17 Amendments of Izaskun BILBAO BARANDICA related to 2012/0299(COD)
Amendment 40 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) The efficient use of human capital is the most important determinant of an economy's competitiveness and is key to addressing the EU's demographic challenges, to competing successfully in a globalised economy and to ensuring a comparative advantagebalanced economic and social development along more competitive and human lines vis-à-vis third countries. The pool of highly trained and qualified women is constantly growing as evidenced by the fact that 60 per cent of university graduates are female. A continued fFailure to draw onrecognise this pool in appointments to economic decision-making positions would amount to a failure to fully exploit skilled human capitalskills, knowledge and capital and detract from the competitiveness of EU production methods.
Amendment 46 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) At company level, it is widely acknowledged that the presence of women on boards improves corporate governance, because team performance and the quality of decision-making are enhanced due to a more diverse and collective mind-set incorporating a wider range of perspectives and therefore reaching more balanced decisions. Numerous studies have also shown that there is a positive relationship between gender diversity at top management level and a company's financial performance and profitability. Enhancing female representation on the boards of publicly listed companies in the Union can therefore have aand major companies, i.e. those that sell or invoice to a value exceeding EUR 1 bn, has a proven positive impact on the performance of companies concernedembracing equal opportunity policies.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) The appointment of women as board members is being hampered by a number of specific factors which can be overcome through not only sanctions but also educational initiatives and incentives to promote good practices. Firstly, it is essential to heighten awareness in business schools and universities of the benefits of gender equality in making companies more competitive. It is also necessary to encourage regular turnover of board members and introduce positive measures to promote and reward efforts by states and companies to adopt a more decisive approach to such changes in top economic decision-making bodies at EU level. Finally, taxation and public procurement both provide suitable channels for the promotion of greater gender balance on company boards.
Amendment 58 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) The proportion of women on company boards is progressing very slowly, with an average annual increase of just 0.6 percentage points during the past years. The rate of improvement has differed in individual Member States and has led to highly divergent results. Much more significant progress was noted in the Member States where binding measures have been introducedsuch as France, which set 2017 as its target for fulfilment of the objectives contained in the directive, meeting in less than two years the 20% target set for 2014, or countries such as Norway, which met the 40% target in three years. In both cases these results were achieve through binding measures. Growing discrepancies between Member States are likely to increase given the very different approaches pursued by individual Member States to increase the representation of females on boards that are being pursued by individual Member States.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The current lack of transparency of the selection procedures and qualification criteria for board positions in most Member States represents a significant barrier to more gender diversity among board members and negatively affects both the board candidates' careers and. Similarly, the absence of rules providing for effective board rotation also affects their freedom of movement, as well as investor decisions. Such lack of transparency prevents potential candidates for board positions from applying to boards where their qualifications would be most required and from challenging gender-biased appointment decisions, thus restricting their freedom of movement within the internal market. On the other hand, investors have different investment strategies that require information linked also to the expertise and competence of the board members. More transparency in the qualification criteria and the selection procedure for board members enables investors to better assess the company's business strategy and to take informed decisions.
Amendment 73 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15 a (new)
Recital 15 a (new)
(15a) Achievement of these objectives is of vital importance in ensuring Europe’s economic competitiveness, encouraging innovation and enhancing professional standards on company boards. The European Union has accordingly declared labour market equality referred to in the previous paragraph and progressively greater gender equality on company boards to be European decade of equality objectives and will examine ways of heightening awareness of progress being achieved in this area.
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Companies listed on stock exchanges enjoy a particular economic importance, visibility and impact on the market as a whole. The measures provided for in this Directive should therefore apply to listed companies, which are defined as companies incorporated in a Member State whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market within the meaning of Article 4(1) (14) of Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on markets in financial instruments, in one or more Member States. The measures described must also apply to major companies, i.e. those selling or invoicing to a value of over EUR 1bn per annum and subsidiaries thereof invoicing over EUR 100m and with at least five members on their board. These companies set standards for the economy in its entirety and their practices can be expected to be followed by other types of companies. The public nature of listed companies justifies that they be regulated to a greater extent in the public interest.
