Silly question: aren't directors in listed companies elected (at least nominally) by the share holders? What happens if they keep picking too many of the same s

Silly question: aren't directors in listed companies elected (at least nominally) by the share holders? What happens if they keep picking too many of the same sex candidates? Can the CEO overrule them? Are members of the majority sex not allowed to stand anymore if to many are elected? Also, since this is a Directive it just tells member nations governments to do it right? If it did it itself, it would be a Regulation. Like MiFID (told nations to do X) vs MIFIR (did it at the EU level directly). Similar to a US "unfunded mandate".