Brussels, 03/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU member states appear increasingly divided over the proposal expected from the Commission on a 40% quota of women in major companies quoted on the stock exchange. The European commissioner responsible for this issue, Viviane Reding, said that she is prepared to fight her adversaries over this initiative.
Although the draft directive has not yet been presented, the commissioner informed the press on Monday 1 October, according to a report in the EU Observer, that she was prepared to do battle at the Commission and against reluctant member states. She added that the letter sent out by nine member states in this connection had not impressed her and, did not mean anything.
In September, approximately ten member states sent a letter to the Commission indicating that they would block the European Commissioner on fundamental rights' intention to break the “glass ceiling”, preventing women from obtaining senior positions. Countries hostile to this quota include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Germany and Sweden may also give their support to these countries. France, on the other hand, would prove an ally to Reding with regard to the 40% quota. The French ministers for the economy and women's rights sent a letter to the Commission in this connection, according to the French newspaper, Le Figaro, at the end of September. The letter explained that Pierre Moscovici and Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, “firmly support the aim of this draft directive”. (MD/trans.fl)