EU: adoption of the draft directive on quotas for women in listed companies’ boards

Today, November 14, the College of Commissioners adopted the proposed directive on the presence of women on company boards. Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, who carried the proposal, had to give up the idea of introducing mandatory quotas per se. Indeed, the Member States will have to implement the necessary measures to drive their listed companies to achieve 40 percent of women among non-executive directors by 2020 - 2018 for listed public companies. However, the new proposal focuses on the transparency of selection procedures and introduces criteria for an objective comparative assessment of the qualifications of candidates. (Ref. 120668)