Brussels, 04/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding has not hidden her intention of imposing quotas for women on the boards of large companies. She would like to allow the threat of sanctions more in the legislative proposal which is expected this autumn. A draft directive, obtained by the Financial Times, refers to the slow progress in reaching gender equality in positions of responsibility, and to the possibility of introducing fines or withdrawing subsidies if company boards are not composed of at least 40% women after 2020.
Strong way. Reding had initially counted on doing this in a relaxed way, allowing self-regulation for companies in order to have more women on their boards. But the failure of stimulating companies to do this on a voluntary basis has forced her to take the strong way. In October she is due to put forward a legislative proposal to set a quota of 40% women on the boards of companies quoted on the stock exchange. Companies employing more than 250 salaried employees, or with a turnover of more than €50 million, will have to publish a report on their directors. If this is not the case, the draft directive promises fines or the withdrawal of subsidies, the Financial Times reports.
Progress which is too slow and reticent. Some European countries already have legislative measures in place to remedy the gender question in companies (France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium) but the Commission document still considers that “progress in the share of women on company boards is very slow, with an average annual increase of just 0.6 percentage points over the past years”. It is already anticipated that Reding's initiative will come up against reticence in the UK and Sweden. In the opinion of British MEP Marina Yannakoudakis (ECR) “the governments of the UK and Sweden won't wear it in any event, because it is meddlesome and won't achieve a jot for genuine equality”. Believing that quotas will put the brakes on freedom for companies, she shares the opinion of the employers' association, BusinessEurope. The legal adviser of the European lobby, Pedro Oliveira, apparently said to the Financial Times that the quotas “interfere disproportionately with the freedom of companies and shareholders to organise their own affairs”. (MD/transl.fl)