Without binding measures on equal pay, women will still have to wait an average of 84 years for equal pay, if current trends continue, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said on Monday 5 October.
The pay gap between men and women in the EU has in fact only decreased by 1% over the last eight years, according to Eurostat.
In some countries, however, the gap is narrowing even more slowly: in France, where it has fallen by only 0.1% since 2010, the ETUC notes that it will take more than 1,000 years to achieve equality.
The ETUC regrets that, in this context, the Commission has planned to postpone the publication of its proposal for a Directive on wage transparency from 4 November to 15 December.
The organisation is also concerned that this publication remains “to be confirmed”, as suggested in the document, dated 29 September, detailing the agenda for the next Commission meetings.
Last March, the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, promised that binding measures on pay transparency would be presented by the end of the year, after consultation with the social partners (see EUROPE 12440/7).
The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, made this one of her key promises (see EUROPE 12298/18) and pledged to deliver within the first 100 days of her mandate. She did not succeed (see EUROPE 12442/15). (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)