Austrian gender quota too hazy

The Austrian government plans to introduce a quota for women on company boards, but with considerable restrictions, which in the eyes of the left-liberal daily Der Standard will render the quota ineffectual and superfluous: "On the one hand we have the rhetorical 'Yes' for a quota. On the other hand the whole thing is being watered down: with the limitation to 'supervisory boards' in companies 'with close ties to the state', with the seven-year delay for the goals to be achieved and finally with the complete absence of any punishment should the requirements not be met. ... If a government believes quotas will solve the prevailing inequalities between men and woman, then it must stand by what it believes. In many cases seeking compromise is understandable, and in some it is unavoidable, but in this case it is simply wrong. The hope that men would voluntarily offer women their positions has proven hollow. A quota without sanctions lacks the power to effect any real change in gender relations."

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