The Netherlands is one of nine countries which have written to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso and deputy Viviane Reding opposing plans to impose a 40% female quota on listed companies, the Financial Time reports.

The paper says the Netherlands, Malta and six central and eastern European countries are supporting Britain’s efforts to have the proposal dropped.
The joint effort may force Brussels to drop the legislation, as the nine countries have sufficient votes to block the plan under the EU’s complex majority voting process, the FT says.
National level
The letter states the signatories agree there are still too few women on boards but says any measures to improve the situation should be implemented at a national level.
The Netherlands is one of a number of countries which already have targets. It wants to ensure 30% of executive boards are made up of women by 2016.
However, research by management consultancy Berenschot in July showed just 5% of top level executives at companies listed on the AEX and MidKap indices are women and of them, two thirds come from abroad.
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