REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of the EU Action Plan 2017-2019 on tackling the gender pay gap
Date: 2020-03-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: EU employment policy, EU strategy, action programme, equal pay, equal treatment, gender equality, sexual discrimination, women's rights, work-life balance

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 5.3.2020  COM(2020) 101 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of the EU Action Plan 2017-2019 on tackling the gender pay gap                     {SWD(2020) 101 final}  
 
 
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INTRODUCTION  

In  November  2017,  the  European  Commission  adopted  the  EU  action  plan  on  tackling  the 
gender pay gap (the action plan)1. The aim was to set out a broad and coherent set of activities 
to  tackle  the  gender  pay  gap  through  mutually  reinforcing  legislative  and  non-legislative 
initiatives.  By  October  2019,  the  Commission  had  completed  a  large  majority  of  the  action 
plan’s  24  action  points.  In  addition,  the  implementation  of  the  most  action  points  will  be 
continued2.  

The  action  plan  was  an  expression  of  the  Commission’s  intention  to  take  targeted  action  to 
decrease the gender pay gap, which had  remained at a stable level over the five-year period 
leading  up  to  the  plan’s  adoption.  The  action  plan  described  a  set  of  root  causes,  such  as 
pervasive  labour  market  segregation,  unequal  sharing  of  caring  responsibilities,  inadequate 
work-life  balance  policies  and  insufficient  pay  transparency,  which  needed  to  be  strongly 
addressed by more far-reaching measures at EU level. In line with the Commission’s policy 
priorities, eight main strands of action were identified – with 24 concrete action points to help 
the Commission tackle the pay gap in a coordinated and cross-sectoral manner. 

Throughout  the  action  plan’s  implementation,  from  its  adoption  in  November  2017  until 
October  2019,  decreasing  the  gender  pay  gap  was  one  of  the  main  areas  of  focus  of  the 
Commission’s gender equality policy. Looking back, the action plan has demonstrated the 
broad and comprehensive way in which the Commission works to target the gender pay gap, 
not only through its  gender equality policy, but  under several sectoral policies. The sectoral 
measures and national projects provided for in the action plan have also helped to show how 
multifaceted  action  is  necessary  to  address  underlying  societal  structures  and  gender 
stereotypes. 

In  particular,  the  measures  undertaken  under  the  action  plan  have  contributed  to  the 
implementation  of  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights,  most  notably  its  principle  2  on 
gender  equality.  The  principle  requires  the  Commission  to  ensure  the  right  of  everyone  to 
equality of treatment and foster opportunities between women and men in all areas, including 
regarding participation in the labour market, terms and conditions of employment and career 
progression.  The  principle  also  specifically  provides  that  women  and  men  have  the  right  to 
equal pay for work of equal value. The measures taken under the action plan have furthermore 
been  relevant  for  the  implementation  of  several  other  principles  of  the  European  Pillar  of 
Social  Rights,  such  as  those  concerning  equal  opportunities,  wages,  work-life  balance  and 
old-age  income  and  pensions.  The  action  plan’s  implementation  has  also  contributed  to 
delivering on the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular 
the  Sustainable  Development  Goal  5  on  achieving  gender  equality  and  empowering  all 
women and girls. 

During the action plan’s implementation, the Commission granted €14 million in funding to 
projects  helping  to  tackle  the  gender  pay  gap  in  the  Member  States  by  combatting  gender 
stereotypes,  strengthening  career  guidance,  increasing  the  representation  of  women  in 
decision-making positions, improving the work-life balance of both women and men, as well 
as  closing  gender  gaps  over  the  course  of  one’s  life  cycle  by  addressing  gender  gaps  in 
employment, pay and pensions.  

1 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 
Social Committee. EU Action Plan 2017-2019 Tackling the gender pay gap, 20.11.2017, COM (2017) 678 final.  
2 For a more detailed description of the measures taken to implement the individual action points, see the staff 
working document in annex (SWD (2020)101).  

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Legislative  action  was  also  taken  during  this  period  of  implementation.  In  June  2019,  a 
Directive on work-life balance3 was adopted, which introduces minimum standards for family 
leaves  and  flexible  working  arrangements  for  workers  and  promotes  equal  sharing  of  care 
work  between  mothers  and  fathers.  Furthermore,  the  Commission  Recommendation  on 
standards  for  equality  bodies4,  adopted  in  June  2018,  paved  the  way  for  better  support  to 
victims of discrimination, including pay discrimination. In 2018, the Commission launched an 
evaluation  of  the  equal  pay  provisions5,  which  provides  a  basis  for  further  legislative 
proposals  on  binding  pay  transparency  measures  in  2020,  as  indicated  in  the  Political 
Guidelines of the Commission 2019-2024 and in the Commission Work Programme 2020. 

