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Document 52012DC0615
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Gender balance in business leadership: a contribution to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Gender balance in business leadership: a contribution to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Gender balance in business leadership: a contribution to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
/* COM/2012/0615 final */
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Gender balance in business leadership: a contribution to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth /* COM/2012/0615 final */
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Gender balance in business leadership: a
contribution to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth TABLE OF CONTENTS 1........... Introduction and context................................................................................................. 4 2........... The state of play of women’s
participation in corporate boards in the EU......................... 7 3........... What are the obstacles for
gender balance in business leadership positions....................... 9 4........... Measures taken at Member State
level to improve gender balance in corporate leadership positions 12 5........... Building on the economic and
business case: a new EU legislative initiative to accelerate progress towards
gender-balanced participation on the boards of listed companies................................................ 13 6........... A comprehensive policy to
underpin the new EU legislative initiative............................... 15 1. Introduction
and context The last decades have witnessed significant
progress in women's educational attainment, labour market participation and
position in the European society as a whole. Today, more women than men
graduate from universities: 60% of university graduates are women. Today, more
women work in Europe than ever before: their employment rate exceeded 60% and
the EU is making more use of its talent and better use of its skills. Today, it
is clear that women and men cannot be discriminated against on grounds of
gender. The EU has contributed to this progress through
a multitude of measures such as legislation, dedicated funding and action
programmes, specific measures for the advancement of
women, social dialogue and dialogue with civil society. Gender equality is a
fundamental right, a common value of the EU, and a necessary condition for the
achievement of the EU objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It
has become a well-established area of policy action as enshrined in the EU
Treaties and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Gender equality has
progressively been integrated in all EU policies, and is now well anchored in
employment and cohesion policies, research, education, development cooperation
and the Europe 2020 process to name some examples. This has been possible because since its early
days, the European Union has been given by Member States the competence and the
authority to act on gender equality. Back in 1957, the Treaty of Rome already
included the principle of equal pay for equal work for women and men. With the Defrenne
case in 1971[1],
the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed that this principle was
directly applicable, thereby giving citizens the right to directly rely on it
in national courts and paving the way for modern European gender equality law. As the EU Treaties empower the European
Commission to adopt measures to ensure equal opportunities and equal treatment
between women and men in matters of employment and occupation, the Commission
has over the years taken a number of legislative steps in the field of
employment, in particular the principle of equal pay and the principle that
women and men must have the same promotion and training opportunities[2]. It has also proposed legal
instruments establishing equal treatment in social security and for
self-employed workers and assisting spouses[3],
thereby considerably improving their social security protection. Important
legislation has also been promoted in the field of reconciliation between
private and professional life[4].
The European Commission strongly promotes
gender equality also within its own ranks. It has adopted in 2010 its own
internal Strategy[5],
aiming to build further on the considerable progress made over recent years in
terms of representation of women among its staff. The Strategy defines targets for
the representation of women at senior and middle management levels as well as at
non-management administrator level, to be reached by the end of 2014. Thanks to
these targets, on 1 October 2012, the Commission counted 27.2%% female senior
managers (including the Commission’s Secretary General) and 28.7% female middle
managers[6],
which is a good starting point for making further progress by 2020. Moreover,
following President Barroso call to Heads of State and Governments to see
gender balance as a common goal and shared responsibility and to pay particular
attention to the presence of women in the College, today, one third of the College's
members are women. Despite progress, the road to effective
equality remains, however, long and full of obstacles. Gender imbalances in
economic decision-making are emblematic of this reality, and the situation in
corporate boards is particularly disappointing with little signs of
improvements. Across the EU, company boards are currently dominated by one
gender: 86.3% of board members are men while women represent just 13.7% (15%
among non-executive directors). 96.8% of the chairpersons are men and only 3.2%
are women. Women and men should have the same
opportunities and be given the same possibilities to take leadership positions.
