OREANDA-NEWS. The European Commission is steadily moving towards meeting the target set by President Jean-Claude Juncker of ensuring that, by the end of the current mandate, at least 40% of its middle and senior managers are women.

According to the latest data, female managers at all levels have reached a total of 36% on 1 November 2017, up from 30% at the beginning of the mandate.

The progress is even stronger at senior management level (Directors, Deputy Directors-General and Directors-General) where the share of women has increased to 35% from 27% on 1 November 2014. At middle management level (Heads of Unit), 37% of managers are women, compared to 31% when the Juncker Commission took office.

Commissioner G?nther H. Oettinger, in charge of human resources and budget, said: "Gender-diverse management is more effective and achieves better results. The Commission owes the best to the EU citizens, which is why we have to lead by example. We are on the right path and we will continue making targeted efforts until our female colleagues are well represented at all management levels."

The progress comes after a series of measures that the Commission has put in place since the beginning of its mandate:

-   Efforts to identify, develop and support female talent, targeted training sessions and mentoring;

-   Under the Diversity and inclusion strategy adopted in the summer of 2017, specific management programmes and support for existing and new female networks;

-   Individual targets for all Commission departments when it comes to appointing someone as Head of Unit for the first time. Today's data shows that our departments are on the right path towards fulfilling their targets.