European Commission gives companies one year to work towards gender balance…or else - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Why?
  -Men constitute nearly 89% of board members in Europe’s largest companies.
  -97% of those firms have a man at the very top.
  -Companies with gender balanced boardrooms are 10% more profitable than companies without a woman on their board.

• In light of the current situation, Viviane Reding made it quite clear that there will have to be change, be it voluntarily or not.

• Her spokesman, Matthew Newman, explained that she is presenting companies with a one year deadline to solve the disparity after which legislation will be seriously considered.

• He explains that “She’d prefer not to legislate, so she is giving them a chance to make changes voluntarily. Next year we’ll see what we will do, but we need to give companies time to react.”

• How exactly the EU might enforce gender balance remains unclear but Reding has stated that she is impressed by the moves made in Germany and Spain.

• Regional governments in Germany have consented to establishing gender quotes.

• Deutsche Telekom stipulated that at least 30% of its board will be women.

• In 2007, the Spanish government imposed a 40% quota on all firms employing more than 250 people.

“We’ve put this out as a warning. We want to see some real action” Matthew Newman

The Guardian