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Application of the equitability provision

If a body, agency or institution exercising public authority, or a company in which the Government or a municipality is the majority shareholder has an administrative board, board of directors or some other executive or administrative body consisting of elected representatives, the body must comprise an equitable proportion of women and men.

Public sector responsibilities have also been delegated to parties other than public authorities. Such organisations constitute a so-called indirect public administration. If such indirect public administration involves exercising public authority, the equitability provision will apply. Public authority may be defined as a unilateral right to decide on interests of another legal entity. Such activities that are comparable to the activities of a public authority shall be carried out in accordance with the same principles of good administration as other administrative activities. Bodies exercising public authority are, for example, pension institutions, the central chamber of commerce and private educational institutions.

The aim of equitable composition is the same as referred to in Section 4a(1), i.e. 40–60%. Thus the aim of equitability has not, according to Section 4a(2), been set lower than in the quota provision, but for practical reasons the aim might be reached more seldom or further in the future than when implementing Section 4a(1).

The provision on equitable composition shall be applied to executive bodies of Government agencies and institutions and of bodies exercising public authority. These are usually directorates or boards of directors. Even at the stage when these candidates are nominated, the aim must be, whenever possible, an equitable gender distribution. The equitability provision also applies to executive and administrative bodies consisting of elected representatives in companies in which the Government or a municipality is the majority shareholder. According to the Companies Act, the supervisory board and the board of directors of a company, if any, will be selected by the general meeting of the shareholders. The equitability provision applies to the selection of elected officials by a public authority through its representatives at a shareholders' general meeting.