Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on "Wage discrimination between men and women"
Date: 2001-03-28
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: anti-discriminatory measure, employment policy, equal pay, gender equality, pay

29.5.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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8.2.
Similarly, the ‘political’ message on the advantages of
the euro and its benefits for Europe must be left up to national
authorities, who alone can judge whether and how to transmit
the message in the light of their citizens’ feelings.

8.3.
The practical problems arising from the introduction
of the single currency are numerous, but should not be
exaggerated, either in practice or in messages directed to the
public. The general public should help by taking on board the
recommendations: not keeping or changing large sums in
cash, avoiding queues to obtain new cash, opening bank or
postal accounts where they have not yet done so, and using
payment cards whenever possible.

8.4.
The bank and retail sectors will have a key role to play:
banks in changing the currency in which accounts are held

and transactions effected and, in logistical terms, storing and
distributing the new currency; and retail outlets in taking
national currency from customers, paying it into banks and,
where necessary, giving change in euros. This raises issues of
prior supply of coins and notes with the ensuing problems of
logistics, security and calculation of interest.

8.5.
The Committee intends to make no comments on this
aspect, realising that it is a matter for the national authorities
and is the subject of delicate negotiations. Logistical problems
must be resolved by those responsible and mindful of the
duration of dual circulation of new and old currency. Here, the
Committee would emphasise that the logistical problems are
all the greater in that the period of dual circulation will be
short.

Brussels, 29 March 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on ‘Wage discrimination between men and
women’

(2001/C 155/12)

On 21 September 2000 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 23(3) of the Rules of
Procedure, decided to draw up an opinion on ‘Wage discrimination between men and women’.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 7 March 2001. The rapporteur was Ms Florio.

At its 380th plenary session (meeting of 28 March 2001), the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion by 65 votes to eight, with 14 abstentions.

1.

Introduction

Article 141 of the Amsterdam Treaty amends and
1.1.2.
replaces Article 119, and provides the Council with a legal
base for adopting measures to guarantee the principle of equal
treatment.

The right to equal pay has been enshrined in Com-
1.1.
munity legislation since its very beginnings: Article 119 of the
1957 Treaty of Rome requires the Member States to apply the
principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ for men and women.

1.1.3.
solidate this right within the European Union (1).

Other directives have also helped indirectly to con-

1.1.1.
Later, Directive 75/117/EEC on the approximation
of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of
the principle of equal pay for men and women states the need
for ‘equal pay for the same work or for work to which equal
value is attributed’.

(1) Amongst the most important are Directive 76/207/EEC (Access
to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working
conditions); Directives 79/7/EEC, 86/378/EEC and 96/97/EC (on
social security).

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1.2.
Finally, the adoption by the European Union of a
Charter of Fundamental Rights is a major step towards
European citizenship, and re-launches at supra-national level
the principles which underpin any democratic constitution.
These include the principle of equality between men and
women, enshrined in Article 23 of the Charter:
‘equality
between men and women must be ensured in all areas,
including employment, work and pay’.

factors which vary from country to country. Even a more
accurate analysis, with the three structural elements factored
out (age, occupation, employer’s economic sector) shows that
the discrepancy remains. It should also be noted that the
situation is worse in the higher echelons, where women’s pay
is on average two-thirds that of men (4).

The principle of equal treatment is also addressed in
1.3.
the United Nations system,
in particular in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (1948) (1), the Convention on
the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women
(1979) (2), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(1995), and the final document adopted by the Special Session
of the General Assembly ‘Beijing +5’ held in New York in
June 2000.

1.3.1.
There are several International Labour Organisation
regulations relating to the issue, notably that contained in
Convention No. 100 on Equal Pay (1951), and ratified by the
15 Member States.

1.4.
Community and international legislation thus deems
equal treatment when calculating pay to be a truly fundamental
right.

2.

Pay situation

2.1.
Despite the actions and provisions intended to bring
pay rates for female workers genuinely in line with those of
their male colleagues, the gap still remains, and in some areas
even seems to be growing wider. Recent studies have shown
that there is an average 27 % difference between wages paid to
men and women in the Member States of the European Union,
and in some countries it is more than 30 % (3). Even taking
account of certain structural differences in the male/female
labour markets (age, occupation and sector) which cannot be
deemed discriminatory, there is still a 15 % gap.

2.2. Male/female pay differentials have grown in EU
countries, as a result of a number of economic and social

2.3.
The most recent Eurostat statistics, referring to 1995,
show that the average female wage was 72 % of the male wage.
The figures relate in particular to full-time employment in all
production sectors, except for agriculture, education, health,
and personal and administrative services.