This principle was clearly set out in the European Commission Strategy for
Equality between women and men 2010-2015. It is not only a question of gender
equality. There is also a well-established economic and business case for
increasing the presence of women in business leadership positions. An efficient
use of human capital constitutes the most important determinant of an economy’s
competitiveness and is key for addressing the EU’s demographic challenges and
for competing successfully in a globalised economy. Numerous studies have shown
that there is a positive correlation between gender diversity at top-level
management and a company’s financial performance and profitability. Improving
female representation on the boards of listed companies in the Union can
therefore have a positive impact on companies’ performance. Labour market
equality contributes to economic growth. Enhancing women’s presence in the board
of companies listed on the stock exchange in the EU not only positively affects
the appointed women, but has also the potential to attract female talent to the
company and increases the presence of women at all levels of management and in
the workforce. Therefore, making full use of the female talent pool improves return
on education for both individuals and the public sector. Ultimately, making
full use of the female talent pool contributes to the fulfilment of the goals of
the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, notably
its 75 % employment target. Throughout the years, the
European Union has taken a number of non-binding measures aimed at improving
the participation of women in decision making. In particular, on proposals from
the Commission, two recommendations were adopted by the Council on this
subject, in 1984[7] and 1996[8]. However, these (non-binding recommendations) did
not bring any palpable progress. As a consequence, the low level of
participation of women in positions of responsibility developed into a growing
matter of concern. 2010 and 2011 saw a renewed commitment at EU
level for the promotion of gender equality on the boards of the largest listed
companies. The Commission identified ‘Equality in decision making’ as one of the
priorities of the Women’s Charter[9]
and of its Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015[10]. In March 2011, the Commission
launched the ‘Women on the Board Pledge for Europe’[11], a call for publicly listed
companies in Europe to voluntarily commit to increasing women’s presence on
their boards to 30 % by 2015 and 40 % by 2020. The European
Parliament, in its resolution on women and business leadership of 6 July 2011[12], urged companies to attain the
critical threshold of 30 per cent female membership of management bodies by
2015 and 40 per cent by 2020. It called on the Commission, if the steps taken
by companies and the Member States were found to be inadequate, to propose
legislation by 2012, including quotas. The European Parliament reiterated that
call for legislation in its resolution of 13 March 2012 on equality between
women and men in the European Union – 2011[13].
Moreover, in their 2012-14 work programme, the European social partners have
reaffirmed their commitment to further action to promote women in
decision-making. In March 2012, the Commission took stock of the
situation[14],
finding an average annual improvement of just 0.6 percentage points over the
past years. At this slow rate of progress, it would take more than 40 years
before companies naturally reach gender balanced representation in boards. For
this reason, the Commission launched a public consultation on possible action
to tackle this imbalance. It also conducted an impact assessment on the costs
and benefits of improving gender balance on the boards of listed companies. This Communication presents the state of play of
women’s under-representation in business leadership positions. It highlights
the main obstacles to women’s career progression and explains how a new EU
legislative initiative, as proposed by the Commission in conjunction with this
Communication[15],
to improve gender balance in the boards of listed companies would make change
structural and irreversible. As the reasons for the under-representation of
women in business leadership are multifaceted, the Commission proposes a set of
accompanying measures to improve the gender balance in business leadership in
order to help Member States implement legislative proposals and improve gender
equality in decision-making at all levels. 2. The
state of play of women’s participation in corporate boards in the EU Women’s participation in corporate boards
remains low Despite representing around 45 % of people
employed in the EU and 56 % of people in tertiary education, women only represent
13.7 % of board members in the major publicly listed companies in the EU
(see Figure 1). Women occupy a quarter of the seats on boards of large listed
companies in Finland, Latvia and Sweden and just over a fifth in France. But
there are fewer than one in 10 in Ireland, Greece, Estonia, Italy, Portugal,
