EU’s female board quota plan set to fail

Article suggest that a European Commission plan to impose a 40% female quota on listed company boards looked likely to be blocked on the 22 October 2012 as a rising number of Commissioners had expressed categorical opposition to the proposal.

In the event the original proposal was scrapped on the 23 October 2012 after EU Legal Service ruled that mandatory gender caps were illegal under the bloc’s treaties. A milder version of the proposal was launched on the 14 November 2012.

ESO: Background information: EU pushes 40% quota for women on boards http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-pushes-40-quota-for-women-on-boards/

EurActiv, 22.10.12: Reding in uphill fight over corporate gender quotas http://www.euractiv.com/justice/reding-uphill-fight-corporate-ge-news-515567

BBC News, 23.10.12: European Union postpones women quota on boards plan http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20039540

EUObserver, 23.10.12: EU gender quota law kicked into November http://euobserver.com/social/117973

EUObserver, 24.10.12: Time for real debate on EU chauvinism http://euobserver.com/opinion/117983

EWL: Press Release, 19.9.12: Nine countries move to block key EU equality legislation for women on boards http://www.womenlobby.org/spip.php?article4037&lang=en

EUObserver, 14.11.12: EU commission to 'smash glass ceiling' on gender http://euobserver.com/social/118197

EurActiv, 15.11.12: Reding pushes 40% female quota on corporate boards http://www.euractiv.com/socialeurope/commission-gives-green-light-gen-news-516048

European Commission: RAPID: Press Release, IP/12/1205: Women on Boards: Commission proposes 40% objective http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1205_en.pdf

European Commission; DG Justice: Newsroom, 14.11.12: Women on Boards: Commission proposes 40% objective http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/gender-equality/news/121114_en.htm

European Commission: Memo/12/860: Questions and Answers: Proposal on increasing Gender Equality in the Boardrooms of Listed Companies http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-860_en.htm

European Commission: Speech/12/818: Viviane Reding: A historic day for gender equality http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-12-818_en.htm

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