Discrimination against women on the national labour market is manifested in professional gender segregation, whereby employed women predominate in “female” sectors, such as the education, health and social welfare systems, and face a glass ceiling, which is why the share of women in managerial positions and in representative bodies is significantly lower than the proportion of men. Regardless of the normative framework in Croatia based on the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, the Law on Gender Equality and the Labour Law, the underrepresentation of female presence in the boards of directors of the largest publicly listed companies as weal in the highest levels of administrative position is one of the most important indicators of the existence of hidden gender discrimination at the national level. According to its Gender Equality Strategy, the EU is committed to take concrete steps to promote gender equality in decision-making, including proposing legislation where relevant. On the way to achieving goals in the field of Gender Equality, the European Parliament and Council established the latest Directive on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies and related measures. As the deadline for the implementation of the Directive into the national legislation is relatively short, it is important in this research to determine the current situation regarding this issue at the national level. Furthermore, the specific objective of the research is to determine and identify compatibility between the EU and national policies on gender equality and to emphasize challenges and barriers that prevent progress in this area on national level. Primarily, with the aim of determining the position of women in the political, business and administrative spheres, the historical-legal context will be analysed. Further short attention will be paid to EU public policies in this field, basic strategic documents, national politics and mechanisms emphasizing greater participation and involvement of women in public decision-making processes. In this regard, the research will include the analysis of the normative framework at the national level and beyond and the available data on the representation of women in the labour market. Finally, recommendations will be made to improve and enhance the system with proposals of good approaches and practice.