EU mulls gender balance on company boards

BRUSSELS, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 percent of non-executive directors on the boards of big listed companies across Europe should be females by 2020, said the latest legislative proposal from the European Commission on Wednesday.

The Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, aims at breaking the glass ceiling for female elites in around 5,000 publicly listed companies across Europe, excluding small and medium-sized enterprises.

Member states will be obliged to lay down sanctions for companies in breach of the proposal, according to the Commission.

On average, 85 percent of non-executive board members in Europe's listed companies and over 91 percent of executive board members are males, in spite of increasing appeals for more females.

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