ECB to introduce gender quotas after Mersch row

The Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) announced in August 2013 that it had decided to introduce gender targets with the aim of doubling the share of women in management.

By end of 2019, 35% of middle management positions (Heads of Division, Deputy Heads of Division, Heads of Section, Senior Advisers and Advisers) and 28% of senior management positions (Directors General, Deputy Directors General, Directors and Principal Advisers) should be held by women.

The share of women in middle management positions at present was 17%, while women hold 14% of senior management positions. In order to reach the gender targets, the ECB would implement a gender diversity action plan.

EUObserver reported that the move came less than a year after the ECB found itself at the centre of a gender row after the European Parliament opposed the appointment of Yves Mersch, charman of Luxembourg's central bank, to its executive board, after insisting that EU finance ministers should have considered a female candidate for the post.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Parliament snubs ECB on 'gender bias' http://www.europeansources.info/record/parliament-snubs-ecb-on-gender-bias/

ECB: Press Release, 29.08.13: ECB aims to double share of women in high-ranking positions http://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2013/html/pr130829.en.html

Spiegel Online International, 29.08.13: Gender Equality: ECB to Double Number of Women in Top Roles http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/ecb-to-introduce-women-quota-in-top-management-positions-a-919228.html

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