Balancing the boardroom
13 January 2025
Today, women make up 34% of the board members of large companies in the EU. That's set to change now, thanks to the newly applicable Gender Balance on Corporate Boards Directive, which was subject to ten years (!) of discussions.
Where candidates are equally qualified, EU companies should now give priority to those from the underrepresented sex. By 30 June 2026, companies must have 40% representation of the underrepresented sex among non-executive directors and 33% among all directors.
 | Olivier Reinoud The newly elected European Commission is itself a prime example of how hard it is to improve this statistic. Ursula von der Leyen had to pressure member states to swap their commissioner picks for women, lest she risked a less collegial and less effective Commission. Meanwhile, gender balance in positions of power has been shown to improve decision-making and spur economic growth. |
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