A huge percentage of EU countries refuse gender quotas

During the last (3146th) meeting of the Council of the European Union, which took place last 17th of February in Brussels, the Council held a policy debate on the question of gender balance on company boards.

Women account for around 60 % of new university graduates in the EU, yet they are heavily underrepresented in economic decision-making positions, especially at the top.

Because of this, Ministers had the opportunity to share their experiences and to discuss what can be done at Union and member state levels to combat the problem of women's under-representation in company boardrooms.

Responding to the Presidency's set of questions, delegations pointed out that "the glass ceiling" continues to impede women's access to company boardrooms. Even if no legal or formal barriers exist, cultural factors, including the persistence of traditional gender roles and stereotypes, continue to hamper women's careers. In order to overcome these and other barriers, many countries have called on state-owned companies, the business sector and the social partners to take steps to increase the number of women in company boardrooms.

Apart from a mentality shift, concrete measures are needed in order to make possible a higher participation of women on company boards. Key actions include setting up appropriate maternity, paternity and parental leave systems, facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life and offering quality care services for children and other dependants. Measures such as awareness raising, training and education, and the provision of mentoring are also important.

Certain ministers advocated the use of binding quotas, while many others were in favour of a voluntary approach, at least at this stage. Countries like Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland or the United Kingdom were against the establishment of a quota obligation at European level while countries like France, Italy and Belgium supported the initiative.

The Commission stressed that a low participation of women on company boards was synonymous with a waste of talents, especially in the context of the current economic crisis and mounting skills shortages in Europe.

Closing the debate, the Presidency emphasized that the current crisis should not distract the member states from promoting equal opportunities. The Presidency recalled that equal opportunities created added value and brought benefits to the whole of society.

If no sufficient progress is achieved through self-regulation, the European Commission will explore different policy options for targeted measures for increasing the number of women on company boards.