In the hemicycle of the Bundestag which will vote on this bill. (illustration) – ODD ANDERSEN / AFP
Germany will impose the presence of women on the boards of directors of large listed companies, according to a bill presented on Wednesday by the government of the leading European economy, which is clearly lagging behind on the issue. According to the text, which has yet to be adopted
by the deputies , at least one woman must sit on the governing bodies of German companies with more than three directors. The appointment of women will also be compulsory on the boards of directors of companies where the State is a shareholder and several public bodies.
“We can show that Germany is on the way to becoming a modern society with a future”, the Minister told the press. of the Family, social democrat, Franziska Giffey who carried the text with her colleague from Justice. The latter, the social democrat Christine Lambrecht, welcomed an “important signal for highly qualified women” calling on companies to “use the chance” offered by this quota to increase the feminization of management positions.
The right and the bosses not hyperchauds
According to a recent study by the German-Swedish Allbright Foundation, women only represent , 8% of the members of the boards of directors of 30 companies listed in Dax, the flagship index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange . For the thirty largest groups in each country, this proportion is 24, 6% in the United States, 22, 9% in Sweden, 22, 5% in Great Britain and 22, 2% in France, indicates this study.
The bill, which will have to be voted on before the end of the term in September, was supported by Chancellor Angela Merkel but has met a lot of resistance within her conservative party (CDU) which governs with the Social Democrats of the SPD. He is also criticized by part of the employers who denounce interference in the governance of companies. The progress is considered insufficient by the defenders of parity who believe that the impact of the quota will only affect a limited number of private companies.
In total, 73 companies would be affected by the rule change, including 30 currently do not have a woman on their board, according to the FidAR think tank, which advocates the representation of women at the top of companies. While welcoming the bill, the German economic research institute DIW estimated that women’s participation in the governing bodies of groups in the country continues to evolve at a “snail’s pace.”