MADRID, May 23. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Government has approved this Tuesday, in the second round, the Law of Parity Representation that will force the presence of at least 40% of women in the Government, the boards of directors of large companies, electoral candidacies and the bodies constitutional.
This was announced by the First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño, this Tuesday, during the press conference after the Council of Ministers.
The Government approved this rule in the first round last March, although at that time it only affected the electoral lists, the composition of the Government, the boards of directors of large companies, the governing boards of professional associations and the juries of public recognition of personalities.
Now the Executive has introduced a modification so that it also affects constitutional bodies and bodies of constitutional relevance such as “the Constitutional Court, the Council of State, the Fiscal Council, the Court of Accounts or the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) so that they have equal representation”, as Calviño has specified.
In addition, the First Vice President of the Government has indicated that another of the modifications introduced consists in that “the calendar” for the implementation of these objectives is made more flexible, which will go from 2024 for the Ibex 35 to 2028 for public interest entities.
Specifically, Ibex 35 companies must have a minimum of 40% female directors before June 30, 2024, a term that is extended for listed companies with a market capitalization of more than 500 million, which will have until June 30. June 2025 to achieve this goal.
Likewise, companies with a market capitalization of less than 500 million will have one more year, until June 30, 2026, to have at least 40% women on their boards of directors. In turn, public interest companies will have to reach 33% of women in their management bodies until June 30, 2026 and 40% before June 30, 2028.
“MOST STRICT” PENALTY REGIME FOR LARGE COMPANIES
Calviño explained that the penalty regime is stricter in the event of non-compliance with the presence of women required by law on boards of directors, while in the case of management positions, the company will have to explain if the standard, establish protocols and review their processes to ensure that this is the case. In addition, the penalty regime will be “stricter” for large listed companies.
“With this law we take an important step to achieve effective parity without thereby establishing disproportionate demands on large companies and, of course, without establishing these requirements for small companies, in order to have a regime that is proportionate and that achieves objectives, without thereby having a negative impact from the point of view of the operation of companies in our economy”, he assured.
In his opinion, with this regulation, which will now be sent to the Congress of Deputies to begin its parliamentary process, Spain “is at the forefront in terms of parity and in terms of breaking the glass ceiling and effective equality between men and women on an international level”.
Calviño has indicated that despite the “advances” achieved in terms of the participation of women in the labor market in 2022, there is still “a long way to go” since “the presence of women on the boards of directors of listed companies is at 32% and does not reach 22% in the case of senior management positions”.
