British Panel Opposes Quotas to Place Women on Boards

Article here. (Get around login by pasting the URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/business/global/british-panel-opposes-quotas-to-place-women-on-boards.html into Google and clicking "Google Search", then click the first hit in the search results). Excerpt:

'LONDON — As the debate in Europe widens over the merits of female quotas on company boards, a parliamentary committee in Britain plans to stake out its position: not so fast.

A report to be released Friday by a House of Lords committee concludes that such quotas would “generate negative perceptions amongst women and business leaders” while failing to address the “root causes” of inequality. Quotas, and penalties to enforce them, should be considered only as a last resort, the report says.

The findings come as little surprise. The British government has led opposition to a push by the European Commission to legislate on the issue.

The study comes ahead of discussions scheduled for next week in Brussels on whether the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, should propose a binding, Union-wide gender quota on supervisory boards — enforceable by sanctions.'