Press Release: EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding meets European business leaders to push for more women in boardrooms

Corporate Europe is still a man's world: just one in 10 board members at Europe's biggest companies are women and in 97% of cases the board is chaired by a man. Studies show that businesses with more women at the top outperform “men only” companies. Their operating income is higher and they are better at attracting talent and understanding customers. Making the most of Europe's female talent in the workforce is not just good for business – it also benefits the economy and society as a whole. Women represent 60% of university graduates, but continue to be under-represented in economic decision-making posts.

At a specially convened summit in Brussels, European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding met CEOs and chairs of boards of publicly listed companies from 10 European countries. Vice-President Reding chaired the business leaders' meeting together with Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. They discussed how to get more women into top jobs and whether self-regulation or regulation should be the way to make significant changes quickly. In the afternoon, the Commission's Justice department will hold a "mini-hearing" with social partners on the same issue.

European Commission: Memo/11/124: EU Justice Commissioner Reding challenges business leaders to increase women’s presence on corporate boards with “Women on the Board Pledge for Europe” http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/124&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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