Germany: controversial draft legislation over female quotas on corporate boards of management

With female participation rates on corporate boards of management in Germany having only marginally improved (c.f. article No. 11602), the Social-Democrat Ministers of Justice and the Family have formulated draft legislation requiring businesses to nominate women for seats on their boards. Legal experts however have considered the move as a hindrance to entrepreneurial freedom and unlikely to pass through the Federal Constitutional Tribunal. Furthermore Conservative parliamentarians recalled that this type of draft legislation is not part of the government’s coalition contract and would not be voted in. The Ministers’ draft has ended up being a watered down version with minimally invasive measures, but which nonetheless is not certain to ever see the light of day.
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Extremely weak legal standing. Since implementing legislation on female quotas on company supervisory boards (c.f. article No. 8938) Germany’s government has done little else on the issue of female participation in the economy, and in particular in terms of corporate management level. Nonetheless, the Social Democrat Ministers of Justice and the Family, Ms. C. Lambrecht and Ms. F. Giffey respectively, have warned that efforts were going to step up a gear by way of legislative measures, and...

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