EU set to introduce quota for women on company boards to boost equality
The EU is gearing up to approve a groundbreaking quota for women on company boards as the continent strives for greater equality at its top companies.
Under the draft law, listed firms will be obliged to have women make up at 40 per cent of non-executive board seats, or 33 per cent of executive and non-executive roles combined.
The European Institute for Gender Equality have previously praised the use of binding quotas as an effective form of balancing boards at firms.
The legal push notably received fresh backing from France and Germany this year, and would apply to all 27 member states.
Earlier this year, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set its own diversity targets, including a goal of women making up at least 40 per cent of boards at British listed companies.
The FCA also said in April that one director should be a person of colour.
The FTSE 350 have largely met a target of 33 per cent of women on their boards, but the FCA looks to do more to address inequality.
The financial watchdog alluded that it may go even further in the future: “We may also seek to widen the scope of the targets to levels below executive management”, the FCA said.