Democracy & Human Rights

The first woman appointed minister in the Netherlands (1956), she was also the first woman to chair a session of the European Council of Ministers, paving the way for women's participation in European construction.

The first woman to preside over the Italian Chamber of Deputies (1979-1992), she was a major figure in Italian democracy and a constant advocate for European integration and women's rights.

Simone Veil

First President of the directly elected European Parliament, symbolic mother of Europe

1927 - 2017 France

First President of the European Parliament elected by universal suffrage (1979). A Holocaust survivor, she embodied humanism and the values of peace, human rights and reconciliation at the heart of the European project.

A dissident playwright under the communist regime, he became President of Czechoslovakia in 1989 and later of the Czech Republic, embodying the return of Central and Eastern European countries to the European democratic family.

A French lawyer and politician, she presided over the European Parliament from 1999 to 2002 and worked tirelessly for better representation of women within the European institutions.

He led the Solidarity movement that began the peaceful collapse of communism in Central Europe, paving the way for the 2004 EU enlargement. His courage embodies the democratic ideals this path celebrates.

Louise Weiss

Journalist and European activist, pioneer of the European ideal

1893 - 1983 France

A journalist and European and feminist activist engaged since the interwar period, she helped popularise the European ideal and, in 1979, aged 86, delivered the opening address of the first elected European Parliament as its oldest member.