Work in Parliament Maria da Graça Carvalho appointed shadow rapporteur for the “Women on Boards” directive, on the FEMM commission

MEP Maria da Graça Carvalho was appointed shadow rapporteur for the directive on improving the gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges, commonly known as the ‘Women on Boards’ proposal, which promotes greater gender parity on the boards of directors of publicly traded companies.

Presented in 2012, the Commission's proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on improving the balance between men and women in the post of non-executive director of publicly-traded companies and other related measures was supported by the Parliament, at first reading (November 2013). However, due to reservations from some Member States, no agreement was reached and the proposal was since then blocked in the Council.

Since the adoption of its original position, Parliament has continued to push for progress. The current President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has stated in her political guidelines for the next European Commission (2019-2024) that she will seek to form a majority to unblock the Directive. The previous Commission, too, remained strongly committed to the proposed directive.