PURPOSE: presentation of a report on the application
of Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the implementation of the principle of equal
opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of
employment and occupation.
Objectives of the report: this Directive consolidates and modernises the EU
acquis in this area by merging previous Directives (Council
Directive 75/117/EEC; Council Directive 76/207/EEC; Directive
2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; Council
Directive 86/378/EEC; Council Directive 96/97/EC; Council Directive
97/80/EC, Council Directive 98/52/EC) and introducing some novel
features.
This report assesses Member States transposition
of the Directives novel features and the effectiveness of its
application and enforcement. The report noted that the European
Parliament has consistently called for more action to enhance
the application of the equal pay provisions at European level
and adopted resolutions to that effect in 2008 and 2012.
The Commission's Strategy for equality between
women and men (2010-2015) set out ways to
implement the principle of equal pay more effectively in practice
and actions to reduce the persistent gender pay gap. The Commission
launched a study assessing options to strengthen the application of
this principle, such as improving the implementation and
enforcement of existing obligations and measures aimed at enhancing
the transparency of pay.
This report includes a section that assesses how equal
pay provisions are applied in practice. This report is accompanied
by a Commission Staff Working Document that consists of four
annexes:
- a section on gender-neutral job evaluation and
classification systems;
- a summary of equal pay case law of the Court of
Justice of the European Union ('CJEU');
- examples of the national case-law on equal
pay;
- a description of the factors that cause the gender pay
gap, the Commission's actions to tackle it and examples of national
best practices.
Transposition of the Directive and infringement
procedures: as a result of the
Commissions conformity checks, questions were raised with 26
Member States on the conformity of their national legislation with
the Directives novelties. In two Member States the
transposition is sufficiently clear and compliant that no further
information is required.
Some of the Directives elements come from
previous Directives, which have been repealed as a result of the
recasting exercise. Transposition of these older elements of the
Directive was already monitored as part of conformity checks on the
previous Directives, most recently Directive 2002/73/EC.
Initially, infringement proceedings on the basis of non-conformity
with Directive 2002/73/EC were launched in 2006 against 23 Member
States. All these proceedings apart from one have been closed,
since the Member States have brought their national laws in
conformity with EU law. The remaining case concerns the
obligation to adequately protect the rights of employees on
maternity, adoption or parental leave when they return to work. It
was referred to the CJEU on 24 January 2013.
Overall assessment:
Member States were only obliged to transpose the Directives
novelties. In general, they do not seem to have used this
opportunity to more comprehensively review their national
systems to simplify and modernise equal treatment legislation.
The Commissions services are currently asking detailed
questions of 26 Member States concerning their transposition and
implementation.
The future challenge for all Member States will be to
move from correctly transposing the Directive into national law to
ensuring full application and enforcement of the rights established
by the Directive in practice.
The Directive introduced several important novelties
that aim to make EU legislation in this area more coherent, to
bring it into line with CJEU case law and, ultimately, to make the
law more effective and accessible to practitioners and the general
public.
With regard to the correct transposition of these
novelties into national law, the Commissions services
still have questions for most Member States. These remaining
issues will be clarified as a matter of priority, if necessary
through infringement proceedings.
Practical application of the Directive: the practical application of equal pay
provisions in Member States seems to be one of the
Directives most problematic areas. This is illustrated by the
persistent gender pay gap, which could be caused in considerable
part by pay discrimination and by the lack of challenges by
individuals in national courts.
Member States should increase the effectiveness of the
application of the equal pay principle and to tackle the persisting
gender pay gap. The Commission will continue to comprehensively
monitor the application of the equal pay principle. It will
continue to put forward country-specific recommendations that
address the causes of the gender pay gap during the annual
European Semester exercise.
Towards a Commission initiative: the Commission is planning for 2014 to adopt a
non-legislative initiative aiming to promote and facilitate
effective application of the principle of equal pay in practice and
assist Member States in finding the right approaches to reduce the
persisting gender pay gap. This initiative is likely to focus on
wage transparency.