Annual report on Gender Equality in the EU
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Gender Law Newsletter FRI 2024#2, 01.06.2024 - Newsletter abonnieren
EU: GENDER EQUALITY
2024
This report of the European Commission is a goldmine for everyone wishing to have an overview of the actions taken by the EU and the member states in the year 2023 to promote gender equality.
A. OVERVIEW
2023 was the fourth year of the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 which is the object of this report. One of the main achievements is the adoption in May of the Pay Transparency Directive. In June, the EU’s accession process to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) was finally concluded. On the same topic, most recently, a political agreement has been reached on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combatting violence against women and domestic violence. It is the first comprehensive legal instrument at EU level to tackle violence against women.
The report goes through five Strategy’s key areas, namely:
2023 was the fourth year of the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 which is the object of this report. One of the main achievements is the adoption in May of the Pay Transparency Directive. In June, the EU’s accession process to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) was finally concluded. On the same topic, most recently, a political agreement has been reached on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combatting violence against women and domestic violence. It is the first comprehensive legal instrument at EU level to tackle violence against women.
The report goes through five Strategy’s key areas, namely:
- Being free from violence ans stereotypes
- Thriving in a gender-equal econmy
- Leading equally throughout society
- Gender mainstreaming and funding
- Promoting gender equality and women’s empowerement across the world
B. DETAIL
1.) Violence and stereotypes against women and girls
Since the 1st October 2023, the EU is party to the Convention of Istanbul of 11 May 2011 on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which means that the EU ist bound by this convention while exercising its competences.
Moreover, the Digital Service Act (DSA) of the EU has entered into force in November 2022. On its basis, since April 2023, twenty very large platforms and two very large search engines (inter alia Google, YouTube, X, Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook) have been designated «gatekeepers» (within the meaning of article 3 DSA). According to the EU report (p. 10), they namely have the obligation to yearly assess the risk of cyber violence against women and girls.
Several gender related legislative procedures are also currently underway. This is the case for a Commission proposal of December 2022 to revise the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive, a Commission proposal of 12 July 2023 to revise the Victims' Rights Directive and a resolution of the EU Parliament of 13 March 2024, on a Commission proposal of AI Act (which namely seeks to insure that artificial intelligences respect the EU values and the fundamental rights and are not discriminating; see p. 55 of the report). Since the report, a resolution of the EU Parliament of 24 April 2024 on a Commission proposal of Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence has also be adopted.
Within the EU, Belgium has also adopted a specific legal framework against feminicide on 29 June 2023 (loi sur la prévention et la lutte contre les féminicides, les homicides fondés sur le genre et les violences).
2.) Gender-equal economy
According to the report, the gender employment gap in the EU stood at 10.7 percentage points (pp) in 2023 (80 % employment for men and 69.3 % for women). This gap is shrinking since 2009 but there are marked differences among the member states of the EU (p. 20). The report mentions the following intersections: the gap ist bigger for migrant women, women with disability and women with less education, and it is more little for younger people aged 15-24 (pp. 22-23 and 26).
The report also compares (p. 24) the implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive in the member states of the EU. This directive requires, in its articles 4 and 5, a paternal leave of at least 10 working days and a parental leave of at least four months, two of which cannot be transferred).
In 2022, the unadjusted gender pay gap (GPG) stood at 12.7 pp (p. 29). In June 2023, the Directive on Pay Transparency has entered into force in order to reduce this gap. It namely introduces the obligation for the employers of the public and private sectors to inform about the «initial pay or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria» in the job vacancy notice, prior to the job interview or otherwise (Art. 5, § 1). Moreover, they have to «make easily accessible to their workers the criteria that are used to determine workers’ pay, pay levels and pay progression» (Art. 6, § 1) and workers have the right to get «information on their individual pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for categories of workers performing the same work as them or work of equal value to theirs» (Art. 7, § 1). The report also mentions measures to reduce the factual sectoral segregation between men and women (pp. 32-36).
3.) Leading equally through society
The report explains that the progress in women's leadership has been limited in 2023 and is not yet sustainable (p. 37).
In the political sector, the report notices that 11 member states of the EU have binding gender quotas for the European elections and could achieve gender balance by 2032 while the other member states would reach it by 2041 (p. 37). Currently, 33.4 % of the senior ministers of the member states are women and there were only 5 female prime ministers (out of 27) in the EU on January 2024 (pp. 40-41). Women are leading only 26.8 % of the political parties in the EU (p. 42). On 12 December 2023, the Commission has made a recommendation on inclusive and resilient electoral processes in order to encourage gender balance.
