Gender quota for directors will appear in the EU by 2026

The Gender Quota Directive has been under consideration for 10 years since November 2012. Now the European Parliament has adopted it and given member states until 2026 to adapt their legislation to it. The directive requires up to 40% of non-executive director positions to not be held by men.

From now on, companies will be required to establish transparent, gender-neutral and qualification-based criteria for appointing new directors. If two candidates have the same scores, the choice should be given to the underrepresented gender.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that «there are many women suitable for top positions, and with our new European law we will make sure that they have a real chance of getting them.» By the way, in Luxembourg only 21.7% of all directors and managers are women. At the same time, in France, Italy and the Netherlands there are 45.6%, 42.6% and 41.5% women in directorial and managerial positions, respectively.