Germany: Bundesrat votes Act introducing fixed quotas for women on supervisory boards

On September 21, everyone thought the Bundesrat was going to vote a bill on the introduction of universal minimum wage.  But it was postponed as right-wing and left-wing parties alike wanted to keep negotiating on this subject.  The surprise came from another bill, on the introduction of a quota for women on the supervisory boards of German businesses.  According to the Monitor of Senior Executives, published in early September by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), in recent years, the proportion of women with executive positions in the 200 biggest companies in Germany went from 22 up to 30 percent.  Nevertheless, when looking at businesses’ management and supervisory boards, the proportion stumbles down to less than 3 percent.  The bill adopted on Friday provides for a quota of at least 20 percent of women on boards as of 2018 and at least 40 percent after 2023.  Introduced by Olaf Scholz, the social-democratic mayor of Hamburg, the bill received last-minute support from a majority of conservative Länder (yes vote or abstention).  This decision is bad news for Angela Merkel who thought, one year before the legislative election, that she had neutralized the quarrel dividing her entourage and opposing Minister for Women and Family Affairs Kristina Schröder, who is in favor of a flexible quota determined by the companies themselves to Minister for Employment and Social Affairs Ursula von der Leyen who wants a mandatory quota.  Therefore, the Bundesrat’s vote is going to force the Bundestag to given an opinion on this bill.  But the Union of Conservative MPs wants to vote the law and has been campaigning for the directorate of Parliamentary groups to not lobby MPs into getting a massive vote.  Therefore, it is possible that the law, backed by all opposition parties, will pass, provided that the majority’s “breakaway” group is big enough.