Viviane Reding, justice commissioner, will...announce the first step towards European-level legislation, a year after she threatened mandatory measures if no progress was made on improving gender balance at the higher echelons of business.EU figures show only 13.7 per cent of board members at large listed companies are women, well below the 40 per cent threshold targeted by Brussels...A three-month public consultation will seek views on the proposed level of quotas, which companies would be affected, when the measures would come into force and sanctions for those who fail to meet them...“I am not a fanatic about quotas...but I like the results quotas bring about,” Ms Reding told the Financial Times in an interview. Any proposed legislation put forward by the European Commission faces an uphill battle before it comes into force...[refers to Siemens, Philips]