EWLA

Veronica Williams is standing for election to the board of EWLA in the forthcoming elections at the General Assembly on Friday November 5th in Berlin. 

" Veronica Williams graduated from the Faculty of Law Bucharest in 1990, at the dawn of democracy in Romania.  After a short career as a lawyer both in Bucharest and London when she was involved in early privatisation projects in Eastern Europe, she achieved her Master's Degree in European Studies and Communication at KUL, Leuven in 1993. 


Veronica then worked for the Council of Bars and Law Societies in Brussels on projects developing the rule of law and the deontology of the legal profession in Eastern Europe and the former USSR. She then moved to the European Institutions, where she worked mainly on social rights, children rights and enlargement. Veronica has also worked in the field of IPR and since 2009 in the field of frontier research.


She has been a member of EWLA since 2004. When asked about the role that EWLA should play, Veronica strongly defends the rationale of the organization on the European and international legal scene. EWLA in her view goes much beyond defending the conventional principles of non discrimination and equal opportunity.  For her, EWLA brings together some of the most experienced and bright legal female professionals in Europe, women not only of the highest professional competence but also of strong conviction and courage. Not satisfied to only claim non-discrimination, EWLA proposes forward thinking solutions and new business models to allow full use of women's intellectual and professional acumen. 


In applying for a position on the Board of EWLA, Veronica sees her role as two fold.  She would like to see the organisation strengthening its membership, as well as increasing the diversity of its geographical representation. Then, with respect to lobbying, Veronica will be happy to contribute her legal and communication knowledge in order to achieve the organisation's agenda. Her main focus would be on the promotion of women into top management positions, assuring fair and equal legal conditions for women in employment, and ensuring fair access to education, justice and social services. 


Since the beginning of the financial and economic crisis, women in leadership positions across all fields of public activity have become notably scarcer, and consequently EWLA's priority over the next year and beyond should be to try to promote a better legal framework and stronger political commitments to redress and stabilise the presence of women in the professional and public work world."