The figures are woefully incomplete, and are difficult
2.4.
to compare owing to the different male/female job profiles.
Almost a third of the women in full-time employment in 1995
were clerical staff, whilst only 10 % of men were engaged in
similar work. 47 % of men were classed as manual workers,
compared to 18 % of women. On average, female factory
workers receive more equal pay than female office workers
(specific job descriptions), although the position varies from
sector to sector, as some industries have more female workers
than others (e.g. the textiles sector compared with the mechan-
ical engineering industry).

2.5. Moreover, the Eurostat figures have been superseded
by trends in the world of work over the last few years, and
they do not take into account new sectors such as new
technologies, new job profiles, atypical work, contract work,
part-time, teleworking, etc.

2.6.
According to the Eurostat figures, which refer to the
Member States average, working women are on average
younger than their male colleagues: 44 % are under thirty,
compared to 32 % of men. The difference narrows down to a
negative ratio after the age of thirty, when many women
withdraw — either temporarily or permanently — from the
labour market, essentially to have children and then to look
after them. These choices impact on the return of women to
the workplace, career structure and the number of women in
managerial posts. This has direct implications for average pay
rates, and gender-based pay differentials.

(1) Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(2) Article 11 of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of

discrimination against women.

(3) UN/ECE 1999 Women and economy in the ECE region

(E/ECE/RW.2/2000/2).

(4) Employment in Europe, 1998.

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2.7.
Another difference is caused by the male/female wage
structure. As several Commission documents have pointed
out, there are various pay structure factors which can lead to
gender-based pay differentials, including employment by sec-
tor, by type of career and by form of payment (levels, seniority,
training, etc.). Or the difference can be due to the type of work
and the hours worked — especially overtime.

2.8.
This is particularly clear for those working in factories,
where overtime makes up a significant proportion of the wage
and men are very much in the majority; but it can also be seen
in the retail sector in particular, where there is a majority of
women and wages are considerably lower.

2.9.
Neither does the situation improve for women in low-
paid jobs (1), where some three-quarters of the workforce is
made up of women. This is only partly explained by the high
incidence of part-time work (43 %) which is done mostly by
women. Lower wage rates play a significant role for the
remaining percentage, and this is to the detriment of women
in particular.

2.10.
These structural factors and the lack of more specific,
up-to-date statistics make it especially difficult to carry out an
analysis, and consequently to implement any concrete
measures to improve pay equality. One way of achieving a
more accurate analysis would be to compare taxes, allowances,
social security, childcare and care for dependent relatives in
the Member States.

3. Vertical and horizontal discrimination

3.1.
An analysis of the different wage structures shows
there is a close correlation between wage systems, job and
career descriptions in the different sectors, organisation of
work, and vocational training and skills.

It has been shown that pay discrimination against
3.2.
female workers is both horizontal and vertical in nature. It is
horizontal to the extent that comparable workers are often
paid differently, with female workers receiving less, mainly
because their tasks and skills are evaluated differently and thus

also defined differently; there is vertical discrimination in the
sense that women find it more difficult to get to the higher
rungs of the career-ladder. It should also be noted that — in
some countries in particular — welfare services relating to
childcare and care for elderly relatives are frequently unable to
meet the requirements of a labour market which increasingly
needs to ensure that women can access it freely. From this
perspective, vocational training schemes could provide another
important tool for female workers.

Female-dominated sectors of the labour market, such
3.3.
as the public sector, caring for the elderly and infants, or in the
retail sector, are the least well-paid. Moreover, male-dominated
sectors feature economic benefits, bonuses and incentives
which further increase pay differentials. Women must there-
fore be encouraged to turn to male-dominated sectors provid-
ing good pay prospects.

3.4.
The trend towards a more flexible labour market is not
necessarily negative as long as it does not further penalise
women and men in terms of wages.

4.

Pay differentials in the applicant countries of Central
and Eastern Europe

4.1.
The wages gap also exists in the Eastern European
countries, where women earn 20-25 % less than their male
counterparts. Pay differentials in these countries have been
seen to increase over the last few years, largely because of
widespread labour market segregation. The transition to a
market economy, although a necessary and welcome develop-
ment in itself, has worsened socio-economic conditions for
women in some sectors. This is mostly due to the fact that
they used to have access to good education and training, and
to childcare facilities which were often close to the workplace.
The banking sector, which used to be underpaid and female-
dominated, has tended increasingly to exclude women, whilst
raising wages significantly. There is still a high percentage of
women in the public sector, especially in schools and the
health service (2).

