The European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, did not avoid criticism: on Thursday 21 January, when she spoke at the plenary session of the European Parliament during a joint debate on three reports on gender equality, she was repeatedly interrogated about her long-awaited legislative proposal on wage transparency.
The text, which was initially due to be presented before March 2020, is still being drafted by the European Commission services (see EUROPE 12635/15), which MEPs have expressed concern about in their reports.
For example, Frances Fitzgerald’s (EPP, Ireland) report on the gender perspective during and after the Covid-19 crisis was adopted with an amendment, introduced by Mrs Fitzgerald herself, “urges the Commission to meet its commitment to present binding measures on pay transparency promptly in order to effectively address gender pay and pension gaps”.
In its initial version, the report, adopted by 485 votes to 86 with 108 abstentions, welcomed the introduction of these measures “in 2020”.
The report by Maria Noichl (S&D, Germany) on the EU gender equality strategy was also adopted - by 464 votes to 119 with 93 abstentions - with two amendments.
For the first, MEPs said they regretted “that the proposal for binding pay transparency measures was not introduced in 2020 as planned”. For the second, they reiterate their regrets about the “delay” and call on the Commission to present its proposal “as soon as possible”.
This request was also made several times during the plenary discussions. “We are asking you to bring forward the pay transparency text urgently”, Frances Fitzgerald insisted in particular from the very first minutes of the debate.
Commissioner’s announcements
This scenario was probably anticipated by Commissioner Dalli, who indicated in her first speech that her team was “in the final preparation phase” and intended to present this legislative proposal, the first of its mandate, “shortly”.
“In essence, the purpose is to detect and prevent gender-based pay discriminations or unjustified pay differences and empower those being discriminated against to enforce their rights to equal pay”, she briefly recalled.
Ms Dalli then detailed a series of other projects and upcoming deadlines. In particular, she committed herself to presenting a legislative proposal by the end of 2021 to “prevent and combat specific forms of gender-based violence”.
She will also work over the next 12 months on the preparation of the initiative to extend the EU list of crimes to include hate speech and hate crimes with a gender perspective - an initiative announced in the framework of the Strategy for Equality of LGBTIQ Persons (see EUROPE 12600/23).
“These actions will be followed by recommendations on the prevention of harmful practices against women and girls, such as female mutilations”, the Commissioner added.
She also announced her intention to establish a framework for cooperation with digital platforms to combat online violence against women.
Initiatives in the field of childcare and long-term care would also be in preparation.
Three reports adopted
These commitments should partly respond to the requests made by MEPs in the three reports adopted on Thursday. In addition to those of Frances Fitzgerald and Maria Noichl, mentioned above, a report by Maria da Graça Carvalho (EPP, Portugal) on women’s participation in the digital economy was also put to the vote and approved by Parliament, with even more open support (598 votes in favour, 45 against and 40 abstentions).
Consequences of Covid-19. The first report takes stock of the consequences of the health crisis in terms of gender (see EUROPE 12470/16). It notes, for example, the higher mortality rate among men and calls on the World Health Organization and EU agencies to address this issue.
Considering that women are hit harder by the economic crisis, MEPs also call on Member States to include targeted measures to improve gender equality in their national recovery plans.
European strategy. In the second report, MEPs welcome an ambitious new European strategy on gender equality (see EUROPE 12440/7), but deplore the lack of targets set for 2025 and clear monitoring tools.
They therefore advocate, among other things, for binding measures to define and prohibit violence and harassment at work, as well as the upgrading of wages and working conditions in sectors with a high female predominance, such as childcare, health and retail.
Digital divide. Finally, in the third report, MEPs call on the Commission to tackle the persistent gender gaps in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
In particular, they require that measures be taken to encourage girls to undertake and pursue studies in mathematics, coding, ICT and science.
Finally, they say EU funds should be used to finance projects led by women in the digital sector, training for human resources departments on “unconscious discriminatory bias” or annual reports on diversity and the gender pay gap by ICT companies.
To view the three adopted reports: http://bit.ly/2Y0N2Xf (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)