Europe considers forcing issue of quotas for women on boards

Article here. Excerpt:

'Christine Lagarde used to find them "offensive." Now the first female director of the International Monetary Fund sees gender quotas as a necessary, albeit temporary, tool to help women reach top jobs.
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Half a century after the European Union’s Treaty of Rome sowed the seeds for gender equality in Europe, Ms. Lagarde’s push for mandatory corporate board quotas for women – which proponents hope will trickle down and improve gender equality throughout workplaces – is gaining momentum, and dividing governments, across the continent.

Last fall, European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding pushed through a proposal for gender quotas for the board of corporations across Europe. Men, she said, continue to dominate top jobs, although women are better educated and the economy needs them. But with German Chancellor Angela Merkel vetoing the idea, whether the 27-member EU Council, the European Union’s legislative body, turns the idea into law this fall remains to be seen.'