By the end of the action plan’s implementation period in October 2019, all 24 action points 
had been finalised fully or in part. Certain actions have led to very tangible results in the form 
of  new  legislation  or  policies,  and  a  great  majority  of  the  actions  will  be  continued  under 
various Commission policies. This report is  a contribution to the aim of tackling the gender 
pay gap.  It takes stock of the actions implemented, discusses some of the key achievements 
made under the action plan and paves the way for further initiatives to enforce the principle of 
equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.  

2  DATA ON THE GENDER PAY GAP IN THE EUROPEAN UNION REVEALS SLOW PROGRESS  

Several action points of the action plan (10, 17, 18) invited the Commission to collect data on 
the gender pay gap. The Commission regularly reports on the pay, earnings and pension gaps 
in  the  Member  States  in  its  annual  report  on  equality  between  women  and  men  in  the 
European  Union.  These  data6  (action  point  17)  illustrate  a  clear  and  persistent  structural 
underpayment  of  women  in  the  EU.  During  the  implementation  of  the  action  plan,  the 
average gender pay gap in the Member States decreased from 16 per cent in 2017 to 15.7 
per cent in 2018. If, on top of the gender pay gap, differences in working hours and length of 
working  lives  in  total  between  women  and  men  are  taken  into  account,  a  more  profound 
difference  can  be  observed  between  men  and  women  in  their  economic  independence.  This 
gender gap in overall earnings reached almost 40 per cent in the Union in 20147. One of the 
reasons  for  the  overall  earnings  gap  is  that,  on  average,  women  spend  fewer  hours  in  paid 
work than men. Accordingly, in total, 78 per cent of second earners in the Union are women. 

According to Eurostat data, the average gender pay gap decreased in the EU Member States only 
marginally from 16 per cent in 2017 to 15.7 per cent in 2018. 

3 Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance 
for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, OJ L 188, 12.7.2019, p. 79–93.  
4 Commission Recommendation (EU) 2018/951 of 22 June 2018 on standards for equality bodies, C/2018/3850, 
OJ L 167, 4.7.2018, p. 28–35. 
5 The results of the evaluation are presented in a Commission staff working document  published at the same 
time with this report. See Evaluation of the relevant provisions in the Directive 2006/54/EC implementing the 
Treaty principle on 'equal pay for equal work or work of equal value', SWD (2020)50.  
6  The  2019  Report  on  equality  between  women  and  men  in  the  EU  and  reports  from  previous  years  are  available  on  the 
website  of  the  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union.  See  also  data  of  the  gender  pay  gap  in  2018 
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/SDG_05_20?lang=en.  Data  on  the  gender  pension  gap  was  made 
publicly  available  on  the  Eurostat  database,  see  ‘Gender  pension  gap  by  age  group  –  EU-SILC  survey’  at 
https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_pnp13&lang=en  and  ‘Gender  coverage  rate  in  pension  by  age 
group – EU-SILC survey’ at  https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_pnp14&lang=en. The data in this 
document covers EU-28 in line with the implementation of the action plan from 2017-2019. 
7 See: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/product?code=teqges01. The latest available data for this indicator 
are for 2014. 

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Under the action plan, the Commission also sought to acquire a deeper understanding of the 
differences  in  pay  between  women  and  men.  Several  studies8  on  the  factors  affecting  the 
gender pay gap demonstrate that around two thirds of the average gap cannot be explained 
by  the  personal,  job-  or  enterprise-related  characteristics  of  working  men  and  women.  For 
instance  women’s  lower  labour  market  participation,  fewer  hours  spent  by  women  in  paid 
work, high percentage of women in part-time work, as  well as women commonly being the 
primary caregivers in the family are given as reasons explaining the pay gap9. 

The pay inequalities, along with the differences in work intensity and  years in employment, 
further translated into an estimated average pension gap of 30.1 per cent between women 
and men in the Union for the age group of 65 years or older in 201810. This in turn often leads 
to  a  higher  risk  of  poverty  for  older  women.  The  at-risk-of-poverty  rate  was  more  than  ten 
percentage points higher for female than for male pensioners in 2018 in six Member States11. 
Also the Pension Adequacy Report (action point 17) highlights the fact that current pension 
systems only mildly compensate for women’s non-linear careers and older women remain the 
main beneficiaries of minimum income schemes12.  

The average difference in women’s and men’s pensions in the European Union was 30.1 per 
cent in 2018. This contributes to gender inequalities in old-age income. 

Concerning  data  on  professional  segregation,  according  to  the  She  Figures  2018  report 
published  by  the  Commission13,  women  generally  outnumber  men  in  scientific  education  at 
undergraduate and graduate level, and a broad gender balance has been achieved at PhD level. 

