping hand to any EU country needing help but stopped short, at an emergency summit in Brussels, of agreeing on a region-wide package to help eastern Europe cope with the turmoil.

“I think that it was perfectly clear that the European Union isn’t going to leave anybody in the lurch,” Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told journalists after chairing the summit as holder of the bloc’s presidency.

European Union leaders are preparing for an emergency summit in Brussels seeking to bridge differences on how to deal with the global economic crisis.

The summit was called after French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to bail out France’s car industry if it did not shift jobs out of France.

The French move raised fears that national protectionism could scupper hopes of recovery within the EU.

Leaders of badly-hit European nations will also meet prior to the summit.

Unemployment across the nations that share the euro has risen again to its highest level in more than two years, as more firms laid off staff.

The eurozone unemployment rate totalled 8.2% in January, according to the latest official European Union data.

The figures is up from a revised 8.1% in December and above the 7.3% figure in January 2008, said the EU.

Well, the Economist have finally scrambled out of their dugout and have now joined the fray. Welcome!

Today they have a leader entitled “The bill that could break up Europe“, with the sub heading “If eastern Europe goes down, it may take the European Union with it”, so I think we can all get the message easily enough.

Russia’s economy contracted at an annual rate of 8.8 per cent in January, according to the latest statement by the Russian economy minister. This data point, which provides us with the latest confirmation that a very sharp contraction is now taking place in Russia, follows last week’s announcement by economic development minister Elvira Nabiullina, economic development minister, that the economy shrank by 2.4 per cent between December and January. Industrial production also fell 16 per cent year-on-year in January, while there was a 17 per cent decline in construction.

The City of London and other financial institutions should be supervised by a new pan-European watchdog, a European Commission report will recommend.

Its proposals, written by ex-Bank of France Governor Jacques de Larosiere, will include an EU-wide supervisory scheme for banks and financial bodies.

Supporters say the banking system is too big and crosses too many borders for national supervision to function.

But the UK government will wait to see the details before responding.

Scottish fishermen have won a ruling against the European Commission over an administrative error which reduced the amount of days they could spend at sea.

The mistake in 2007 led to a cut of 28 days which authorised vessels could spend off the west of Scotland.

The error was spotted by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF), which lodged a complaint last year.

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have agreed that their countries will work together to revive nuclear power in Italy.

The Italian power company, ENEL, and its French counterpart, EDF, agreed a deal to study the feasibility of building four power stations in Italy.

They would replace those closed in accordance with a referendum held after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.
Since then Italy has become the world’s biggest net importer of electricity.

The right to access healthcare across Europe could worsen health inequalities if patients are not given the right advice and support, peers say.

The European Commission has put forward proposals to make it easier for EU patients to go abroad for treatment.
But the House of Lords’ EU Committee said the rich and educated would be advantaged unless fair funding and information systems were put in place.

Patients’ groups are also concerned about the issue of access.

Euro MPs’ expenses and pensions are so lavish that they can earn as much as £1m (1.13m euros) on top of their salaries over their five-year term in parliament, a British campaign group says.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) said its research also showed that British MEPs would get a 47% increase in their take-home pay after June’s European elections.

The European Parliament’s campaigning Petitions Committee approved a damning new report slamming planning loopholes which leave homeowners defenceless against developers seizing part or all of their property.

Thousands of properties in Spain have been demolished without compensation for their owners – many of whom are British expatriates. In some cases, the authorities have even charged the property owners for the installation of local services, even after they have lost their property.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos rejected a call by the European Parliament on Thursday for all EU member states to recognise the independence of Kosovo.

“We respect their position, but we do not share it,” he told a news conference in Madrid.

“We respect all the resolutions of the European Parliament but governments have their own opinion and Spain has its opinion,” he said, noting that the “majority” of UN members have not recognised Kosovo’s independence.