SUMMARY
The EU has long committed itself to promoting gender
equality in the labour market at all levels, including the boardroom.
Since 2010, this objective has been pursued vigorously by the
European Commission's Vice-President, Viviane Reding, and by a
number of business leaders, led in the United Kingdom by Lord
Davies of Abersoch. Their efforts have seen some positive change:
in this country FTSE 100 companies are on target to have a quarter
of board positions occupied by women by 2015; and across the EU
as a whole the proportion of women on boards has risen by 16 per
cent since 2010, to just under 14 per cent of overall board positions.
Though we welcome these positive changes, the absolute
levels of female board membership remain far too low, and progress
in some quarters is not nearly fast enough. The situation is particularly
bad for executive positions. The EU has pledged to come forward
with proposals to redress this persistent imbalance. In this report
we evaluate what action they could and should take, with a particular
focus on the vexed question of legislative quotas for women on
boards.
The report begins by stressing the benefits that
come from a gender-balanced board. A more balanced board will
be able to tap into the wealth of available talent in the labour
market, provide a broader spectrum of ideas, better reflect a
company's customer base and improve corporate governance. We did
not, however, find proven the argument that there is a causal
link between more gender diversity on boards and stronger financial
performance.
We therefore support a leadership role for the EU
in furthering this agenda, in partnership with national governments.
We urge the Commission to bring forward an EU-wide system to monitor
the numbers of women in senior positions, and to use this data
to evaluate how well Member States are engaging with gender diversity
in the corporate world. We also support efforts to expand across
the EU proposed reforms to corporate governance. Measures which
could be supported include demanding more detailed explanations
from companies as to their diversity policies, as well as the
idea of a voluntary executive search code seen in the United Kingdom.
Taking these ideas forward would represent sensible, practical
and welcome examples of how Vice-President Reding can maintain
the goodwill her leadership has engendered thus far.
We do not consider that the Commission has made its
case for stronger action in the form of a quota for women on boards.
We consider that quotas should not be resorted to until all other
options have been exhausted. They generate negative perceptions
amongst women and business leaders and do not address the root
causes of inequality.
Quotas should be used only where business has shown
itself unwilling to change its ways. The high political priority
for gender diversity on boards across the EU, the positive strides
made in a number of Member States, and the lack of evidence as
to the effectiveness of quotas elsewhere make it untenable for
the Commission to argue that no other options remain. In the United
Kingdom in particular, the business community has embraced the
opportunity to take action and started to deliver longer-lasting
change. Quotas from the EU at this stage would risk jeopardising
this widespread engagement and goodwill, undermining the excellent
work led by Vice-President Reding and Lord Davies
of Abersoch. We urge the Commission to take a step back and work
in partnership with business and its social partners to deliver
change, with the understanding that legislation on quotas could
be brought back should progress stall.
In the meantime, we call on the Government, the EU
institutions and the business world to work together to ensure
that change is sustainable, and in the process develop a consistent
supply of talented women to take up senior positions. This means
supporting business-led projects that build up aspiration, foster
talent and provide guidance to women wanting to progress in the
corporate world. It also means thinking in the round about the
broader culture surrounding working practices. In doing so, we
hope that the United Kingdom can be at the forefront of a movement
towards a better jobs market, where opportunities are shared equitably
and where talent is nurtured and used to the full.
| 