However, women and men continue to be unevenly distributed in different scientific fields of 
study, which shows the persistence of gender stereotypes. Stereotypes are particularly strong 
in  the  field  of  sciences,  technology,  engineering  and  mathematics  (STEM),  where  women 
remain  underrepresented  at  all  levels  (with  32  per  cent  of  women  at  bachelor,  master  or 
equivalent  levels)  up  to  top  academic  positions  (with  15  per  cent  of  female  students  on 
average). The proportion of women workers was higher in public sector jobs, such as in health 
care, education and social work.  

2019  Report 

8 See for instance https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/aa27ac5b-fc83-11e5-b713-01aa75ed71a1/language-
en and Denis Leythienne, Piotr Ronkowski, “A decomposition of the unadjusted gender pay gap using Structure of Earnings 
Survey  data”.  Eurostat,  Statistical  Working  Papers,  2018,  available  at:  https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-
/publication/fb389f61-6f7c-11e8-9483-01aa75ed71a1/language-en.  
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=sdg_05_20&plugin=1.  
9 See https://eige.europa.eu/gender-statistics/dgs/data-talks/what-lies-behind-gender-pay-gap.    
10 
at: 
. 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/aid_development_cooperation_fundamental_rights/annual_report_ge_2019_en.pdf 
Eurostat,  “Closing  the  gender  pension  gap?”,  available  at  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-
20200207-1?inheritRedirect=true&redirect=/eurostat/news/whats-new%20.  
11  Lithuania,  Estonia,  Bulgaria,  Czechia,  Latvia  and  Romania.  Eurostat,  At-risk-of-poverty  rate  by  poverty  threshold  and 
most frequent activity in the previous year - EU-SILC and ECHP surveys, 2018. 
12 The 2018 Pension Adequacy Report: current and future income adequacy in old age in the EU. Available at: 
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/f0e89c3f-7821-11e8-ac6a-01aa75ed71a1/language-en. 
13 https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9540ffa1-4478-11e9-a8ed-01aa75ed71a1/language-en.  

between  women 

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3 

 
 
 
                                                           
 
3  TACKLING  THE  GENDER  PAY  GAP  –  EXAMPLES  OF  MEASURES  TAKEN  UNDER  THE 

ACTION PLAN  

The  action  plan  included  24  action  points  grouped  under  eight  actions.  This  chapter  will 
describe some examples of the actions taken under the action plan. A closer description of the 
implementation of all actions is available in the staff working document in annex.   

3.1 The work-life balance initiative 

The  Commission’s  Communication  ‘An  initiative  for  work-life  balance  for  working  parents 
and  carers’’14,    including  the  proposal  for  a  directive  on  work-life  balance  for  parents  and 
carers15, are key deliverables of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The aim of this package 
of complementary, mutually reinforcing measures was to  tackle women's underrepresentation 
in  the  labour  market  by  addressing  one  of  its  main  drivers,  the  unequal  sharing  of  care 
responsibilities between women and men (action point 14).  
The Work-Life Balance Directive was adopted  on 20 June 201916.  Its  aim is to  modernise 
the  Union’s  legal  framework  for  family-related  leaves  and  flexible  working  arrangements. 
The Directive lays down the right of fathers to paid paternity leave (10 working days paid at 
the national sick pay level) as well as the right to 4 months of parental leave for each parent, 
of which at least 2 months cannot be transferred between the parents and must be adequately 
paid (at a level decided by each Member State). Moreover, each carer  - defined as a worker 
providing personal care or support to a relative who is in need of significant care or support 
for a serious medical reason - is entitled to carers’ leave of at least 5 working days per year. 
Finally,  parents  with  children  up  to  the  age  of  eight  and  carers  have  the  right  to  request 
flexible  working  arrangements  (remote  working  arrangements,  flexible  working  schedules 
and  reduced  working  hours).  The  Member  States  have  3  years  (until  2  August  2022)17  to 
transpose  the  Directive  into  national  legislation.  The  Commission  will  closely  monitor  the 
implementation process and provide the Member States with the necessary support. 