Luxembourg and Hungary, fewer than one in 20 in Cyprus and around one in 30 in
Malta[16]. Figure 1 — Women and men on the boards of
the largest listed companies, January 2012 Source: European Commission, Database on
women and men in decision making and Eurostat, Labour Force Survey. Note: In countries with unitary
(one-tier) systems, the board of directors is counted (including non-executive
and executive members). In countries with two-tier systems, only the
supervisory board is counted. Among non-executive directors of the major
publicly listed companies in the EU the women represent only 15% (see Figure
2). Figure 2 – Women on the boards of the
largest listed companies: executive and non-executive members (January 2012) Source: European Commission's Database
on women and men in decision-making Note:
In a
one-tier system data on non-executives refer to non-executive members of the
board and data on executives to executive members of the board. In a two-tier
system data on non-executives refer to members of the supervisory board and
data on executives to members of the executive/management board. Occasionally,
it is possible for the supervisory board to include one or more executive
members (e.g. CEO and CFO). In this case these are included in the
executive figures, though individuals participating in both boards are counted
only once. Non-executive figures in this case still refer to the total members
of the supervisory board and could, therefore, include some executives but the
numbers concerned are not significant and should not affect the final result. Progress is
slow and uneven across EU Member States Between the end
of 2003 and the beginning of 2012, the share of women on boards rose from 8.5 %
to 13.7 %, changing on average by only 0.6 percentage points per year. A
slight improvement of 1.9 percentage points was recorded between October 2010
and January 2012, linked to intensive public debate initiated by the Commission’s
and the European Parliament’s calls for action. This was followed in some
Member States by concrete steps to accelerate the pace of change. However, progress remains slow as more than six
out of every seven board members are men (86.3 %) and the performance of
individual countries varies. France, which adopted a legally binding quota in
January 2011, saw the most notable improvement (10 percentage points)
accounting for more than 40 % of the total change EU-wide, while some
Member States even recorded a negative trend (Romania, Hungary, Slovakia,
Sweden, Denmark and Estonia). Figure 3 — Change in the share of women on
corporate boards, October 2010-January 2012 Source: European Commission, Database on
women and men in decision making. 3. What
are the obstacles for gender balance in business leadership positions Gender imbalances in corporate leadership
positions are only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ Gender imbalances in corporate leadership
positions are important, but are only the tip of the iceberg of a more
widespread situation of inequalities in our society. There are several causes of
this and they build up over the course of a woman’s or man’s life. Although the number of women in leadership roles is
increasing, the evidence shows that there are still many barriers to overcome. The causes stem from traditional gender
roles, the division of labour, women’s and men’s educational choices, and women’s
concentration in few occupational sectors Big differences in the type of education followed
by women and men remain. Women are still under-represented in sciences, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects[17],
which are most in demand on the labour market. These gender differences are
related to students’ attitudes towards subjects, such as motivation and
interest, which are shaped early in life[18]
and which are also linked to the perception of women’s and men’s different
roles in society. Once in the labour market, women tend to
concentrate in a small number of occupations which are often paid less and less
valued. This can impact negatively on their chances of accessing the highest
positions in companies. Almost 29% of women in work in the EU are employed in
just six of the 130 standard occupational categories[19] whereas the top six occupations
for men account for almost 20% of total men in work. Across economic activities[20] women make up almost 83% of
those working in health and social work and just over 71% of those employed in
education, while they account for just over 62% of total employment in retailing[21]. The lack of support to balance care
responsibilities with work remains a major challenge The lack of a comprehensive and balanced offer
of flexible work measures remains a major barrier to women’s rise to leadership[22]. Only ten EU Member States
have met the Barcelona objective[23]
of 33% childcare coverage rate for children under three, while only nine Member
States have met the Barcelona objective of a 90% coverage rate for children
