A world-leading country in gender equality: the quota law in Norway

Attention has returned to gender quota laws in Europe after the approval of the European Directive on improving the gender balance among directors on the boards of publicly listed companies (Directive EU 2022/2381, the Women on Boards Directive, hereafter WoB Directive). Gender quota laws have achieved great results in Europe and contributed to facilitating the appointment of women at the top management levels. However, women remain significantly under represented, and the worldwide rate of women on boards of directors is increasing too slowly to reach the goals of gender equality expected in the Gender Equality Strategy. Against this background, even the WoB Directive appears as a rather hesitant attempt to harmonise gender balance on the boards of directors for companies in member States. This chapter examines the regulation of the gender balance on company boards in Norway under the Public Limited Liabilities Companies Act. The Norwegian experience represents an interesting case because, as the first country to approve a mandatory quota law, it has inspired other countries around the world. Furthermore, Norway aspires to continue its role as a pioneer in this area, with the presentation of a legal proposal mandating large private companies to have a minimum of 40% representatives of each gender on their boards of directors. In terms of scope, the consultation published on December 12, 2022 sur132 No women no board passes even the WoB Directive, which limits the mandatory quota regime only to listed companies, mostly recalling the original content of the proposal presented by the European Commission in 2012. In this regard, this chapter is one of the first explorations of the Norwegian proposal. It will consider on the challenges of disclosure and enforcement, with the aim of triggering a debate about the po tential implementation of similar regulations in other European jurisdictions, as well as about more appropriate legal instruments that ensure the effectiveness of the gender balance measures.