Gender Balance on Boards: Potential and Challenges for Regulation at EU Level
Gender Balance on Boards: Potential and Challenges for Regulation at EU Level

Summary/Abstract: The European Union (EU) is making sustained efforts to promote gender equality in its Member States, as evidenced by the new EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020- 2025. One of the central objectives of the mentioned strategy is the achievement of gender balance in decision-making. Against this background, the present article follows the evolution of the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on improving the gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges and related measures (‘the Proposal’), which was put forward by the European Commission in November 2012. In particular, this article aims to identify, explain, and evaluate the arguments in favour and against the Proposal that were developed over time. Moreover, this article discusses the Proposal’s overall significance at EU level. Even though the Proposal has still not yet been adopted and despite its limited reach, the fact that such a proposal for a directive was initiated by the European Commission and discussed by different stakeholders over the last nine years had an important role. Arguably, the debate around the Proposal contributed to raising awareness about women’s underrepresentation on boards and put hard law measures to address this pressing problem on the EU agenda.

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