Let’s go! Spain’s leftist government introduced a bill on Tuesday to impose a minimum of 40% women in the executive. This text will also impose this 40% threshold on the boards of directors (CA) of large companies and in professional organizations (order of doctors, lawyers, etc.).
An “important step towards effective equality” in “the decision-making bodies of our country”, underlined Nadia Calviño, Minister of Economy and number two in the government of Pedro Sanchez. She said she wanted to break “the glass ceiling” faced by women in positions of power.
Already 63% women in the Spanish government
The bill provides for the imposition of effective parity in the lists of candidates for local and national elections, with an alternation between each sex so that women are not relegated to the bottom of the list.
The text also sets at 40% the minimum number of women on the board of directors of listed companies and in groups with more than 250 employees and a turnover of at least 50 million euros.
This threshold, already in force in several European countries, such as Norway, France and Finland, corresponds to the objective recently set by the European Parliament to feminize company boards of directors by 2026.
This text will have to be adopted by Parliament, but it seems unlikely that it will be before the legislative elections scheduled for the end of 2023. The government of Pedro Sanchez currently has 14 women ministers for eight men, which makes it one of the most women in the world, with 63% of women.
