Brussels, 18/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - The issue of a 40% quota of women on the board of directors in major European companies appears to be getting bogged down. During its mandate, the Greek Presidency has not been able to find consensus on the best way to achieve gender balance on the boards of directors and break through the “glass ceiling” that women have to confront.
At the Employment and Social Policies Council (EPSCO) on 19-20 June, the Presidency is expected to make do with presenting a report on the progress achieved with the draft directive that was introduced by the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights as far back as the end of 2012. In November 2013, the European Parliament, nonetheless, reached a clear position in support of this directive, adopting a report on this subject at the beginning of the year at a first reading (see EUROPE 10967).
The Greek Presidency is expected to note the solid consensus among European delegations on the principle of improving the gender balance in company boardrooms. Nevertheless, the different national delegations are unable to agree on how to reach it and some want the solution to remain in an exclusively national remit that is non-binding and not European.
At this point, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom and Czech Republic are the countries most opposed to any European action in this area. According to one European source, however, the Czech Republic could possibly change its position, which would also be the case with the German delegation, since the change of the coalition in Berlin.
The EPSCO Council is also expected to adopt conclusions on the economic independence of women. The document addresses the question from the point of view of part-time and self-employed work. It is inspired by a report presented by the European Institute for Gender Equality on this subject, which drew up three indicators to assess experience on the labour market (full-time, part-time and self-employed employment rates). (MD)