The  work-life  balance  initiative  also  contained  a  set  of  non-legislative  measures.  To 
implement these, the Commission, together with the European Network of Equality Bodies 
(EQUINET), organised a capacity-building seminar on work-life balance for equality bodies 
and  labour  inspectorates.  The  Rights,  Equality  and  Citizenship  (REC)  programme  also 
funded projects18 on tackling gender stereotypes  to encourage a more gender-balanced use 
of  family-related  leaves  and  flexible  working  arrangements.  The  EU  Programme  for 
Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) funded projects to promote innovative work-life 
balance  strategies  to  facilitate  recnciliation  of  professional  and  caring  responsibilities19.  In 
addition,  the  European  network  of  legal  experts  in  gender  equality  and  non-discrimination 
carried  out  a  study  on  improving  protection  against  discrimination  and  dismissal  for 

14 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social 
Committee and the Committee of the Regions. An initiative to support work-life balance for working parents and carers. 
COM (2017)252 final.  
15 Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on work-life balance for parents and carers and 
repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, COM (2017)253 final. 
16 Directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, OJ L 188, of 
12/7/2019, p.79. 
17 The Member States nevertheless have 5 years (until 2 August 2024) to transpose the obligation of paying the last 2 weeks 
of parental leave (out of the 2 adequately paid, non-transferable months). 
18 The selected projects are available at: 
https://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/calls/2015_action_grants/just_2015_rgen_ag_role_en.htm. 
19 The selected projects are available at: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=632&langId=en.  

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pregnant  workers  and  workers  who  take  family  leaves20,  and  the  Commission  adopted  a 
report on the state of play of the Barcelona objectives on the participation of children under 
mandatory school-going age in childcare21.   

Finally,  the  Employment  Committee  and  the  Social  Protection  Committee,  which  are 
advisory policy committees of the Ministers in the Employment and Social Affairs Council 
(EPSCO),  are  developing  and  improving  indicators  on  work-life  balance,  including  on  the 
uptake  of  leaves  and  flexible  working  arrangements  and  on  childcare  and  long-term  care. 
Childcare  and  long-term  care  and  economic  disincentives  for  second  earners  are  also 
evaluated  in  the  context  of  the  European  Semester  (action  point  24).  Funding  under  the 
European Structural and Investment Funds is available to improve these services. The above 
actions  contributed  to  addressing  stereotypes  about  the  role  of  men  and  women  in  society 
and thus one of the root causes of the gender pay gap. 

3.2  The  EU  Platform  for  Change  to  increase  female  employment  and  equal 

opportunities in the transport sector  

As noted in the action plan, sectoral professional segregation is one of the main drivers of the 
gender  pay  gap.  To  address  this,  the  action  plan  included  a  set  of  measures  aimed  at 
combatting segregation in individual occupations and sectors, such as the implementation of 
particular initiatives to eradicate stereotypes on women's and men's skills, abilities and roles.  

One  of  the  sectors  concerned  was  the  transport  sector,  for  which  the  Commission  had 
committed to take a series of measures under the action plan (action point 9). The transport 
sector is heavily dominated by men, given that only 22 per cent of the workers in the sector 
are women22. Also, for individual occupations within the sector, even if women are more or 
less equally represented in administrative positions, they continue to be under-represented in 
better-paid management positions, as well as in technical and mobile jobs. Women constitute, 
for instance, less than five per cent of pilots but make up a majority of cabin crew. 

To  increase  women’s  employment  in  the  transport  sector,  the  Commission  developed  a 
number  of  action-oriented  tools  tailored  to  the  sector’s  needs.  The  platform  ‘Women  in 
Transport - EU Platform for Change’ was launched on 27 November 201723. Stakeholders, 
such as Member States, EU transport organisations and EU agengies and bodies, can join the 
platform  and  commit  to  increasing  women’s  employment  and  fighting  occupational 
segregation through dedicated actions. They can sign a declaration on equal opportunities for 
women and men in the transport sector, thereby committing to promoting equal pay as part of 
a positive organisational culture. 

Although  the  overall  commitment  of  the  stakeholders  of  the  platform  is  tangible  and  the 
number of actions is on the increase, the above commitments need to be followed up at the 

20 European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination, Family leave: enforcement of the protection 
against dismissal and unfavourable treatment, 2018. Available at https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/4808-family-leave-
enforcement-of-the-protection-against-dismissal-and-unfavourable-treatment-pdf-962-kb.  
21 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and 
the Committee of the Regions on the development of childcare facilities for young children with a view to increase female 
labour participation, strike a work-life balance for working parents and bring about sustainable and inclusive growth in 
Europe (the ‘Barcelona objectives’), available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/bcn_objectives-
report2018_web_en.pdf.  
22 Eurostat, Labour Force Survey 2017. 
23 https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/social/women-transport-eu-platform-change_en.  

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national  and  local  levels.  To  facilitate  this,  the  Commission  also  launched  the  European 
Network of Ambassadors for Diversity in Transport24. 

