Early 2021, the EU Commission submitted a legislative proposal for a Directive to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms (The Pay Transparency Directive). The EU parliament has now approved its position on the proposal and will start the negotiations with EU member states in the Council, which adopted its own position in December of 2021.
The gender pay gap in the EU stands at around 14%; this means that women earn on average 14% less than men per hour. The EU wants to decrease the gender pay gap by enforcing a high degree of transparency regarding pay within companies.
