Quotas law: Always more women on boards of directors, a slower dynamic in management committees

The quotas law requires that at least a third of the seats In Boards of directors of listed companiesautonomous public enterprises and the national lottery are occupied by a member of under-represented sex. Since the entry into force of the law in 2011, the proportion of women administrators has increased sharply.

In 2024, women occupied an average of 37.3% of seats, compared to only 9.2% in 2008, an increase of more than 28 percentage points in 16 years. This increase confirms that quotas are a powerful lever to develop female representation.

A positive but insufficient dynamic in the steering committees

Although the law of July 28, 2011 does not apply to management committees, their composition has also been analyzed to better understand the global development of corporate governance.

Between 2020 and 2024, the share of women in management committees From all the companies studied increased from 14.8% to 21.1%. At the same time, progression in listed companies is also very marked, with a rate that has almost doubled, from 13.9% to 20.6%.

This development is encouraging, but it remains insufficient to guarantee a balanced representation of women in decision -making processes. Michel Pasteel, director of the institute confirms: “Experience shows this: without binding framework, progress in equality remains limited and too slow. Quotas are not a purpose in itself but an effective tool to put into practice gender equality in companies. It is time to expand the scope of the law to management committees, so that management respects the principle of equality between women and men. »»

The Institute calls for an ambitious transposition of the “Women on Boards” directive

97.1% of companies already comply with the quotas law and there is an average of 37.3% of women on the boards of directors. Belgium therefore has a solid basis for transposing the objectives of the European directive ” Women On Boards By June 2026.

The Institute calls for an ambitious transposition of this European directive in order to bring the quota to 40% in the boards of directors and establish a quota of 33% in the management committees, which will cover all the executive and non -executive positions.