WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3668/97 by Freddy BLAK to the Commission. Equal pay
Date: 1997-11-19
Institutions: BLAK, European Parliament
Subjects: Denmark, administrative transparency, code of conduct, equal pay, gender equality, labour code, labour law, pay

C 174/94

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

8. 6. 98

(98/C 174/146)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3668/97

by Freddy Blak (PSE) to the Commission

(19 November 1997)

Subject: Equal pay

The difference between men(cid:146)s and women(cid:146)s pay has increased in Denmark in recent years. The contrast is now
so sharp that the average monthly wage of a male and female worker differs by 147.3%. A new study shows that
wage  differences  primarily  arise  where  the  system  of  pay  is  not  transparent  and  the  criteria  determining  the
amount of pay are not clear and objective.

Systems of pay that lead to growing wage differentials between men and women must clearly be contrary to
Directive  75/117/EEC (1)  on  equal  pay.  What  stringent  sanctions  will  the  Commission  use  to  ensure  that
Denmark complies with the equal pay directive?

(1)  OJ L 45, 19.2.1975, p. 19.

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(14 January 1998)

The principle that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work has been enshrined in Community
law since its origins (Article 119 of the EC Treaty). It was amplified by the equal pay Directive 75/117/EEC,
which introduced the concept of equal pay for work of equal value. All Member States, including Denmark, have
fully transposed into their national law this Community legislation. However, the attainment of equal pay for
women and men is not yet a reality due to various factors (horizontal and vertical segregation in the structure of
female  employment,  undervaluing  of  female  occupations,  variations  in  employment  structures  and  reward
systems). In order to help lessen the pay gap between women and men, the Commission adopted in July 1996 a
code  of  practice  in  this  field.  This  aims  to  provide  concrete  advice  for  employers  and  collective  bargaining
partners at all levels, on how to set up and implement job evaluation and job classification systems, which are
considered to be essential in order to eliminate sexual discrimination from pay structures.

(98/C 174/147)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3669/97

by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission

(19 November 1997)

Subject: Transit of drugs through the Balkans

According to the Geopolitical Drugs Monitoring Unit based in Paris, large quantities of drugs produced in the
Caucasus and Turkey are passing through the Bulgarian ports of Varna and Burgas en route to Western Europe.

A representative of the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior, Szandar Krumov, stated that hundreds of Turkish,
Bulgarian and FYROM undertakings are engaged in drugs trafficking in Bulgaria and many of them are under
police surveillance. As far as the quantity of drugs seized by the authorities is concerned, the Bulgarian official
stated that in 1997 it amounts to 57.4 kilos of heroin and 530.9 kilos of hashish, quantities which the Geopolitical
Drugs Monitoring Unit considers utterly inadequate, given the volume of drugs passing through the country and
the amount of hashish and opium produced especially by ethnic Turks in the south of Bulgaria.