Belgium’s Federal Government agreed last week to introduce gender quotas for the executive teams of autonomous state-owned companies, such as the postal group bpost and the railway company SNCB-NMBS.
For the first time, the rule will apply not only to boards of directors but also to executive committees. At least 33% of members will have to be women.
While there is no fixed deadline yet, the Federal Minister for Equal Opportunities, Rob Beenders (Vooruit), said companies would have to comply "in the short term".
The impact will vary by company. At the bpost group, recently renamed Bnode, only two of the 1o executive directors are women, meaning changes will be needed. Meanwhile, SNCB-NMBS already meets the requirement, with three women in a nine-member team.
Belgium already has quotas for boards of directors, which have significantly increased female representation; according to government figures, the share of women on boards rose from under 10% in 2008 to more than 37% today.
Beenders said quotas are a temporary measure to break long-standing barriers.
The minister originally proposed stricter rules, including a 40% quota and extending them to large private companies, but faced resistance from coalition partners. They argued that quotas are too intrusive and that companies should be free to choose their leaders based on merit.
As a result, the government settled on a lower threshold and limited the measure to state-owned firms.
The draft law will now be sent for advice to the Council of State and other bodies before going to parliament for approval.
