What is the EU doing?
EU Treaty and legislation
The European Union has been taking action for more than 50 years to defend the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value. Article 141 of the Treaty has provided a basis for the adoption of several important pieces of important European legislation on equal pay:
• The 1975 Equal Pay Directive. This bans discrimination on grounds of sex with regard to all aspects and conditions of pay. In particular, where a job classification system is used for determining pay, it must be based on the same criteria for both men and women and so drawn up as to exclude any discrimination on grounds of sex.
• The 2002 Directive on equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions. This Directive, which also applies to pay, introduces definitions of direct and indirect discrimination and requires Member States to set up Equality Bodies to promote and support equal treatment between women and men.
• Seven Directives concerning equal treatment between women and men (including the 1975 and 2002 Directives) were incorporated in a single Directive adopted in 2006. It brings more clarity to Community law on the field of equal treatment between women and men.
These instruments mean that it is illegal to discriminate against women in the labour market and pay women lower wages than men when doing the same work or work that is of an equal value.
The Commission ensures that EU legislation is transposed and applied correctly, with the support of the national bodies responsible for equality between women and men.
The Commission is analysing the effectiveness of Community law on equal pay. Depending on the result of the analysis the Commission may present new legislative proposals on this issue.
Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-2010
The Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-2010 sets out six priorities for EU action in the field of gender equality. One of its priorities is the achievement of equal economic independence for women and men. Eliminating the gender pay gap is one of the key actions under this priority. The Roadmap underlines the need for collective action to tackle the gender pay gap.
Communication ‘Tackling the pay gap between women and men’
A Communication adopted by the European Commission in 2007 examines the causes of the gender pay gap and puts forward a series of actions to tackle the problem:
• Ensuring better application of existing legislation.
• Fighting the pay gap as an integral part of Member States' employment policies.
• Promoting equal pay among employers, especially through social responsibility.
• Supporting exchange of good practices across the EU and involving the social partners.
Joint action
The European Commission is working with the Member States, the European Parliament and the European social partners to tackle the gender pay gap.
The European Pact for Gender Equality adopted by EU leaders in 2006 made fighting the gender pay gap a priority by encouraging action at Member State and Union level in equal pay for equal work.
The European Parliament considers the fight against the gender pay gap a political priority. It has recently approved a resolution with requests and recommendations to the Commission on the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women.
One of the priorities of the ‘framework of actions on gender equality’ which was adopted in March 2005 by the European social partners is the reduction of the pay gap. According to the first follow-up report on its implementation the framework of actions has prompted a large number of measures at national level which use a wide variety of instruments such as awareness-raising and training measures, the development of wage-comparison tools or strategies to reduce the pay gap.
SOURCE: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=683&langId=en
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