BRUSSELS (Reuters), The European Union’s member states gave their approval to push firms to appoint women in at least 40% of nonexecutive director positions or 33% all board roles by 2027. It is this latest attempt to bring forward a draft law which has been stalled for ten years.

This legislation would be applicable to all companies with at least 250 employees and listed businesses. It is estimated that it will affect approximately 2,300 of the 450,000,000 people in the bloc.

The law does not prescribe any punishments for failure to achieve the goals. However, the directive obliges companies to implement clear policies that aim to close the gap.

According to the 27 member countries’ ministers for employment and social issues, they have in principle accepted the proposal. They can now begin discussions with the European Parliament about the plan.

This date has not yet been established. If the EU approves the rules, it could take several months.

In October 2021 only 30% of board members were women and only 8.5% of chairpersons were men. Ministers agreed in joint statements that the gap is large between members states.

Studies have shown that the COVID-19 epidemic disproportionately affected women, from domestic violence to jobs, resulting in a renewed push for quotas. This has further exacerbated gender inequality within the bloc.

France is one of eight EU member countries that have already implemented quotas at a country level. France could also opt out from the bloc-wide regulations. Others countries could opt out of the bloc-wide rules if they have made progress towards the goals through different means.

Ten EU member states already have measures that are below the proposed limit. Nine countries have yet to take any concrete action. Each country could choose between the targets of 33% or 40 percent.

Ursula von der Leyen (President of European Commission) stated in January that it was time to give a fresh push for women’s representation on boards.

On Monday, von der Leyen declared that “we want to break down the glass ceiling that hinders talented women from accessing boards.”