France's lower house of parliament adopted a bill today that would force large companies to reserve at least 40% of their boardroom positions for women within six years.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure, which was presented in the lower house by the ruling centre-right UMP party, in the next few months.
The government signalled that it would support the bill, making it almost certain to pass into law once the upper house has approved it.
France has some women in senior economic positions including Anne Lauvergeon, who is chief executive of nuclear fuel, reactors and waste recycling group Areva, and Economy Minister Christine Lagarde.
But overall, female representation at boardroom level is low. According to the bill's text, women make up only 10% of the board members of companies on the blue chip CAC 40 index and 8 percent of the boards of the top 500 French companies.
'We have to create an electric shock to put an end to a situation which is both anachronistic and unjustifiable which keeps women out of positions where they are just as legitimate as men,’ said Marie-Jo Zimmermann, one of the bill's sponsors.
The bill adopted today watered down an earlier proposal which would have ordered full gender equality on company boards.
Under the current version, companies will have three years to ensure that 20% of their board is made up of women and they will have to reach the 40% level in six years.
All companies covered by the law must have at least one female board member the next time the board is renewed.
However, the left-wing opposition, which abstained in Wednesday's vote, said the measure did not go far enough.
‘Instead of attacking the roots of inequality, this bill only targets a limited objective which will not have much effect on all women at work,’ said Marie-George Buffet, secretary general of the French Communist Party.
If adopted, the law would bring France into line with Norway, where quotas ensuring a minimum level of female representation in boardrooms were introduced in 2003 and Spain, where a similar measure was passed in 2007.
A similar measure is due to be debated in the Belgian parliament soon.
