On Tuesday 5 March the European Parliament adopted (403 votes in favour, 166 against, 58 abstentions) the negotiating mandate of Samira Rafaela (Renew Europe, the Netherlands) and Kira Peter-Hansen (Greens/EFA, Denmark) on the directive on equal pay for equal work.
“With a great majority, we showed up for generations of women. Equal pay for equal work will become the norm”, Ms Rafaela said, stressing that the vote “is a victory for all women in Europe”. Ms Peter-Hansen also welcomed the “clear signal” sent by the European Parliament ahead of the interinstitutional negotiations.
MEPs lowered the threshold of companies covered by the directive to 50 employees (instead of the 250 in the European Commission’s original proposal - see EUROPE 12664/1) to broaden the scope of the directive (see EUROPE 12913/24). This means that companies with 50 or more employees will have to disclose the information necessary to make it easier for people to compare their salaries. The aim is to expose possible differences in treatment because of gender.
In the event that pay reports reveal a gender pay gap of at least 2.5% (as opposed to 5% in the European Commission’s proposal), companies will have to draw up an action plan in favour of women in collaboration with workers’ representatives. In addition, MEPs propose that the Commission create a label for virtuous companies that do not have a gender pay gap.
Above all, MEPs are calling for a ban on contractual clauses that prevent workers from disclosing information about their pay or from requesting information about the same or other categories of workers’ pay.
Partisan divide
The vote revealed a clear partisan divide. S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left voted almost unanimously in favour of the mandate. Some 70 Renew Europe MEPs supported the text. 18 abstained and 6 voted against it.
The EPP, among whom there was much doubt (see EUROPE 12924/22), was particularly divided: 70 voted for the mandate, 84 against (many German, Spanish and Eastern European delegations) and 7 abstained.
Among the ECR group, 46 voted against, 10 abstained and only 1 member voted in favour. In the Identity and Democracy Group, 23 MEPs voted in favour, 18 abstained and 14 voted against the text.
Trade unions satisfied, employers less so
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed the vote in a press release. Deputy Secretary General Esther Lynch said there should be an end to “half measures”. In particular, she highlighted the importance of the fight against wage secrecy clauses.
On the contrary, the enthusiasm was less palpable among employers, such as CEEMET, which represents the interests of businesses in the technology and metal sector. For the latter organisation, the European Parliament’s position lacks “pragmatism”.
In particular, CEEMET wants to include the presumption of adequacy in the scope of the directive and an exemption for companies with less than 250 employees.
The Council adopted its position in early December 2021, in which the employee threshold was maintained at 250 (see EUROPE 12847/3). Interinstitutional negotiations are expected to start in May, a parliamentary source told us.
To consult the European Parliament’s position: https://aeur.eu/f/14x
To consult the EU Council’s position: https://aeur.eu/f/14n (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)