Amendment 100 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) Listed companies in the Union should be imposed obligations of means providing for appropriate procedures with a view of meeting specific objectives regarding the gender composition of their boards. Those listed companies, together with major companies and their subsidiaries within the meaning of recital 17 in whose boards members of the under-represented sex hold less than 40 per cent of non-executive director positions should make the appointments to those positions on the basis of a comparative analysis of the qualifications of each candidate, by applying pre- established, clear, neutrally formulated and unambiguous criteria, in order to attain the said percentage at the latest by 1 January 2020. Therefore, the Directive establishes the objective of at least 40 per cent of non- executive directors of the under- represented sex by that date. This objective in principle only concerns the overall gender diversity among the non-executive directors and does not interfere with the concrete choice of individual directors from a wide pool of male and female candidates in each individual case. In particular, it does not exclude any particular candidates for director positions, nor does it impose any individual directors on companies or shareholders. The decision on the appropriate board members thus remains with the companies and shareholders.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30 a (new)
Recital 30 a (new)
(30a) Similarly, annual awards should be received by e those Member States and companies taking the most effective measures to achieve the objectives of this directive from 2015, the year in which the Member States should have completed the transposition thereof.
Amendment 152 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) In addition to the measures relating to non-executive directors, and with a view also to improving the gender balance among directors involved in daily management tasks, listed companies should be required to make individual commitments regarding the representation of both sexes among executive directors, to be achieved at the latest by 1 January 2020. These commitments should aim to achieve tangible progress from the individual company's current position towards better gender balance. Companies to which this directive applies will be required to publish their stated goals regarding equality in their annual report, with shareholders’ meetings devoting a separate item to consideration of progress achieved in this area and the impact thereof on the profit and loss accounts of the companies concerned.
Amendment 176 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
(1a) Major company and subsidiary: European companies that sell or invoice to a value of over EUR 1 bn per annum and subsidiaries thereof that invoice over EUR 100m and have at least five members on their board;
Amendment 230 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 6
Article 4 – paragraph 6
Amendment 237 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Non-executive board members of companies to which this directive applies shall not be authorised to remain in the same post for more than two five-year terms. This criterion shall apply regarding the compulsory annual rotation of 10% of board members. Posts shall be advertised and filled in accordance with the general principles enunciated in paragraphs 3-5 of this article.
Amendment 259 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the body or bodies designated in accordance with Article 20 of Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast)35 are also competent for the promotion, analysis, monitoring and support of gender balance on the boards of listed companies. In the same way, Member States and the Commission shall give these bodies and the European Institute for Gender Equality the task of drawing up reports and encouraging economic and scientific research so as to draw on the knowledge of EU universities and business schools concerning the benefits of equality in enhancing competitiveness and economic performance. An annual prize shall be awarded for the most deserving academic initiative in this area.
Amendment 260 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6 a (new)
Article 6a AWARDS The European Commission and Member States may bestow awards and benefits on companies which comply most effectively with the objectives and provisions of this directive. At European level, the Commission and Member States shall take the following action: (a) The European Union, as part of a general campaign for the decade of equality shall present an annual award to the ten companies adopting the most effective practices for achievement of equality on their boards, including a European equal opportunities company of the year award. The European Parliament shall host the annual award ceremony. (b) Member States shall reward efforts by companies to achieve greater equality on their boards, for example in the form of tax concessions to offset a percentage of the fees payable to female board members on a sliding scale, from 90% at the outset in 2014 to 30% in 2020. (c) Specifications for the award of European public contracts shall include as an eligibility criterion compliance with the provisions of this directive by tendering companies in so far as the directive applies to them.
Amendment 276 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. The sanctions must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. They must be published annually in the official gazettes of the Member States and other media and identified by means of a logo in the advertising material of the companies in question and may include the following measures:
Amendment 289 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
(ba) Compulsory withholding of public contracts from companies perpetrating major infringements of this directive in so far as the provisions thereof are applicable to them.