Strasbourg, 20/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has given a boost to meritocracy in businesses with its approval, by very large majority (459 votes to 148, with 81 abstentions) of the introduction of a quota of 40% of women on the boards of directors of large European companies quoted on the stock exchange, of which there are around 5,000, in 2020.
The moment was described as historic by Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, who was behind the proposed directive. She has started to see “cracks” in the glass ceiling, which prevents women from reaching positions of high responsibility. Just 16% of the seats on the boards of directors of European companies are occupied by women. In the view of the co-rapporteur on the subject, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PEP, Greece), it is vital that businesses quoted on the stock exchange do not overlook women's talents, and move towards a decision-making process which is in line with the principle of equality.
It is worth noting that only non-executive posts will be covered (in around 5,000 companies in Europe), with no explicit mention of women, but just of the “underrepresented sex”. This, therefore, is above all a procedural quota, not a quantitative one. This suggests that the businesses in question will not be obliged to abide by this quota in practice, but rather to have ensured that they have set in place appropriate selection procedures to guarantee that qualified women are taken into account in order to comply with this objective. If they fail to do so, businesses could be fined.
Sanctions and other terms. The MEPs tightened up the punitive plank. Sanctions were indicative and left up to the discretion of the member states in the Commission's proposal. They become obligatory following the plenary vote. But in general, the philosophy of the proposal was respected by the MEPs, who decided to keep SMEs outside the scope of application of the directive, even though the member states are urged to work for greater parity in smaller businesses as well. Family businesses and whose staff are less than 10% women are not exempted from the quota. The directive will enter into force in 2020 for large companies (2018 for listed public companies) and will be transitional. This means that it will disappear in 2028.
Council under pressure. The member states have not yet established their position and are not ready to do so. The discussion on the subject is scheduled for the Council meeting of 9 and 10 November, but there is no date for any agreement on the quota. The agreement appears to be a tricky one, because around 10 countries (the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, the Baltic States and Malta) are opposed to the proposed directive, as they feel that the EU should not legislate on the matter. Germany was sceptical to start with, but negotiations underway on the CDU-SPD coalition feature a 30% quota for women on German boards of directors from 2017, which could change matters. Other countries, such as Italy, France and Belgium, have already adopted similar national legislation. (MD/transl.fl)