In this article, The Guardian reports how binding targets for boardroom gender equality come 10 years after proposals were first made. The EU is also mandating a minimum 33% share of the ‘underrepresented sex’ in all senior corporate roles.
EU agrees ‘landmark’ 40% quota for women on corporate boards
Binding targets for boardroom gender equality come 10 years after proposals first made.
The EU has agreed that companies will face mandatory quotas to ensure women have at least 40% of seats on corporate boards.
After 10 years of stalemate over the proposals, EU lawmakers hailed a “landmark” deal for gender equality. As well as the legally binding target, companies could also be fined for failing to recruit enough women to their non-executive boards and see board appointments cancelled for non-compliance with the law.
From 30 June 2026 large companies operating in the EU will have to ensure a share of 40% of the “underrepresented sex” – usually women – among non-executive directors. The EU has also set a 33% target for women in all senior roles, including non-executive directors and directors, such as chief executive and chief operating officer.
In 2021 women occupied 30.6% of boardroom positions across the EU, but this varied widely across the 27 member countries. France, which has a 40% women-on-boards quota, was the only EU country to exceed that threshold, with 45.3% of boardroom seats occupied by women, according to the European Institute for Gender Equality.
Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Germany were the next best countries, with between 36% and 38% female participation in the boardroom; while fewer than one in 10 non-executive directors were women in Hungary, Estonia and Cyprus.
“All data show that gender equality at the top of companies is not achieved by sheer luck,” said Lara Wolters, the Dutch socialist MEP, who negotiated the law with EU governments. “We also know that more diversity in boardrooms contributes to better decision-making and results. This quota can be a push in the right direction for more equality and diversity in companies.”
National authorities, who are responsible for enforcing the directive, are empowered to impose fines. National courts can annul boardroom selections if a company breaks the law. The measures will not apply to companies with fewer than 250 employees.
The European Commission made its first proposal for a 40% quota on women on boards in 2012, but the plan was blocked by big member states including Germany and the UK.
In the UK, mandatory quotas were opposed by the then coalition Conservative-Liberal Democrat government, which preferred a voluntary approach led by Lord Mervyn Davies. That helped the UK become one of the best performers in Europe, with 39.1% of women sitting on FTSE100 boards by 2022, putting the UK second only to France in one international survey.
The Commission revived the draft law in 2020, after key countries shifted their position. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said: “After 10 years, since the European Commission proposed this directive, it is high time we break the glass ceiling. There are plenty of women qualified for top jobs: they should be able to get them.”
Source article and photo credit: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jun/07/eu-agrees-landmark-40-quota-for-women-on-corporate-boards
Photograph: John Fedele/Getty Images/Tetra images RF
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