In the economic sector, a Directive on improving gender balance on corporate boards entered into force in December 2022 provides that «listed companies are subject to either of the following objectives, to be reached by 30 June 2026: (a) members of the underrepresented sex hold at least 40 % of non-executive director positions; (b) members of the underrepresented sex hold at least 33 % of all director positions, including both executive and non-executive directors» (Art. 5, § 1). According to data updated in December 2023, only 7.8 % of the CEO were women, although 30 % of the board members were women (pp. 48-49).
In the EU financial institutions, men occupied 79.7 % of the highest decision-making positions in 2023 (p. 49). Moreover, women founded EU-based companies represented only 2.4 % of total venture capital invested in European start ups. Women faces particular stereotypes in the technology sector (p. 51).
4.) Gender mainstreaming
The EU Gender Strategy 2020-2025 consists in gender mainstreaming (seeking to systematically include «a gender perspective in all stages of policy design in all EU policy areas, internal and external») and targeted measures. The report particularly stresses the specific impact of climate change on women. According to the UN, «by 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty and see 236 million more face food insecurity». Therefore, several ways are being identified to integrate gender and intersectional perspectives into the European Green Deal (p. 53). The report also stresses the importance of an active participation of women as decision-makers in the energy transition (p. 54).
Moreover, on 24 April 2024, the European Parliament has adopted a resolution on Commission proposal of Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). This directive would require from large EU companies and companies from third countries (Art. 2) to conduct a risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence (Art. 5-8) with the obligation to prevent, stop and remedy adverse impacts (Art. 9-12). Such adverse impacts are, inter alia, abuses of some human rights listed in Part I section 1 of the Annex of the directive, which include the prohibition of unequal treatment in employment (Art. 3, § 1, c, (i) and Annex, Part I, section 1, No. 14).
The report also presents other EU initiatives of gender mainstreaming, inter alia in the sectors of climate change, energy, transport, agriculture, artificial intelligences, health, sports, space, research and innovation and in the EU budget (pp. 55-59 and 62). In the field of product safety, a General Product Safety Regulation adopted on 10 May 2023 requires that the assessments of the safety of the products take the categories of consumers using the product into account, in particular «the impact of gender differences on health and safety» (Art. 1, e). The report also stresses the importance of intersectionality, which is namely defined in Art. 3, § 2, e), of the Directive on Pay Transparency mentioned above.
5.) Promotion of gender equality and women empowerment accross the world
The EU «has incorporated the principle of gender equality in its support for partner countries, and set measurable gender equality objectives for new initiatives under all EU external action instruments [...]» (p. 68). The report presents the current actions of the EU in Ukraine to support victims of gender based violence and gender equality (pp. 68-70), international initiatives of the EU for gender mainstreaming (pp. 70-75), its actions against gender-based violence in the rest of the world, including restrictive measures targeting individuals in Russia and in Afghanistan in 2023 (pp. 75-76), its international initiatives for gender equality in 2023 (pp. 77-78) and the insertion of gender equality provisions in trade agreements signed in 2023 with Chile, Kenya and New Zeeland. Moreover, a gender analysis is included in «all ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of trade agreements» (p. 79).
Direct to the report (https://commission.europa.eu)
1.) Violence and stereotypes against women and girls
Since the 1st October 2023, the EU is party to the Convention of Istanbul of 11 May 2011 on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, which means that the EU ist bound by this convention while exercising its competences.
Moreover, the Digital Service Act (DSA) of the EU has entered into force in November 2022. On its basis, since April 2023, twenty very large platforms and two very large search engines (inter alia Google, YouTube, X, Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook) have been designated «gatekeepers» (within the meaning of article 3 DSA). According to the EU report (p. 10), they namely have the obligation to yearly assess the risk of cyber violence against women and girls.
Several gender related legislative procedures are also currently underway. This is the case for a Commission proposal of December 2022 to revise the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive, a Commission proposal of 12 July 2023 to revise the Victims' Rights Directive and a resolution of the EU Parliament of 13 March 2024, on a Commission proposal of AI Act (which namely seeks to insure that artificial intelligences respect the EU values and the fundamental rights and are not discriminating; see p. 55 of the report). Since the report, a resolution of the EU Parliament of 24 April 2024 on a Commission proposal of Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence has also be adopted.
Within the EU, Belgium has also adopted a specific legal framework against feminicide on 29 June 2023 (loi sur la prévention et la lutte contre les féminicides, les homicides fondés sur le genre et les violences).
2.) Gender-equal economy
According to the report, the gender employment gap in the EU stood at 10.7 percentage points (pp) in 2023 (80 % employment for men and 69.3 % for women). This gap is shrinking since 2009 but there are marked differences among the member states of the EU (p. 20). The report mentions the following intersections: the gap ist bigger for migrant women, women with disability and women with less education, and it is more little for younger people aged 15-24 (pp. 22-23 and 26).
