A document compiled by the European Parliament's women's rights committee (FEMM), dated 23 January, says that the United Kingdom's departure from the EU could lead to a slight shift at the Council as regards files linked to gender equality.
"Brexit will not have any technical or legal impact on the existing or pending legislation of the FEMM committee (...) There are nevertheless political considerations which may have an impact on pending legislation", the FEMM committee states.
Overall, the document says that the only legislative change to be provided for will be the removal of the reference to the UK in the directive against human trafficking (2011/36/EU). This does not change much in reality as London was already not bound by this legislation. The FEMM committee document also sets out the consequences on the share of the EU's budget dedicated to gender equality, but it does not, however, set this impact out in terms of figures. For the rest, the changes are expected to be minimal ... but highly political, as the UK is one of the main opponents of gender equality-related issues, such as maternity leave, women's quotas on company boards, and the Istanbul Convention. The FEMM committee is under no illusions, however, as it concludes that after the UK's departure, there are still expected to be a number of member states opposed to these issues.
See: http://bit.ly/2lzd0g1 (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)