On Tuesday 7 May, the ministers responsible for equality from the Member States of the European Union will meet in Brussels for the first time for an ‘Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council’ (EPSCO), dedicated entirely to equality.
Three directives legislating in this area are due to be adopted. The first is the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (see EUROPE 13344/24). This directive aims to standardise legislation within the European Union to strengthen protection and facilitate access to justice for women in all Member States. The directive also proposes to combat female genital mutilation and certain specific forms of cyber-violence, and to introduce safer, gender-sensitive reporting procedures.
The new standards for equal treatment bodies set out in two directives will also be ratified, requiring Member States to ensure the independence of these bodies and provide them with sufficient resources to support all victims of discrimination.
Equal treatment. The ministers will also hold a policy debate on the Equal Treatment Directive (see EUROPE 13400/9), which proposes to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in the areas of social protection, social advantages, education and access to goods and services.
The discussions are intended to lay the foundations for a consensus, a general approach, during the Belgian Presidency of the Council, which would represent a major step forward. And with good reason: the dossier, which requires unanimity, has been regularly examined since 2008.
Financial empowerment of women. The Council is expected to approve conclusions on the economic empowerment and financial independence of women, based on a report by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and drawing on the Beijing Platform for Action, the United Nations’ agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
These conclusions recommend measures to integrate a gender perspective into economic and legislative policies, tackle economic violence, reduce the pay gap and improve the collection of sex-disaggregated data.
Women in public life. The under-representation of women in public life will also be at the centre of discussions. The ministers will examine the obstacles to gender equality at all decision-making levels and propose national strategies to improve the situation. Initiatives at EU level to promote the participation of women in public life will also be considered.
Finally, a number of information items will be presented to the ministers. The aim will be to present the events on equality organised by the Presidency and a proposal to change the name of the ‘EPSCO’ Council. Progress on the Commission’s violence against women survey, the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, ratified by the EU last summer (see EUROPE 13205/21), the 2020-2025 LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (see EUROPE 13346/14), the EU Anti-racism Action Plan and the election campaign for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are also expected to be discussed. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)