The report also compares (p. 24) the implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive in the member states of the EU. This directive requires, in its articles 4 and 5, a paternal leave of at least 10 working days and a parental leave of at least four months, two of which cannot be transferred).
In 2022, the unadjusted gender pay gap (GPG) stood at 12.7 pp (p. 29). In June 2023, the Directive on Pay Transparency has entered into force in order to reduce this gap. It namely introduces the obligation for the employers of the public and private sectors to inform about the «initial pay or its range, based on objective, gender-neutral criteria» in the job vacancy notice, prior to the job interview or otherwise (Art. 5, § 1). Moreover, they have to «make easily accessible to their workers the criteria that are used to determine workers’ pay, pay levels and pay progression» (Art. 6, § 1) and workers have the right to get «information on their individual pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for categories of workers performing the same work as them or work of equal value to theirs» (Art. 7, § 1). The report also mentions measures to reduce the factual sectoral segregation between men and women (pp. 32-36).
3.) Leading equally through society
The report explains that the progress in women's leadership has been limited in 2023 and is not yet sustainable (p. 37).
In the political sector, the report notices that 11 member states of the EU have binding gender quotas for the European elections and could achieve gender balance by 2032 while the other member states would reach it by 2041 (p. 37). Currently, 33.4 % of the senior ministers of the member states are women and there were only 5 female prime ministers (out of 27) in the EU on January 2024 (pp. 40-41). Women are leading only 26.8 % of the political parties in the EU (p. 42). On 12 December 2023, the Commission has made a recommendation on inclusive and resilient electoral processes in order to encourage gender balance.
In the economic sector, a Directive on improving gender balance on corporate boards entered into force in December 2022 provides that «listed companies are subject to either of the following objectives, to be reached by 30 June 2026: (a) members of the underrepresented sex hold at least 40 % of non-executive director positions; (b) members of the underrepresented sex hold at least 33 % of all director positions, including both executive and non-executive directors» (Art. 5, § 1). According to data updated in December 2023, only 7.8 % of the CEO were women, although 30 % of the board members were women (pp. 48-49).
In the EU financial institutions, men occupied 79.7 % of the highest decision-making positions in 2023 (p. 49). Moreover, women founded EU-based companies represented only 2.4 % of total venture capital invested in European start ups. Women faces particular stereotypes in the technology sector (p. 51).
4.) Gender mainstreaming
The EU Gender Strategy 2020-2025 consists in gender mainstreaming (seeking to systematically include «a gender perspective in all stages of policy design in all EU policy areas, internal and external») and targeted measures. The report particularly stresses the specific impact of climate change on women. According to the UN, «by 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty and see 236 million more face food insecurity». Therefore, several ways are being identified to integrate gender and intersectional perspectives into the European Green Deal (p. 53). The report also stresses the importance of an active participation of women as decision-makers in the energy transition (p. 54).
Moreover, on 24 April 2024, the European Parliament has adopted a resolution on Commission proposal of Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). This directive would require from large EU companies and companies from third countries (Art. 2) to conduct a risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence (Art. 5-8) with the obligation to prevent, stop and remedy adverse impacts (Art. 9-12). Such adverse impacts are, inter alia, abuses of some human rights listed in Part I section 1 of the Annex of the directive, which include the prohibition of unequal treatment in employment (Art. 3, § 1, c, (i) and Annex, Part I, section 1, No. 14).
The report also presents other EU initiatives of gender mainstreaming, inter alia in the sectors of climate change, energy, transport, agriculture, artificial intelligences, health, sports, space, research and innovation and in the EU budget (pp. 55-59 and 62). In the field of product safety, a General Product Safety Regulation adopted on 10 May 2023 requires that the assessments of the safety of the products take the categories of consumers using the product into account, in particular «the impact of gender differences on health and safety» (Art. 1, e). The report also stresses the importance of intersectionality, which is namely defined in Art. 3, § 2, e), of the Directive on Pay Transparency mentioned above.
5.) Promotion of gender equality and women empowerment accross the world
The EU «has incorporated the principle of gender equality in its support for partner countries, and set measurable gender equality objectives for new initiatives under all EU external action instruments [...]» (p. 68). The report presents the current actions of the EU in Ukraine to support victims of gender based violence and gender equality (pp. 68-70), international initiatives of the EU for gender mainstreaming (pp. 70-75), its actions against gender-based violence in the rest of the world, including restrictive measures targeting individuals in Russia and in Afghanistan in 2023 (pp. 75-76), its international initiatives for gender equality in 2023 (pp. 77-78) and the insertion of gender equality provisions in trade agreements signed in 2023 with Chile, Kenya and New Zeeland. Moreover, a gender analysis is included in «all ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of trade agreements» (p. 79).
Direct to the report (https://commission.europa.eu)