German MEP on EP secretariat members: "Apparatchiks"

German liberal MEP Silvana Koch-Mehrin commented in her "blog" ('Eurofighter') on last week's visit of Hillary Clinton (widely discussed in the EU blogosphere), complimenting the multicultural and gender-balanced message sent out by the composition of the participants.

She finishes her article with the following remarks (own translation; link by me):

I was sitting in the second row of the fully occupied hall, directly behind the Chief-Apparatchiks from the General Secretariat of the EP who occupied the first row. There were only men.

Sounds like Ms Koch-Mehrin has a high opinion of her administration.