5. Community actions

As established by the Luxembourg European Council
5.1.
in 1997, all pillars of the Employment Guidelines 2000 include

(1) Workers who earn less than 60 % of the average wage in their
country. The figures cover people working at least 15 hours per
week (Eurostat figures 1996).

(2) UN/ECE 1999 Women and economy in the ECE region

(E/ECE/RW.2/2000/2).

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gender policies, and the active role of the existing equal
opportunities pillar has been reinforced as a key factor in
boosting employment. The guidelines for the fourth pillar
explicitly call on the Member States to adopt positive measures
to promote equal pay and to prevent wage differentials.

6. Recommendations

5.2.
One of the objectives of the European Social Fund is
to improve the labour market situation for women, by
assessing career development, access to new professional
opportunities and to managerial posts, and vertical and sectoral
segregation which impacts decisively on income differentials.

In October 1998,

5.3.
the Commission presented the
results of its wage structure survey, which confirmed the
existence of wage differentials between men and women, and
identified the causes. Once again, the figures refer to 1995
(1994 for France) and do not include Ireland, Austria or
Portugal. Naturally, it is important to bear in mind the full
range of employment procedures provided for under Treaty
Article 128 (including the Employment Guidelines, Council
Recommendations to the Member States, and the National
Action Plans) which define gender equality as one of the four
pillars, and in which the Member States undertake to enact
concrete measures to promote equality.

6.1.
The Committee feels it must make a contribution
towards eliminating any forms of gender inequality, discrimi-
nation and exclusion in the workplace which violate the
principle of equal opportunities for men and women.

Although Community legislation does,

6.2.
in theory,
guarantee equal pay, there is still a considerable gap. Moreover,
several previous Committee opinions have indeed expressed
the need for equal opportunities policies to be strengthened (4).

6.3.
The Committee believes that new EU and national
government initiatives are needed to address transparency on
male/female pay differentials. The initiatives should comply
with the Amsterdam Treaty, in particular Article 141, and
with Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general
framework for equal treatment in employment and occu-
pation (5), as stated at the special Ministerial Conference on
‘Equal Opportunities and Employment Policy’ (Helsinki, 1999).

In 1996, the Commission adopted its Code of Practice
5.4.
on the implementation of equal pay for work of equal value,
with a view to eliminating any discrimination, particularly
where it is a result of unfair work classification systems or
skills assessments. Whilst the Code does not claim to be
exhaustive or legally binding, it was intended for the social
partners, public and private sector employers, and individ-
uals (1). The Programme relating to the Community framework
strategy on gender equality (2001-2005) (2) should also be
mentioned here.

6.4.
The lack of up-to-date statistics on pay differentials is
particularly worrying. The Committee therefore calls on the
EU institutions and the Member States to collate reliable
statistics. The statistics must be sorted according to gender,
and offer a sectoral comparison at European, national and
regional level. This will provide an up-to-date framework for
designing ad hoc policies and any adjustment and harmonis-
ation measures which might be required. It is equally important
to promote studies and research into gender pay differentials.

The EU Court of Justice has also dealt with numerous
5.5.
equal pay cases. This shows both that female workers are
increasingly aware of their wage rights, and that the relevant
legislation needs updating to make it more transparent and
consistent. The social partners should be heavily involved in
adapting it to reflect the changes in the world of work (3). It is
the social partners’ duty to work continually for equality and
against discrimination.

6.5.
Studies should also be conducted to determine which
sectors are particularly male dominated, so that education and
training schemes can be set up to help women enter these
sectors. Moreover, female-dominated sectors also need to be
identified, and measures taken to provide easier access for men
both from the social standpoint, and from the legal standpoint
wherever the law is not applied.

(1) COM(96) 336 final of 17 July 1996.
(2) OJ L 17, 19.1.2001.
(3) A list of the most important Court rulings is appended to this

opinion (c.f. ‘References’ at the end of the document).

(4) OJ C 116, 20.4.2001 and OJ C 123, 25.4.2001.
(5) Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing
a general framework for equal treatment in employment and
occupation, OJ L 303, 2.12.2000, pp. 16-22.

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the European Court of

6.6.
The Committee considers that the Commission should
undertake an examination of how the 1975 Directive and
Justice have been
judgments of
implemented in the Member States. On the basis of this
examination, discussions should take place on the necessity
for a revision of existing EU legislation to take account of the
new labour market situation.

