The European Parliament has backed a proposal calling for a 40 per cent quota of women on company boards by 2020. The EU parliament approved the proposal by a 459-148 vote with 81 abstentions on Wednesday, but the toughest test will come when it goes to member states for further discussion as soon as next month. EU Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding called the resolution a “historic moment for gender equality in Europe”. The Commission says that last year less than 15 per cent of board members at Europe’s biggest companies were women.