EU commissioner urges gender balance in company boards

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding has called on Europe to break the "glass ceiling" for women in company boards on Monday, as a latest report shows that only one in seven board members at Europe's top companies are female.

"The lack of women in top jobs in the business world harms Europe's competitiveness and hampers economic growth ... It is high time that Europe breaks the glass ceiling that continues to bar female talent from getting to the top in Europe's listed companies," Reding said.

According to a latest report from the European Commission, female members in Europe's top companies accounted for 13.7 percent last year, a slight increase from 11.8 percent from the year 2010. The report said it would take more than 40 years to reach a significant gender balance at this rate.

The report came one year after Reding had urged listed companies in Europe to voluntarily increase the number of women in their boardrooms.

However, over the past year, only 24 companies across Europe had pledged to raise female representation on their boards to 30 percent by 2015 and 40 percent by 2020.

The commission on Monday also launched a public consultation that would run until late May to seek views on possible actions at the EU level, including legislative measures.

"I will work closely with European Parliament and all member states to bring about change," Reding added.

Nearly 90 percent of Europeans believe that women should be equally represented in the top jobs in business and 75 percent are in favor of legislation on gender balance in company boards, according to a latest Eurobarometer survey published also on Monday.