Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding had to shelve plans to introduce a directive that would make it mandatory for company boards to reserve 40% of their seats for women.
Despite facing opposition Reding tweeted that she will not give up, and that the matter will be on the Commission agenda again in November. She told press:
“We are fighting now for 100 years – so, one or two weeks more, what difference does that make? For me, what’s important is that a strong piece of legislation comes out of the Commission.”
According to the EC, less than 15% of board positions in member states are currently held by women. France, Spain, Italy and Belgium already have quotas in place, and Norway has had a 40% quota since 2003. The UK aims to have a minimum of 25% female members on FTSE 100 company boards by 2015.
This month’s list of infringement decisions was published by the EC, detailing which member states face legal action for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. Italy was criticised for its hundreds of illegal landfills and uncontrolled waste tips and faces fines. The UK was requested to review its provisions for inheritance tax on spouses due to the different treatment for non-domiciled spouses and civil partners, or there will be a reference made to the CJEU.
