STORY: The ‘Women on Boards’ law has been approved by the European Parliament

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[That means that from 2026, women must make up at least 40% of non-executive

board members at large companies in the European Union]

It also requires that at least a third of all company directors are women

The law was first proposed a decade ago

[Roberta Metsola, European Parliament President]

"The Women on Boards Directive is just one piece of legislation, but it is an important one and a potential trailblazer and I hope that with this one we have managed to at least put a proper crack in the glass ceiling as I see this as the beginning, as the European beginning, of the end of gender inequality."

Currently, women account for fewer than one in 10 board chairs and chief executive positions