Germany's Coalition to Require More Women in Boardrooms

Before Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) reached a coalition agreement with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in November, it set 10 conditions. One of them, die Frauenquote, or the women’s quota, has many of the country’s corporate executives über annoyed. The idea is to force companies listed on Germany’s DAX index to fill at least 30 percent of their supervisory board seats with women by 2016. (German public companies have a supervisory board, equivalent to a board of directors, and a management board that runs the company.)

Prior to the September election, the proposal had only the tepid support of a few leading Christian Democrats. But Merkel embraced much of the SDP platform, including the quota, to strike a coalition deal. Once a government is sworn in—probably on Dec. 17—gender quotas will be at the top of the agenda, along with a national minimum wage and a lower retirement age. The measure will also set quotas for women on management boards.