In addition, the Commission has financed and published a business case report to identify the 
costs and benefits of women’s employment across the transport sector, supplemented by a list 
of  measures  proposed  by  the  authors  of  the  report  to  improve  the  gender  balance  by,  for 
example,  closing  the  gender  pay  gap25.  These  recommendations  are  based  on  concrete  case 
studies collected from the sector. They cover (1) recruitment, training and career development 
(including  measures  against  stereotypes  and  gender  bias),  (2)  awareness-raising  (including 
reporting  on  the  gender  pay  gap),  (3)  work-life  balance  measures  and  (4)  health  and  safety 
measures (including measures against violence and harassment in work contexts). The study 
also  included  recommendations  to  transport  companies,  including  on  the  need  to  start 
reporting on the gender pay gap at the company level. Measures to eliminate the gender pay 
gap  included  establishing  transparent  pay  criteria  and  policies  to  eliminate  the  pay  gap  in 
companies. 

As a first step in addressing women’s under-representation in the transport sector, the 
business case report recommends companies to start using easily collectable, gender-specific 
indicators to monitor the company’s performance.   

The Commission has launched further studies to  address the barriers faced by women when 
joining the transport professions, which will be available towards early 2021. The first study 
looks at work-life balance (i.e. what can be done at the level of individual transport companies 
in a financially sustainable way to allow workers to better reconcile their work schedule with 
their  private  life),  whereas  the  second  study  provides  a  toolkit  for  teachers  to  better  fight 
gender stereotypes from an early age. A third, forward-looking study will assess the effects of 
transport’s  digitalisation  either  as  a  challenge  or  an  opportunity  for  women,  and  evaluate 
whether specific measures should be taken to accompany this transition. An additional study 
analysed women’s participation in  research  and innovation  activities related to  the transport 
sector  and  provided  research  recommendations  to  overcome  barriers  to  women's  equality  in 
transport26. 

3.3  Promoting  institutional  change  though  gender  equality  plans  to  foster  equality  in 
scientific careers 

Another sector where specific measures were provided for in the action plan was research and 
innovation  (action  point  8).  Between  2017  and  2019,  the  Commission  funded  actions  to 
promote  gender  equality  in  the  research  and  innovation  sector  under  the  Science-with-and-
for-Society  work  programme  of  the  Horizon  2020  framework  programme27.  Financial 
support  was  also  allocated  to  10  collaborative  projects  involving  close  to  60  research 
organisations  in  implementing  gender  equality  plans28.  In  addition,  7  thematic  and 

24 https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/social/events/2019-09-26-conf-inclusive-diverse-transport-sector_en. 
25 Business case to increase female employment in transport. Final report, 2018. Available at: 
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/2018-business-case-to-increase-female-employment-in-transport-final-
report.pdf.   
26 Women in European Transport with a focus on Research and Innovation. European Union 2019. Available at: 
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/women-european-transport-
focus-research-and-innovation. 
27 https://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs.  
28 Collaborative gender equality plan (GEP) projects R-I PEERS, SUPERA, CHANGE, Gender-SMART, 
SPEAR, GEARING ROLES, EQUAL4EUROPE, LeTSGEPs and CALIPER, all listed under the headline 
‘Projects funded by the FP7 and H2020 framework programmes’ here: 

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geographical  communities  of  practice  were  established  to  enable  knowledge-sharing  on 
gender  equality  plans29.  To  complement  this  comprehensive  approach,  a  dedicated  project 
supported the creation of a gender equality training academy for the research and innovation 
sector,  with  publicly  available  resources30.  The  results  and  best  practices  derived  from  the 
projects are also included in the gender equality in academia and research (GEAR) tool31, 
hosted by the European Institute for Gender Equality. 

The gender equality in academia and research (GEAR) tool provides universities and research 
organisations with best practices and advice on setting up gender equality plans and 
evaluating their impacts. 

Furthermore,  She  Figures,  the  Commission's  flagship  publication  on  key  gender  equality 
trends  in  science  and  research,  is  published  every  3  years.  The  2018  edition32,  issued  on  8 
March 2019, includes comprehensive data on the gender pay gap in the scientific research and 
development sector. The gender pay gap in research and innovation is still marginally higher 
than in the total economy in the EU (17 per cent against 16.6 per cent according to 2014 data). 
She Figures is used by the Member States as a benchmarking tool for national policy-making, 
as the data helps provide insights into the prevailing gender inequalities in individual Member 
States. 

As attracting more women to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) 
sector could build on new trends, such as the emergence of female led start-ups, the EU Prize 
for  Women  Innovators  highlights  women's  achievements  in  science  and  contributes  to 
tackling stereotypes on women's and men's skills, abilities and roles. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, 
the  Commission  hence  continued  to  celebrate  inspiring  female  leaders  in  research-based 
innovation with the EU Prize for Women Innovators, which is awarded to women who have 
been  successful  in  bringing  about  game-changing  innovations,  and  honours  outstanding 
achievements of female entrepreneurs. Winners from previous years have gone on to inspire 
women from across Europe and beyond to launch brilliant innovations and create their own 
companies.   

