EPSCO Council - Annual report on equality between men and women

Ministers will endeavour to reach a general approach on a proposal for a directive on improving gender balance in the boardroom. According to the latest figures from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), in October 2021 only 30.6% of board members and 8.5% of board chairs were women.

The directive establishes a quantitative objective for the proportion of directors of the under-represented sex on the boards of listed companies. Companies should therefore put in place measures to achieve the minimum objective of either 40% non-executive directors of the least represented sex or 33% for all board members by 2027. Companies that have not yet achieved this objective would be obliged to introduce procedural rules for the selection and appointment of non-executive directors and to explain what measures they had taken and intended to take to achieve that objective.

Member states that already have an effective system will be able to maintain it, provided it achieves the 40% or 33% objectives.