6.7.
The Committee believes that the Commission should
create a permanent Observatory within the DG for Employ-
ment and Social Affairs to look into pay issues, including those
connected with equal pay for men and women, and to
monitor, analyse and compare statistics relating to the different
situations in the EU Member States (ETUC, UNICE, Eurostat).
The Observatory’s duties should include the establishment of
common criteria for a nomenclature setting out the various
components of pay and analysis of changes in the labour
market, with particular reference to new technology sectors,
atypical work, and so on. It should also be noted that the
Swedish presidency has committed itself to an equal pay
project for men and women.

The Committee feels it is essential that the Commission
6.9.
should consult the social partners upstream,
in order to
provide greater clarity in new Community legislation and
measures which are better suited to new labour market
conditions.

6.10. Moreover, as provided for in the Employment Guide-
lines 2000, the Member States would do well to consider
including in their national action plans specific actions and
instruments to make it easier for women to enter the labour
market. They should also take a stand on the measures needed
to combat wage discrimination.

6.11.
The Committee hopes the ‘Code of Practice on the
implementation of equal pay for work of equal value’ will
receive the widest possible uptake by the social partners and
the relevant agencies at all levels, and that the social partners
and the Commission will produce an updated evaluation of
new types of employment and the organisation of the labour
market in general.

6.8.
It is important that the data collected and, in particular,
examples of good practice in the Member States, should be
published.

6.12. With reference to the applicant countries of Central
and Eastern Europe, the Committee feels that women’s policies
should be an integral part of the Community acquis they must
take on board.

Brussels, 28 March 2001.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS

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References

The following are some of the most important EU Court of Justice rulings on equal pay:

Case 80/70

Case 43/75

Case 149/77

Case 129/79

Case 69/80

Case 96/80

Case 12/81

Case 170/84

Case 157/86

Gabrielle Defrenne v the Belgian State (Defrenne I) (Art. 119)

Gabrielle Defrenne v Société anonyme belge de navigation aérienne (Sabena) (Defrenne II)
(Art. 119)

Gabrielle Defrenne v Société anonyme belge de navigation aérienne (Sabena) (Defrenne III)
(Art. 119)

Macarthys Ltd v Wendy Smith (Art. 119; Directive 75/117/EEC)

Susan Jane Woringham and Margaret Humphreys v Lloyds Bank Ltd (Art. 119; Directive
75/117/EEC)

J.P. Jenkins v Kingsgate (Clothing Production) Ltd (Art. 119; Directive 75/117/EEC)

Eileen Garland v British Rail Engineering Ltd (Art. 119; Directive 75/117/EEC)

Bilka-Kaufhaus GmbH v Karin Weber von Hartz (Art. 119)

Mary Murphy and others v Bord Telecom Eireann (Art. 119; Directive 75/117/EEC)

Case C-33/89

Maria Kowalska v Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Art. 119; Directive 75/117/EEC)

Case C-177/88

Elisabeth Johanna Pacifica Dekker v Stichtingvormingscentrum voor Jong Volwassenen
(VJV-Centrum) Plus (Directive 76/207/EEC)

Case C-184/89

H. Nimz v Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Art. 119; Directive 75/117/EEC)

Case C-435/93

Francina Johanna Dietz v Stichting Thuiszorg Rotterdam (Art. 119; Protocol n. 2)

Case C-249/96

Lisa Jacqueline Grant v South-West Trains Ltd (Art. 119; Directive 76/207/EEC)

Case C-243/95

Kathleen Hill, Ann Stapleton v the Revenue Commissioners, Department of Finance
(Art. 119)

Case C-326/96

Levez v T.H. Jennings (Harlow Pools) Ltd (1 December 1998, not yet published)

Case C-66/96

Pedersen and others v Faellesforeningen for Danmarks Brugsforeninger and others
(19 November 1998, not yet published)

Case C-281/97

Krüger v Kreiskankenhaus Ebersberg (9 September 1999; not yet published)

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APPENDIX

to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

Defeated amendment

During the debate, the following amendment, which received more than 25 % of the votes cast, was defeated.

Point 6.7

Replace with the following:

‘Both the European Commission and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions devote considerable resources to the monitoring of equal pay developments and the implementation of
equal pay legislation. These existing structures should continue to analyse developments concerning equal pay. It
should also be noted that the Swedish Presidency has committed itself to an equal pay project for men and women.’

Reason

Self-evident

Result of the vote

For: 37, against: 46, abstentions: 2.