Status: 03/14/2022 3:13 p.m
In the EU, the way is clear for binding gender quotas for management positions in listed companies. However, there is no need for implementation in Germany, as there is already a quota system.
EU countries want gender quotas in large, publicly traded companies. According to this, listed companies must take measures to allocate 40 percent of supervisory board positions or 33 percent of management board and supervisory board positions to the underrepresented gender. The plan provides for a deadline of the end of 2027. In order for an EU regulation to take effect, negotiations with the EU Parliament still have to come to an agreement on the specific structure.
So far, on average, there are significantly more men than women on executive and supervisory boards. If there are more women than men in management positions, the quota also applies to men. With the agreement, the EU states are following a proposal made by the EU Commission in 2012.
Federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) welcomed the result. “We’re reaching an important milestone and putting more women in the lead,” she said. “Because we see clearly: binding quotas work.”
No need for action in Germany
“Member States in which equally effective measures have already been taken are exempt from the regulations,” it says. This means that there is no further need for implementation in Germany. Because since 2015 there has already been a women’s quota for supervisory boards in Germany – 30 percent for particularly large companies. In addition, the former grand coalition of Union and SPD had agreed on a quota for board members shortly before the summer break last year.
The EU Commission tried to introduce binding rules ten years ago. Under the then EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, there was a corresponding initiative, which was rejected by the federal government under the then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). At that time, only 15.6 percent of supervisory board members in Germany were women. A sufficient majority among the EU countries was not achieved.