Germany agrees on quota of female board members

BERLIN--Germany's biggest companies will have to fill 30 percent of supervisory board positions with women candidates from 2016 under a law agreed late Tuesday by the country's ruling parties.

Under the new directive being adopted by the government coalition, firms that have not implemented a quota of female directors will now have to leave some unoccupied vacancies, the Associated Press reported. Currently, women hold just 22 percent of non-executive positions and six percent of management posts on the boards of companies listed in Germany's benchmark DAX 30 index, according to Economy Ministry figures.

"This law is an important step for equality because it will initiate cultural change in the workplace. It's now decided and it is coming. We can't afford to do without the skills of women," said Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Beginning 2016, the new plan, agreed by the leaders of Germany's Social Democrats and Merkel's conservative bloc at a late-night meeting Tuesday, will affect 100 listed companies, with another 3,500 firms having to publish gender-equality targets in the future, according to BBC News.

If any company fails to recruit the required percent of women to non-executive boardroom posts, they will be barred from giving vacant seats to men.

More than 80 percent of German boardroom positions are occupied by men, Deutsche Welle reported, even though roughly 40 percent of the federal cabinet is female.

On Wednesday, Women's Affairs Minister Manuela Schwesig told public radio that she did not expect many positions to go unfilled because of a shortage of female candidates.

"There are enough women who are qualified to do these very important jobs," she said.

Meanwhile, Germany has lagged far behind other European countries in terms of female representation in the boardroom.