EU Directive on improving gender balance on boards published in the OJEU

The EU Directive on improving gender balance on boards of listed companies was published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) on 7 December. 

Amongst other measures, it provides that, by 30 June 2026, listed companies must have at least 40% of non-executive director positions held by members of the underrepresented sex (or 33% among all directors). For more information on what the Directive requires, see our previous blog post here).

The Directive will enter into force on 27 December 2022 (i.e. 20 days after publication in the OJEU). Member States will then have two years to transpose the Directive into national law, so until 27 December 2024.

However, companies should not take a wait-and-see approach, as increasing female representation on boards is not an overnight exercise. Targets are not just a tick-box exercise - it requires meaningful actions to be achieved, such as gender proofing the executive succession planning process.