Brussels, 02/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - The debate is far from over on the draft directive on women's quotas on company boards. The submission of amendments in the European Parliament's women's rights and gender equality committee (FEMM) came to an end on 29 August, and many of the amendments incline towards strengthening the women's quota proposal from European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding. Nevertheless, in the opinion of Astrid Lulling MEP (EPP, Luxembourg), a middle way should be envisaged in order to ensure that this proposal well and truly makes a difference for women.
In her proposal for a directive, Reding proposes a 40% quota of women for non-executive posts on blue chip company boards. However, this would only actually concern a few thousand women. The FEMM committee could strengthen the proposal so that the company boards of SMEs are also taken into account.
This does not chime with Lulling, however, who says that things should be progressed for many more women still - at all levels in companies. “Nothing will change with the Commission's text, and certainly not with the positions of the rapporteurs. This is unacceptable”, she told EUROPE on Monday 2 September. By contrast, Lulling proposes minimum demands for positive action with the aim of ensuring a more balanced representation of women and men at all levels in companies. “Instead of proposing quotas among the non-executive boards of blue chip companies, which only concern a few women, a really innovative proposal would be to provide for positive actions that concern all women”, she says through the press. These minimum demands have already been compiled in two earlier Council recommendations, which nonetheless do not have legislative value. Once incorporated into the directive, this would no longer be the case.
The FEMM committee will vote on the report by Silvana Koch-Mehrin (ALDE, Germany) and Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (EPP, Greece) in October. (MD/transl.fl)