Opposition to ‘more women on boards’ vote

A bid to increase the number of women on the boards of large companies is in danger of being killed off with the help of many of the female members of the European Commission.

It will be the first time in the life of this commission that a vote has had to be taken on an issue — all other policy initiatives have gone through on consensus.

While the Irish Government wrote a letter pointing out the advantages of having more women on company boards, they have not yet said what their official position is.

Employers body, Ibec has said it does not agree with the bid.

Irish Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is said to be ready to vote against the proposed legislation unless certain changes are made. The former Fianna Fáil minister was the first female to hold a seat at the Irish cabinet table.

It is believed Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is in favour but there are about 11 commissioners against, including Britain’s Cathy Ashton, the EU’s foreign minister, and Sweden’s Cecelia Malmstrom with a justice portfolio, while another 10 or so have signalled they will abstain.

Nine countries, led by Britain, have come out against the effort to increase women’s participation to 40% by 2020 from the current 12% across the EU. It is just 9% in Ireland, one of the lowest in the EU.

Norway is the only European country with a mandatory 40% membership on publicly listed companies.

The proposed legislation is heavily supported by the European Parliament.

The European Central Bank has no women directors but while ECB president Mario Draghi has said he favours gender equality he says the choice is up to the member states.