The European Parliament has recently approved measures to increase gender “equality” on company boards, as women continue to be under-represented on supervisory boards, boards of directors, and company management boards. The directive requires companies to ensure that women hold at least 40 percent of non-executive directorships, or 33 percent of all directorships, by the end of June 2026, or face a penalty.
Thus, the idea of gender quotas fits perfectly in the context of the left-feminist-socialist agenda, where everyone is supposed to be “equal,” regardless of the individual and his or her abilities, skills, and knowledge. Why not also introduce female quotas in car repair shops, construction sites, mines, and the army, as well as male quotas in kindergartens, maternity hospitals, and the courts? Let us not fool ourselves with left-wing ideas that gender quotas bring equality between men and women. There is no equality in this.
The European Parliament has adopted a directive on the representation of women on boards of directors. It aims to introduce recruitment procedures in companies so that by the end of June 2026, women will hold at least 40 percent of non-executive directorships or 33 percent of all directorships. All large, listed companies (with more than 250 employees) in the European Union will therefore have until July 2026 to take measures to increase the proportion of women in senior management positions. They will also have to provide annual data on gender representation on their boards, which will be publicly available.
In the name of “equality”, they will be able to interfere with corporate autonomy
If a company fails to meet the target, it must state how it intends to achieve it in the future. For companies that do not have open and transparent nomination procedures, Member States must develop rules for effective, dissuasive and proportionate penalties, such as fines. If the board of directors appointed by a company breaches the principles of the said directive, it can be dissolved by a judicial authority.
The directive targets companies because “only” 10 percent of companies had a chairwoman or chief executive on their boards
The European Commission first presented the proposal in 2012. In 2021, 30.6 percent of board members of the largest listed companies in the European Union were women. Despite the higher number of women on company boards, less than 10 percent of the largest listed companies in the Member States had a female chairwoman or CEO in 2022, which is why the directive was introduced.
But gender quota laws and directives will only achieve the goal of denying a potentially capable, hard-working candidate who is better suited to the position the opportunity to achieve what he or she deserves, and will do absolutely nothing for women’s rights.
Sara Kovač