between three years old and the mandatory school age[24]. This has an unbalanced repercussion on
women’s and men’s work patterns Women continue to adapt their work patterns to
the lack or inadequacy of measures to reconcile work and private life. The
employment rate of women decreases with the number of children, while the
employment rate of men increases with the first and the second child. Women
face more frequent career interruptions and higher incidences of flexible work
arrangements and part-time work than men. This has a heavy impact on women’s possibility
to work full time, benefit from training opportunities and progress in their
careers on a level-playing field with men. Ultimately, it has a negative impact
on their pay and pensions. It is recognised that working part-time and career
interruptions are obstacles to promotion into senior positions. Figure 4 – Employment rate according to the
parental status (aged 25-49) – 2011 (Difference in percentage points in
employment rates with the presence of one child under 12 and without the presence
of any children) Source : Eurostat, European Labour Force Survey, annual
averages. The glass ceiling is still a major limit Experience shows that even women who have
successfully overcome the above mentioned obstacles and are ready to be ‘boarded’
are ultimately faced with continuing barriers to their advancements to the
highest levels of decision-making often referred to as the ‘glass ceiling’, regardless
of their willingness to advance and their academic and professional
qualifications. Women on the board of FTSE 100 companies in the UK
have better educational credentials than men[25]
on average. The same holds true for women joining corporate boards in Norway[26]. In September 2011, the European Business Schools
and Senior Executive Women launched a call for action to fight against the
glass ceiling. They established in 2012 a list of "Board Ready Women"
(with around 7,500 names) to make clear that there are more than enough
eminently qualified women to help lead Europe's and the world's corporations
and that is time to shatter the ceiling that has kept women from ascending to
board of directors positions[27]. Women have a comparative disadvantage as
compared to men as they must overcome preconceptions about requirements for
leadership positions, discrimination and stereotyping[28]. Subtle barriers, including the
perception that women are either not interested or incapable of performing
certain tasks, or that these posts are ‘male’ jobs, continue to keep most women
stagnating at lower management levels in companies. According to a Eurobarometer survey from 2011, 88 %
of Europeans think that women should be equally represented in business
leadership positions and 78 % of them think that the European business
community is dominated by men who do not have sufficient confidence in women’s
abilities[29]. In a survey of 500 senior women from corporations
and professional firms across Europe[30],
two-thirds of those interviewed highlighted stereotypes and preconceptions about
women’s roles and abilities as the most important obstacle they faced. The lack of transparency in recruitment
and promotion practice The current lack of women in senior positions influences
companies’ decisions, including their attitude towards gender equality and the
appointment of more female board members, both in the short and long term. This
is exacerbated by the lack of transparency in recruitment and promotion processes.
Appointments to boards rely heavily on personal and professional contacts of
current board members. The lack of transparency of appointments for
board positions remains an obstacle to women’s career progression. This issue
was highlighted by several stakeholders who answered the public consultation
launched by the Commission[31]. Increasing the share of women on corporate
boards can attract female talent to companies and lead to a higher representation
of women at all levels of management. It is also expected to have a positive
spill-over effect on female employment in the companies concerned and on
long-term economic growth throughout the whole economy. Promoting adequate
mentoring, sponsorship, training opportunities and role models are necessary to
increase the number of women in the talent pipeline in management operations
and in senior executive roles, from where board candidates are often recruited. 4. Measures
taken at Member State level to improve gender balance in corporate leadership
positions A range of initiatives has been
undertaken in the Member States The importance of swiftly improving women’s
presence in business leadership, in particular on corporate boards, is high on
the political agenda not only at EU level, but also at national level. A range
of initiatives has been undertaken by governments, social partners, individual
businesses and other stakeholders to accelerate progress. Voluntary initiatives Several EU Member States have developed
voluntary initiatives and tools to address the under-representation of women in
senior leadership positions[32].