3.4 Improving the application of the equal pay principle   

Concerning the application of the equal pay principle in general, the action plan provided that 
the Commission would assess the possibility of making targeted amendments to the Gender 
Equality  Recast  Directive33  and  the  need  for  and  possibility  of  making  some  or  all  of  the 
measures  envisaged  in  the  2014  Pay  Transparency  Recommendation34  binding  (see  action 
point 1). The Commission gave effect to this commitment by launching an evaluation of the 
relevant  provisions  of  Directive  2006/54/EC  implementing  the  Treaty  principle  on  ‘equal 
pay  for  equal  work  or  work  of  equal  value’  in  October  2018.  The  complete  results  of  the 

https://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs/index.cfm?pg=policy&lib=gender, as well as the tenth GEP project, also 
selected through the 2019 work programme, and awaiting grant agreement signature. 
29 Project ACT: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/788204 and https://act-on-gender.eu/communities-practice. 
30 Project GE Academy: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/824585 and https://ge-academy.eu/.    
31 https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/toolkits/gear.  
32 https://ec.europa.eu/research/swafs/index.cfm?pg=library&lib=gender_equality.  
33 Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle 
of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast), OJ L 204, 
26.7.2006, p. 23–36. 
34 Commission Recommendation of 7 March 2014 on strengthening the principle of equal pay between men and women 
through transparency, COM(2014) 1405 final. 

7 

 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                     
evaluation  are  presented  in  a  Commission  staff  working  document35  published  at  the  same 
time with this report.  

The  evaluation  examined  how  the  existing  legal  provisions  on  equal  pay  have  worked  in 
practice,  the  approaches  adopted  by  the  Member  States  for  the  implementation  of  these 
provisions,  the  extent  to  which  their  initial  goals  have  been  reached,  how  effectively  they 
have been enforced, and the overall impact these provisions have had on closing the gender 
pay gap. More specifically, the evaluation focused on the application and enforcement of the 
the  Pay  Transparency 
Gender  Equality  Recast  Directive  after 
Recommendation in 2014. 

the  adoption  of 

The evaluation confirms that the existing legal framework has triggered significant change 
at  national  level  across  the  Union.  The  Member  States  nevertheless  continue  to  face 
challenges  in  effectively  implementing  the  principle  of  equal  pay  in  that,  for  instance,  they 
can  differ  in  how  they  define  key  legal  concepts  such  as  ‘pay’  and  ‘equal  work  for  equal 
value’ in their national legislation; differences in pay discrimination often go undetected due 
to  the  lack  of  transparency  surrounding  pay  levels;  and  establishing  that  discrimination  has 
taken  place  with  the  backing  of  facts  remains  challenging.  The  findings  also  point  to  the 
difficulties experienced by individual victims of pay discrimination in making claims without 
legal  representation  or  support.  Levels  of  fines  and  compensation  were  also  generally  not 
sufficiently dissuasive.  

In addition, the action plan invited the Commission to raise greater awareness of and provide 
guidelines  on  the  principle  of  equal  pay  (action  points  20  and  21).  For  this  purpose,  the 
European  network  of  legal  experts  in  gender  equality  and  non-discrimination  published  a 
study on ‘National cases and good practices on equal pay’36 in November 2019. The study 
includes  a  compilation  of  case  law  on  equal  pay  from  28  EU  Member  States  and  three 
countries of the European Economic Area, and presents good practices and an analysis of the 
solutions  adopted  on  the  national  level.  In  addition,  in  November  2019  the  Commission 
published an updated summary of the case law on equal pay of the Court of Justice of the 
European Union 37. 

4  OUTREACH AND COOPERATION  

4.1 Tackling the gender pay gap with the Member States  

The action plan encouraged the Commission to look for synergies between measures taken by 
key  stakeholders  at  European,  national  and  corporate  levels  to  guarantee  its  effective 
implementation.  The  Commission  therefore  involved  a  broad  range  of  stakeholders  in  the 
measures it took to give effect to the commitments laid down in the action plan. 

Through  the  High-Level  Group  on  Gender  Mainstreaming,  which  brings  together  senior 
representatives  in  charge  of  gender  mainstreaming  in  the  Member  States,  the  Commission 
conveyed information on the action plan to the Member States (action point 3). In 2018, the 
High-Level  Group discussed the plan under the  Bulgarian Council Presidency and provided 
examples of measures taken in the Member States to close the gender pay gap. Civil society’s 
involvement  and  the  active  participation  of  the  social  partners,  as  well  as  awareness-raising 

35 Evaluation of the relevant provisions in the Directive 2006/54/EC implementing the Treaty principle on 'equal 
pay for equal work or work of equal value', SWD(2020)50. 
36 Available at: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5002-national-cases-and-good-practices-on-equal-pay. 
37  Overview of landmark case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Available at: 
https://op.europa.eu/fr/publication-detail/-/publication/8ecbe429-fb90-11e9-8c1f-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-
PDF/source-107656972.  

