Brussels, 08/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - It is unlikely that there will be any Council decision under the Greek Presidency on the 40% quota of women for non-executive posts on the boards of directors in major European companies quoted on the stock exchange, as proposed by Vivianne Reding.
Greece is primarily concerned with preparing the ground, given the widespread divergences on this subject between the different delegations. In its six-month mandate, the presidency explains that one of its priorities will be to continue with discussion of the proposal. A progress report could possibly be presented at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) on 10 March or on 19-20 June. The possibility of agreeing a general approach has not been entirely ruled out at this Council. It would be, however, a safer bet under the Italian Presidency, during the second part of the year, to see whether a compromise at the Council on the issue of quotas can be achieved. The Italian delegation has already spoken of quotas for women as being among its priorities. It will therefore be under a new parliament that the institutional trialogue discussions are expected to begin. Parliament has already agreed its negotiating brief, which will provide very firm support to this very controversial proposal from the commissioner for fundamental rights.
Despite all this, the Greek Presidency is not entirely putting gender related issues to the side and will be focusing more particularly on labour market access for women. The Presidency seeks to collaborate with the European Institute for Gender Equality, to draft a report on this subject that will provide indicators on the employment of women. Conclusions in this regard are also expected at the June EPSCO Council (following on from the Beijing action platform approach). The Presidency will also organise high-level meetings on including gender equality policies (February), violence against women (March) and the participation of women in the information and communication technology sector (April). (MD/transl.fl)