These measures have the advantage of greater flexibility and a greater sense of
ownership for the companies that undertake such measures. However, despite
promoting positive developments, they have not triggered marked progress. Legislative
measures with binding quotas Figures show that legislative measures yield
more substantial progress compared to voluntary initiatives, especially if they
are accompanied by sanctions. This is most clearly demonstrated by the impact
of the now well-established Norwegian legislation, which imposes a legally
binding quota of 40% with the dissolution of the company as sanction in case of
non-compliance, and – within the EU – by the situation in France where a
legally binding quota of 20% within 3 years (2014) and
40% within 6 years (2017) is in force. Other EU Member States have adopted as
well different types of quota rules (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain)[33]. 5. Building
on the economic and business case: a new EU legislative initiative to accelerate
progress towards gender-balanced participation on the boards of listed
companies The economic and business case confirmed Previous efforts to attain gender-balanced
participation in corporate leadership positions have not yielded a substantive
outcome and there is an ever widening gap between
Member States in the EU, both in terms of factual progress made and in the type
of measures taken at national level. The EU cannot afford this systematic gender
imbalance at the top level of economic decision-making and the resulting waste
of talent and resources. There is an economic and business case for
gender diversity on boards, including recent research[34]. Gender diversity in the
boardroom has been shown to lead to innovative ideas, increased competitiveness
and performance, and improved corporate governance. It is a sign of openness to
more viewpoints and respect for differences among stakeholders — shareholders,
investors, employees and customers — signalling the company’s recognition of
the complexity of world markets and its preparedness to compete effectively at
the global level. Given the lack of sufficient and sustainable
progress in achieving gender balance on boards and the fact that it is a
challenge faced by all EU Member States, the European Commission has explored a
range of options for targeted measures to improve female participation in
decision-making at European level. The analysis of these options shows that making
full use of the EU’s female workforce will contribute to sustainable growth and
the competitiveness of the EU economy, particularly in face of demographic
change and the current crisis. The need to act at EU level Continuing at the current pace will not lead to
a substantial increase of women on the boards of listed companies throughout
the EU. The scattered and divergent regulation or the absence of regulation at
national level as regards gender balance on company boards leads to
discrepancies in the number of women among executive and non-executive
directors and different rates of improvements across Member States. It may also
pose barriers to the internal market by imposing divergent corporate governance
requirements and sanctions on European companies. The potential for gender equality,
competitiveness and growth can be better achieved through coordinated action at
EU level rather than through national initiatives of varying scope, ambition
and effectiveness. Therefore, the Commission proposes a legislative measure to
improve gender balance on the boards of companies listed on stock-exchanges. Focusing on listed companies Due to their economic importance, visibility
and impact on the EU market, an EU level legislative measure should only apply
to listed companies, i.e. companies in a Member State whose securities are open
for trading on a regulated market[35].
Listed companies that are SMEs should be exempted, as the obligation to reach the
target could create a disproportionate administrative burden for them. In addition to their economic importance — with
a total turnover equivalent to 68 % of the EU GDP — listed companies are
also highly visible. They set standards for the whole economy and they can
expect their practices to be followed by other types of companies. Setting objectives The legislative measure, based on Article
157(3) TFEU, establishes a minimum objective of 40 % of the
under-represented sex among non-executive directors on boards of listed
companies, to be achieved by 2020, or by 2018 for listed companies that are
public undertakings. It obliges companies below this level of representation to
make appointments to those positions in order to attain this objective on the
basis of a selection procedure based on pre-established, clear, neutrally
formulated and unambiguous qualification criteria in line with the case law of
the Court of Justice of the European Union. The objectives set under this
proposal should only apply to non-executive directors in order to strike the
right balance between the need to increase the gender diversity of boards on
the one hand and the need to minimise interference with day-to-day management
of a company on the other hand. In order to achieve that objective and in line
with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Member States
shall ensure that in the selection of non-executive directors, priority will be
given to the candidate of the under-represented sex if that candidate is equally
qualified as the candidate of the other sex in terms of suitability, competence
and professional performance, and if an objective assessment taking account of
all criteria specific to the individual candidates does not tilt the balance in
favour of a candidate of the other sex. As regards executive directors, listed
companies should be obliged to set their own commitments, to be met within the
same timeframe as the objectives for non-executive directors. An effective monitoring and enforcement
system Member States should provide for effective,
proportionate and dissuasive sanctions if these obligations are breached. Listed companies are required to provide
information on the gender composition of their boards to competent national
authorities. This information should be published on the company's website and,
if the company in question does not meet the objective, it should include a description
of measures the company has taken so far and intends to take in order to meet
the objective in the future. In accordance with the principle of
proportionality, EU action should be limited in time and the legislative
measure will be repealed as soon as sustainable progress in the gender
composition of boards is achieved. 6. A
comprehensive policy to underpin the new EU legislative initiative Improving female participation on the
labour market and in leadership positions The Commission proposes to complement the
legislative measure with a comprehensive approach combining policy measures and
financial support. Some are the continuation of on-going measures, while others
are new[36].