8 

 
 
                                                           
measures and pay transparency, were seen as important elements in closing the pay gap. The 
Bulgarian  Presidency  also  held  a  ministerial  debate  on  'Closing  the  gender  pay  gap'  in  the 
EPSCO Council in March 2018. 

These efforts were continued under the Romanian Presidency in 2019, when the High-Level 
Group discussed the inter-linkages between the gender pay gap and work-life balance on the 
basis of a research note by the European Institute for Gender Equality38. The note also served 
as a basis for the Council Conclusions on ‘Closing the Gender Pay Gap: Key Policies and 
Measures’39, adopted in June 2019. The Conclusions call on the Member States to improve 
the current measures, or introduce new ones, for the effective implementation of the equal pay 
principle.  Drawing  on  the  2014  Pay  Transparency  Recommendation,  these  measures  could 
include  measures  to  improve  pay  transparency.  In  the  Council  Conclusions  on  “The 
Economy  of  Wellbeing”40,  adopted  on  24  October  2019  under  the  Finnish  Presidency,  the 
Council  moreover  invited  the  Member  States  and  the  European  Commission  to  “implement 
concrete and effective measures to close the gender gaps in employment and pay beyond the 
current  EU  Action  Plan  on  Tackling  the  Gender  Pay  Gap  and  address  their  impact  on  the 
gender gap in pensions”.  

The Commission also continued to support the Member States' efforts in tackling the gender 
pay  gap  through  the  European  Semester  process  (action  point  24).  More  specifically,  the 
European  Semester  has  allowed  the  Commission  to  highlight  the  root  causes  of  the  gender 
pay  gap  in  the  Member  States,  such  as  part-time  work  disproportionately  undertaken  by 
women  due  to  a  lack  of  investment  in  adequate  childcare  or  fiscal  disincentives  preventing 
second earners from working or working more. In 2018, the gender pay gap was addressed in 
the  country  reports  of  8  Member  States41  and  a  country-specific  recommendation  on  the 
gender pay  gap was issued to  1 Member State42.  In 2019, the pay  gap was addressed in the 
country reports of 11 Member States43 and a country-specific recommendation on the gender 
pay gap was again issued to 1 Member State44. The Commission continued to engage with the 
Member States also through the High-Level Group by keeping it informed of the findings as 
regards the gender pay gap made in the European Semester process.  

Finally, a mutual learning seminar on tackling gendered pay gaps, their root causes and 
on  the  best  practices  to  address  them  was  organised  for  Member  States’  representatives  in 
Iceland in May 2019 (action point 22)45.   

4.2 Strong engagement by the European Parliament and other stakeholders  

Due  to  the  multiple  root  causes  and  the  broad  cross-sectoral  reach  of  the  gender  pay  gap,  
strong stakeholder engagement is paramount in tackling it. For this reason, the Commission 
sought to actively involve stakeholders and build synergies in implementing the action plan.  

During  the  action  plan’s  implementation,  also  the  European  Parliament  has  emphasised  the 
persistence  and  root  causes  of  the  gender  pay  gap  on  numerous  occasions.  Through  its 

38 European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE): Tackling the gender pay gap: not without a better work-life balance, 2019. 
Available at: https://eige.europa.eu/publications/tackling-gender-pay-gap-not-without-better-work-life-balance.  
39 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9804-2019-INIT/en/pdf.  
40 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-13432-2019-INIT/en/pdf.  
41 AT, CZ, DE, EE, FI, PT, SK, UK. 
42 Estonia. 
43 AT, CZ, DE, EE, FI, FR, HU, MT, PT, SK, UK.  
44 Estonia. 
45 For the materials, see https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/eu-mutual-learning-programme-gender-equality-equal-pay-
iceland-27-28-may-2019_en. 

9 

 
 
                                                           
resolutions,  the  European  Parliament  has  consistently  called  on  stakeholders  to  combat  the 
gender pay gap and prevent the pension gap46. In referring to the action plan, it has called on 
the  Commission  to  propose  a  directive  on  pay  transparency  to  help  reduce  the  gender  pay 
gap47.  In  addition,  the  gender  pay  gap  has  been  discussed  by  relevant  parliamentary 
committees48. The European Economic and Social Committee also issued an opinion on the 
action plan in April 201849. 

