Among the leading figures were Fausta Deshormes, Hilde Albertini, Odile Quintin, Liliana Richetta, Helga Thieme, and Jacqueline de Groote.

In a second resolution, the delegates called upon the European Commission to "lend its support for the organization in early 1988 of a meeting, with a view to the implementation of such a structure".

The EWL was founded in 1990 by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom national coordinations and 17 large European-wide women's organizations.

Böker stressed the importance of working on the basis of human rights, that are indivisible and universal, and to defend openness and democratic values.

[7] In the wake of the Me Too movement, which brought to light cases of sexual harassment at the European Parliament, the EWL called for putting in place adequate reporting structures at the EU institutions for cases of sexual harassment, in order to hold perpetrators accountable.

[8] The EWL has been denouncing the gender pay gap, made worse by the austerity measures in Europe following the financial crisis, pushing more women into poverty.

[11] The member organizations are divided in the criminalization debate, with EWL's largest national member organization, the National Council of German Women's Organizations – German Women's Lobby, actively opposing criminalization and joining the Alliance Against a Sex Purchase Ban (Bündnis gegen ein Sexkaufverbot) sponsored by the German Women Lawyers Association, which argues that "criminalizing sex work does not protect against coercion, but leads to more health risks, violence, and precarious living conditions.