Politics and Analysis
Positive Developments In the Commission's Plans For Strengthened Gender Equality
11. March 2020
Article
On Thursday 5 March, the European Commission launched its gender equality strategy. A strategy which, besides helping women, also aims to get more people into the labour market and to bring about an end to the gender-imbalanced labour market.
Ursula von der Leyen will head an EU Commission that will fight gender stereotypes, close the gender gap in the labour market and highlight the gender imbalance in the education system. In any case, according to the Commission’s gender equality strategy. If the strategy is implemented properly, it will not just benefit Europe’s women, it will benefit the whole of European society.
“There are several positive aspects to the gender equality strategy that will benefit companies too. And I am delighted that the Commission is preparing to involve the various parties in the labour market in the process,” says Christiane Miβlbeck-Winberg, Director of European and International Affairs at the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA).
It is a positive thing that the EU Commission will put pressure on member states to get more women into employment. For example, the strategy includes proposals for better childcare opportunities, raising awareness of the reasons behind the gender-imbalanced labour market and a desire to involve all parties in the labour market when it comes to finding concrete solutions.
The strategy also includes a proposal for achieving greater wage transparency. This is an initiative that indicates that the Commission is confusing discrimination with wage levels. The reason for women’s average wages being lower than men’s is, to a great degree, the gender-imbalanced labour market and not discrimination in the workplace, believes Christiane Miβlbeck-Winberg, before continuing:
“Right now, it is unclear which direction the Commission will take with regard to the wage transparency instrument. But I would like to point out that rules – in the form of a directive, for example – won’t do anything to help the underlying challenge, namely that the gender-imbalanced labour market is the main reason behind the differences in wages we see. So, rather than resorting to regulation by directives, the Commission should instead work with this both culturally and structurally, for example, in the European Semester.