Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the situation of women on corporate boards in the European Union, focusing on the development towards gender balance, with respect to if any regulations of women on corporate boards apply within the different European member states.

Research design – Data regarding gender distribution and regulations of women on corporate boards in the European member states was collected, available on the European Commission website. Corporate governance codes published within the countries have also been scrutinized for recommendations concerning board composition, in terms of gender. To enable comparison, the member states were divided into panels with respect to what regulation that applies in the countries respectively, in form of countries with quotas without sanctions (1), countries with quotas with sanctions (2), countries with corporate governance codes (3) and countries without regulations applicable (4). The research focuses on the years 2010 to 2014 and concerns the largest listed companies in the European member states.

Findings – This study confirms that women are underrepresented on corporate boards in all the European member states, however progress is visible in a majority of the countries. France, Italy and Belgium substantiated the highest development towards gender balance on boards, the only member states where gender quotas with sanctions applies. The findings indicate that gender balance regulations are necessary to generate a stable progress towards gender balance on corporate boards in the European Union. 

Contribution – This research contributes with insight on the development towards gender balance in the European member states. Furthermore, value is added to the debated subject of gender balance, foremost within the European Union, but also to the discussion of gender balance on corporate boards worldwide.