Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Report on the application of Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast)

On 5 July 2006, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast). This Directive consolidates and modernises the EU acquis in this area by merging previous Directives and introducing some novel features.

This report assesses Member States’ transposition of the Directive’s novel features and the effectiveness of its application and enforcement. It is without prejudice to any infringement procedures on the transposition of the Directive.

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. In order to better promote and facilitate the application of equal pay provisions in practice, this report is accompanied by a Commission Staff Working Document that consists of four annexes: (1) a section on gender-neutral job evaluation and classification systems; (2) a summary of equal pay case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union; (3) examples of the national case-law on equal pay; and (4) a description of the factors that cause the gender pay gap, the Commission's actions to tackle it and examples of national best practices.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)861: Follow the progress of this report through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:861:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)512: Annexes http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:512:FIN

ESO: Background information: Gender Pay Gap: Women in Europe still work 59 days 'for free', Commission report finds http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-gender-pay-gap-women-in-europe-still-work-59-days-for-free-commission-report-finds/

---