EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding meets European business leaders to push for more women in boardrooms

The meeting hold on the 1st of March between the Commission and business leaders and social partners is the first step towards a better gender balance in boardrooms and in senior management at Europe's biggest companies. This issue was initially raised in September 2010 when the European Commission, following a proposal by Vice-President Reding, said in its Gender Equality Strategy that it will "consider targeted initiatives to improve the gender balance in decision making.” On the basis of new figures recently published, the Commission had an exchange of views with companies and social partners to see what measures they have taken and intend to take in the near future to improve the gender balance in board rooms. Over the next 12 months, the Commission will closely monitor progress. After that period, the Commission will assess whether further measures are required.

Vice-President Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner said "Women mean business. We need to use all of our society’s talents to ensure that Europe’s economy takes off" and "I believe that self-regulation could make a difference if it is credible and effective across Europe. However, I will come back to the matter in a year. If self-regulation fails, I am prepared to take further action at EU level."

The new report on Gender Balance in Business Leadership finds that on average women make up 12% of board members in the biggest publicly-listed companies across the EU and only 3% of board chairs… Therefore: there is still much to do in order to achieve gender balance in boardrooms and senior management positions in European companies.

Women and men on the boards of the largest listed companies (2010)
Source: European Commission, Database on women and men in decision-making.

Share of women and men in decision-making positions (2010)

Employment rates of women and men (25-49) depending on whether they have children under 12 (EU 27, 2009)