Ten years after it was first proposed, the European Union (EU) Directive (2022/2381) on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies was recently finalized and took effect at the end of 2022. Member states have two years to adopt conforming legislation, if necessary, to require in-scope companies to meet gender representation quotas on their boards by the end of June 2026.
Only 30.6% of board members in the EU’s largest listed companies in 2021 were women, with significant differences among member states (from 45.3% in France to 8.5% in Cyprus). Many employers will need to act to meet the June 2026 deadline for achieving the applicable board gender balance target.