What are the objections that are often raised against such quota regulations? First and foremost, the argument is put forward that there is a lack of suitable female candidates. Furthermore, people contend that a prescribed quota for supervisory boards would only take effect at a high executive level and therefore neglect the need for prior career development. At the same time, the introduction of a quota for women might be seen as potential discrimination against men.

Europe is taking on a pioneering role in terms of sustainability, and also when it comes to gender equality in management positions.

Practical examples show that binding gender quotas are most effective, in particular in conjunction with sanctions in the case of non-compliance. The latter is, however, only implemented in a few countries (for example, fines in Belgium, Norway, France, and Italy); yet in Germany and Austria, the current provision in the case of non-compliance is for a so-called “empty chair” (in other words, a vacant post). A quick look at the numbers makes it clear that soft guidelines or voluntary measures do not lead to noticeable improvements in female representation in management positions.

Seven EU member states currently prescribe binding quotas for supervisory boards. There are minimum quotas of 40% in France and Italy, 33% in Belgium and Portugal, 30% in Germany and Austria, and 25% in Greece. It is therefore not surprising that France, Belgium, and Italy have the highest proportions of women in supervisory boards within the EU. These are countries that not only implement binding gender quotas, but which also combine this with hard sanctions in cases of non-compliance. Hungary, Malta, and Estonia bring up the rear in this European comparison. These three countries do not prescribe binding quotas, nor have they issued voluntary recommendations for gender equality. Thus, whereas EU member states with a mandatory quota achieve a proportion of women in supervisory boards of just under 38% on average, this percentage is 24% for the remaining EU member states that only have soft measures or none at all. These countries also show almost no signs of improvement over the course of time (see the figure below).

The lack of legislation with regard to binding quotas for women is reflected in the gender equality for the occupation of executive management positions in listed companies. While three out of ten supervisory board members in the EU are women, this figure is a low one out of ten in the case of management board members.*

In conclusion, it can be stated that legislation regarding quotas for women is an important and necessary measure in order to achieve gender equality. At the same time, it can be noted that companies with a higher proportion of women demonstrate increases in both added value and sustainability.

*DIW Wochenbericht (2019): “Geschlechterquoten im europäischen Vergleich” [Weekly report from 2019 from the German institute for economic research Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V.: A European comparison of gender quotas]

EIGE (2021): “Statistical brief: Gender Balance in Corporate Boards 2020”

Mag. Magdalena Quell
Raiffeisen Kapitalanlage GmbH