Brussels, 07/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Germany appears to have had a change of heart over quotas for women on the boards of companies, and now looks unlikely to support the controversial proposal by Viviane Reding. This U-turn comes at a particularly unfortunate time, just ahead of International Women's Day on 8 March, but can be more easily explained against a pre-election German backdrop. On Wednesday 5 March, the German press announced that Berlin had instructed its services to reject the proposed directive at negotiations at the Council. However, Germany had still not openly opposed the idea, unlike a coalition of nine member states led by the United Kingdom, even before the initiative had been put together (see EUROPE 10693). Nor had the German Bundesrat invoked the principle of subsidiarity to underscore its opposition. However, Berlin had no unequivocal position at the initial discussions on the subject at the Employment, Social Affairs and Consumers Council in December of last year. All indications are that, with the approaching elections, the coalition in power has decided to review its position. At this stage, the Commission has taken note and not reacted. However, this could make Germany into a sizeable ally of the United Kingdom, which, together with the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia), is determined to block the legislation. (MD/transl.fl)