Sexual tension

No one should doubt that Viviane Reding has good intentions. The EU’s justice commissioner believes that she is righting a wrong with her plan to require European companies above a modest size to reserve at least 40 percent of the non-executive board positions for women. But the idea is wrongheaded.

Lesser numerical inequality would be a worthy goal if the current gender imbalance on corporate boards was mainly caused by gender-based discrimination. That is possible but far from certain. Even if there is some residual anti-woman prejudice, the actual paucity of women on boards may well largely reflect actually differences between the sexes.

Sexual metaphysics are not required to see that quotas could end up increasing prejudice. Every woman board member would be under a cloud of doubt about her competence. Every man put aside for a woman suspected of not being able to make the grade otherwise will be embittered. In due course, women will crush any glass ceiling on board membership; but on their own, as they have already in so many domains.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of this proposal is its bossiness. Reding seems to think that the government can use any means, however crude, to fight whatever it decides is injustice. That logic leads directly to more quotas, perhaps in favour of ethnic or sexual minorities, or any group judged to be disadvantaged. And why not consider negative quotas, against the groups which the government one day decides have an unfair advantage: why not fight the over-representation of Oxford graduates, or that of people who had pushy parents?

Still, there is a silver lining to this bad plan. Reding didn’t propose a gender quota for executive directors, let alone executives. Even she probably realises that such discrimination would make companies less effective. But non-executive members of boards - whatever their gender, age and background - routinely fail to spot trouble and rarely provide valuable guidance. So if quota-promoted women do worse than men, no one will be able to tell.