Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2013-11-19-Speech-2-692-000"
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"en.20131119.48.2-692-000"2
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"Mr President, no one in this Chamber would say they are against women living up to their full potential, and I hope we all agree that diversity in boardrooms makes for better companies. Where we differ is on how to achieve these things. I have confidence in women’s ability to get to the boardroom on merit.
Yes, the road is not always easy. Yes, there are obstacles. We need to look at opening a pathway for women: encouraging and empowering those who want to move forward. Quotas may cure the symptoms but they do not cure the disease. We have seen in Norway that quotas have failed. Women were reduced to so-called ‘golden skirts’, with one woman holding non-executive posts on 90 different boards. In spite of quotas, the number of senior women in business in Norway, like the number of women CEOs, is lower than the European average.
We can get more women onto boards by working with, and encouraging, companies. In the UK we have seen a steady increase over the past three years, from 12% to 15.5%, to the latest figure of 19%, all achieved through a voluntary approach. I urge you to vote against the Commission’s plans for quotas. Quotas are not only insulting to women but also dangerous to business. We must not vote for rules that would wind up companies failing to meet EU-imposed targets for women on boards. Are our economies so strong that we can afford to turn away multinational companies, who may not want to do business here?
We must reject plans to extend the scope of the Directive to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are already groaning under the weight of EU legislation. We need more women at the top, not just in non-executive positions but in executive positions too. Let us give women the tools to open up the pathway and to work together as role models and mentors. Women deserve our respect and our belief in their ability; they do not deserve to be undermined by quotas."@en1
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