This legislative proposal was presented by the EU commission in brussels on wednesday. It’s a political goal – penalties are not inevitable for companies. When a supervisory board position is filled, around 5,000 companies affected had to give preference to a female candidate with the same qualifications. Sanctions, such as money-grabbing, are threatened if companies do not use a "fair and gender-neutral" selection procedure. This could apply when the law comes into force, so according to the EU commission in 2016. There are no requirements for executive board positions.
The EU law has been pushed into action in germany, where currently only 15.6 percent of the supervisory rate is female. "We believe that this must be regulated at the national level," said government spokesman steffen seibert in berlin. The legal basis of the EU decision is dubious, it said. Federal family affairs minister kristina schroder (CDU) also stressed that brussel has no jurisdiction: "national legislation must take precedence over brussel rules."
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