Moreover, the Commission will urge Member States to complement activities
currently proposed for the private sector also in the public sector, notably
with regards to the boards of national central banks, which are mainly composed
by men (83% on average in EU-27). In partnership with national governments
and other stakeholders The Commission will cooperate with all
stakeholders — governments, social partners, enterprises, business schools, etc.
— supporting them in their work and in designing and implementing EU-wide activities
to improve female participation in the labour market and achieve gender balance
in leadership positions. Within this framework, the Commission will: a) Support initiatives
to combat stereotyped representations of the role of women and men in society,
labour market and leadership positions ·
Encourage executive search firms to prepare a
voluntary code of conduct at EU level addressing gender diversity and best
practice, in order to put gender diversity on the agenda in the appointment
process. ·
Encourage business schools to promote gender
diversity in leadership positions and to build awareness in the corporate and
academic sectors through their curricula and activities. b) Contribute to the creation of a social, economic
and business environment supportive of a balanced participation of women and
men in leadership positions ·
Contribute to the development of policies to
reconcile work, private and family life, including the
use of innovative approaches resulting from the use of ICT, that support women’s and men’s participation in the labour market
and in decision-making positions. In 2013, the Commission will report on
policies to reconcile work, private and family life, also taking stock of
progress made towards the achievement of the "Barcelona targets" for
childcare facilities[37],
highlighting remaining challenges and providing policy guidance. ·
Strengthen the gender aspect of the Europe 2020
Strategy to help achieve the 75 % employment rate target by 2020. This
will be done by stepping up cooperation with the Member States, including in
the framework of the Employment and the Social Protection Committees. Specific
attention will be devoted to the gender equality aspect of the European semester
outputs, including the follow-up of Country Specific Recommendations related to
women's labour market participation. ·
Contribute to the fight against gender
stereotypes and the promotion of gender equality at all levels of education and
training, including in particular through the European Social Fund and the EU
Lifelong Learning Program and its successor; furthermore, in particular in the
context of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the European Social Fund programming,
pay specific attention to the transition between education and the labour
market, and to the gap between educational attainment and professional
development, particularly of women, with a view to eliminate obstacles they
meet in their choice of career, especially as regards mathematics, sciences and
technologies. c) Promote awareness about
the business and economic case for gender equality and balanced representation
of women and men in decision making ·
Support awareness-raising activities by promoting
exchanges and disseminating experiences and good practices. ·
Support awareness-raising activities at company
level. This will be done by creating, disseminating and implementing in all EU
Member States and in cooperation with the business world, training modules for
small, medium and large enterprises and exchanging good practices by and among
enterprises. d) Support and monitor
progress towards a balanced participation of women and men in decision-making
positions across the EU ·
Increase accountability by regularly reporting
on progress made in the EU Member States and by widely disseminating the
results. ·
Contribute to the improvement and availability
of data by continuing to collect, disseminate and develop comparable data at EU
level through the Commission’s database on women and men in decision making. ·
Monitor whether the legally binding instrument
has been correctly transposed and implemented at national level and report at
regular intervals to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress
made. ·
Encourage Member States to follow the call of
the European Parliament to improve the gender balance situation in national
central banks, thereby also improving the conditions for gender balance in the
Governing Council of the European Central Bank. The Commission will finance, where appropriate,
the above non-exhaustive list of activities under the PROGRESS Programme and,
without pre-judging the on-going negotiations for the Multiannual Financial
Framework, under the future financial instrument covering the gender equality policy
area. This will be achieved in particular by publishing restricted and open
