[ParlTrack]

Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;~~Rejects the Commission's proposal.

2013/09/02
Committee: JURI FEMM

Proposal for a directive
Recital 7 a (new)

(7a) The appointment of board members and executive and non-executive directors shall fully remain the prerogative and responsibility of the shareholders.

2013/09/02
Committee: JURI FEMM

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 7 b (new)

(7b) Reducing individuals to representatives of different groups in society, such as men, women or ethic minorities, runs counter to the objective of providing equal opportunities for all. Every individual shall be regarded as an individual and for that reason there should be no quotas on representation imposed by law.

2013/09/02
Committee: JURI FEMM

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 16

(16) The Union should therefore aim to increase the presence of women on company boards, in order both to boost economic growth and the competitiveness of European companies and to achieve effective gender equality on the labour market. This aim should be pursued through minimum requirements on positive action in the form of binding measures aiming at attaining a quantitative objective for the gender composition of boards of listed companies, in the view of the fact that Member States and other countries which have chosen this or a similar method have achieved the best results in reducing the under-representation of women in economic decision-making positions.deleted

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 16 a (new)

(16a) The appointment of board members and executive and non-executive directors shall fully remain the prerogative and responsibility of the shareholders.

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 16 b (new)

(16b) Reducing individuals to representatives of different groups in society, such as men, women or ethic minorities, runs counter to the objective of providing equal opportunities for all. Every individual shall be regarded as an individual and for that reason there should be no quotas on representation imposed by law.

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 22

(22) Listed companies in the Union should be imposed obligations of means providing for appropriate procedures with a view of meeting specific objectives regarding the gender composition of their boards. Those listed companies in whose boards members of the under-represented sex hold less than 40 per cent of non- executive director positions should make the appointments to those positions on the basis of a comparative analysis of the qualifications of each candidate, by applying pre-established, clear, neutrally formulated and unambiguous criteria, in order to attain the said percentage at the latest by 1 January 2020. Therefore, the Directive establishes the objective of at least 40 per cent of non-executive directors of the under-represented sex by that date. This objective in principle only concerns the overall gender diversity among the non-executive directors and does not interfere with the concrete choice of individual directors from a wide pool of male and female candidates in each individual case. In particular, it does not exclude any particular candidates for director positions, nor does it impose any individual directors on companies or shareholders. The decision on the appropriate board members thus remains with the companies and shareholders.deleted

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 24

(24) Determining the number of non- executive director positions necessary to meet the objective requires further specification since for most board sizes it is mathematically possible only to go beyond or remain below the exact share of 40 per cent. Therefore, the number of board positions necessary to meet the objective should be the number closest to 40 per cent. At the same time, in order to avoid discrimination of the initially over- represented sex, listed companies should not be obliged to appoint members of the under-represented sex to half or more of the non-executive board positions. Thus, for example, members of the under- represented sex should hold at least one position on boards with three or four non- executive directors, at least two positions on boards with five or six non-executive directors, and at least three positions on boards with seven or eight non-executive directors.deleted

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 28

(28) This Directive aims to improve the gender balance among directors of companies listed on stock exchanges and thus to contribute to the realisation of the principle of equal treatment between men and women, recognised as a fundamental right of the Union. Listed companies should therefore be required to disclose, upon the request of an unsuccessful candidate, not only the qualification criteria upon which the selection was based, but also the objective comparative assessment of those criteria and, where relevant, the considerations tilting the balance in favour of a candidate who is not of the under-represented sex . These limitations to the right to respect for private life with regard to the processing of personal data, recognised by the Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter, and the obligation for listed companies to supply that information, upon request, to the unsuccessful candidate, are necessary and, in conformity with the principle of proportionality, genuinely meet recognised objectives of general interest. They are therefore in line with the requirements for such limitations laid down in Article 52(1) of the Charter and with the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice.deleted

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Recital 29

(29) Where an unsuccessful candidate of the under-represented sex establishes the presumption they were equally qualified as the appointed candidate of the other sex, the listed company should be required to demonstrate the correctness of the choice.deleted

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

Gunnar HÖKMARK

Proposal for a directive
Article 4

~~[...]~~deleted

2013/05/13
Committee: ECON

11 Amendments of Gunnar HÖKMARK related to 2012/0299(COD)

ParlTrack - 2011-2024