calls for proposals in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Commission will work with the Member States
to make full use of the co-financing opportunities offered by the Structural
Funds, including the future programming period, in order to promote women’s
access to employment and career progression and to improve the work-life
balance, in particular through the provision of affordable and quality
childcare facilities. [1] Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European
Union of 25.05.1971 (C-80/70). [2] For example: Directive 2006/54/EC
of 5 July 2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the
implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of
men and women in matters of employment and occupation. [3] For example: Directive 2010/41/EU of 7 July 2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men
and women engaged in an activity in a self-employed capacity and repealing
Council Directive 86/613/EEC. [4] Council Directive 2010/18/EU
of 8 March 2010 implementing the revised Framework Agreement on parental leave
concluded by BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP and ETUC and repealing Directive
96/34/EC. [5] Communication to the Commission on a Strategy on
Equal Opportunities for the period 2010-2014, SEC(2010)
1554/3. [6] In 1995, the share of women in senior management
posts was 4% and 10.7% in
middle management posts. [7] Council Recommendation
84/635/EEC of 13 December 1984 on the promotion of positive action for women. [8] Council Recommendation 96/694/EC of 2 December 1996
on the balanced participation of women and men in the decision-making process. [9] COM(2010) 078 final. [10] COM(2010) 491 final. [11] http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/reding/womenpledge/index_en.htm. [12] 2010/2115(INI). [13] European Parliament Resolutions 2010/2115(INI)
of 6 July 2011 and 2011/2244(INI) of 13 March 2012 [14] European
Commission (2012), Women in economic decision-making in the EU: Progress
report, available at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-decision-making/index_en.htm. [15] 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 COM(2012) XXX. [16] http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-decision-making/database/business-finance/quoted-companies/index_en.htm.
[17] To tackle this issue, the Commission
promoted a Code of Best Practices for Women in ICT (2010). [18] OECD (2012) – Gender initiative: gender equality in
education, employment and entrepreneurship. [19] ESTAT, ISCO-08, 3-digit level. [20] ESTAT, NACE Rev 2, 2-digit level. [21] ESTAT (2011) EU-LFS. [22] Firm-level survey by World Economic Forum, quoted in
OECD (2012). [23] The
objectives – defined by the Barcelona European Council in 2002 – aim at ensuring suitable childcare provision by
the EU Member States. [24] ESTAT (2010) EU-SILC. [25] Singh et al. (2008), ‘Newly
appointed directors in the boardroom: How do women and men differ?’, European
Management Journal, 26(1). [26] Norwegian Institute for Social Research. [27] http://www.edhec.com/html/Communication/doc-womenboard/BoardReadyWomen.pdf.
[28] Liff and Ward (2001) ‘Distorted Views through the Glass
Ceiling: the Construction of Women’s Understandings of Promotion and Senior
Management Positions’. [29] Special Eurobarometer 376 (2011), Women in decision
making. [30] Catalyst and the Conference Board Europe (2002), Women
in Leadership: A European Business Imperative. [31] http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/gender-equality/opinion/120528_en.htm. [32] European Commission (2012), ‘Women
in economic decision-making in the EU: Progress report’. [33] Idem. [34] Most recently: Credit Suisse, Research Institute
(August 2012), ‘Gender diversity and corporate performance’; other important
studies: Catalyst (2004), ‘The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance
and Gender Diversity’; McKinsey (reports of 2007, 2008 and 2010), ‘Women Matter’;
Deutsche Bank Research (2010), ‘Towards gender-balanced leadership’; Ernst
& Young (2012), ‘Mixed leadership’. [35] Within the meaning of Article 4(1) point (14) of
Directive 2004/39/EC. [36] The Commission is also considering general measures
that have as their objective increasing the diversity in the boards of
companies through enhanced transparency in order to facilitate an effective
oversight of the management and robust governance of companies. [37] At the European Council meeting in Barcelona in 2002,
the Heads of States and Governments agreed that Member States should provide
childcare facilities by 2010 to at least 90% of children between 3 years old
and the mandatory school age and at least 33% of children under 3 years of age.
The lack of childcare facilities is addressed in the Europe 2020 Strategy. In the
European semester 2012, nine Member States (AT, CZ, DE, HU, IT, MT, PL, SK and
UK) have received a country specific recommendation on that matter.