In  order  to  reach  out  to  national  stakeholders,  the  Commission  supported  transnational 
projects  on  tackling  stereotypes  and  segregation  through  eight  grants  awarded  for  projects 
running  from  2017  to  201950  (action  point  4).  In  particular,  these  projects  promoted  good 
practices in overcoming counterproductive gender roles and gender stereotypes in education, 
training  and  at  work.  The  Commission  also  encouraged  the  participation  of  numerous 
stakeholders  in  the  projects’  implementation,  seeking  to  involve  the  social  partners,  public 
service  providers,  career  guidance  services,  civil  society  organisations,  schools  and 
universities, as well as local or regional stakeholders or the private sector where possible. In 
addition,  the  evaluation  of  the  projects’  behavioural  impact  was  encouraged  to  generate 
evidence on factors that create concrete change in people’s attitudes towards gender roles and 
stereotypes. The Commission facilitated the sharing of best practices and the lessons learned 
to  social  partners,  contributing  to  efforts  to  support  national  activities  to  tackle  stereotypes 
leading  to  differential  treatment  of  women  and  men  in  various  professional  sectors  (action 
point 5).  

Through the European sectorial social dialogue in education, the Commission also financed a 
project  on  gender  equality  run  by  ETUCE51.  Entitled  ‘Social  dialogue  and  gender  equality: 
Empowering  education  trade  unions  to  address  gender  equality  in  the  teaching  profession 
through  social  dialogue’,  the  project  took  place  from  2017  to  2019  and  was  aimed  at 
enhancing  the  professional  status  of  teachers,  trainers  and  school  leaders  and  making  the 
teaching  profession  more  attractive  for  both  men  and  women  (action  point  10).  In  addition, 
REC  projects  to  improve  the  gender  balance  in  economic  positions,  funded  by  the 
Commission in 2019, are ongoing. These projects concern women in decision-making, work-
life balance and the promotion of gender balance in corporate management and politics52. 

In October 2018, an annual forum of the EU Diversity Charters (action point 6) took place in 
Prague.  It  brought 
together  diversity  experts  and  businesses  and  public  sector 
representatives who shared best practices on non-discrimination and inclusion in the private 
sector.  The  forum  highlighted  the  business  case  for  gender  diversity  in  senior  corporate 
positions and the need to pay attention to the hiring, retention and progression of women in 
companies and to overcome gender biases.  

46 See e.g. European Parliament Resolution of 10 October 2019 on employment and social policies of the euro area 
(2019/2111(INI)), European Parliament Resolution of 17 April 2018 on gender equality in the media sector in the EU 
(2017/2210(INI)). Also European Parliament Resolution of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap (2019/2870(RSP)), 
adopted outside the action plan’s implementation period.  
47 European Parliament Resolution of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap (2019/2870(RSP)), European Parliament 
Resolution of 15 January 2019 on gender equality and taxation policies in the EU (2018/2095(INI)) and European Parliament 
Resolution of 10 October 2019 on employment and social policies of the euro area (2019/2111(INI)). 
48 E.g. hearing of the FEMM Committee of 9 July 2018 on the EU Action Plan on tackling the gender pay gap. 
49 The European Economic and Social Committee, Opinion on the EU Action Plan 2017-2019 - Tackling the gender pay gap, 
April 2018, available at https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions/eu-action-plan-2017-
2019-tackling-gender-pay-gap.  
50 For the selected projects, see: 
https://ec.europa.eu/justice/grants1/calls/2015_action_grants/just_2015_rgen_ag_role_en.htm.  
51 Recognised European Social Partner representing workers in the educational sector. 
52 The call and selected projects are available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-
tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/rec-rgen-wwlb-ag-2018.  

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The Commission also engaged in  dialogue with European social partners to promote and 
adopt relevant measures to help tackle the gender pay gap (action point 13). A seminar with 
the  social  partners  on  ‘Tackling  the  gender  pay  gap  and  promoting  childcare’  took  place  in 
June 2018 and a thematic seminar in the form of a dialogue between the Commission and the 
social  partners  took  place  on  7  May  2019  to  disscuss  the  role,  costs  and  benefits  of  pay 
transparency.  

in  democratic  societies54.  Moreover, 

As  concerns  the  need  to  improve  women’s  representation  in  political  decision-making,  the 
topic  was  discussed  at  the  2017  Fundamental  Rights  Colloquium  on  ‘Women's  Rights  in 
Turbulent  Times’,  which  included  a  plenary  session  on  “Equal  participation  at  work  and  in 
politics: a fundamental rights prerequisite”53. In 2018, the Colloquium included a session on 
the  European 
supporting  broad  participation 
Development  Days  in  June  2018  involved  a  high-level  panel  on  ‘Raising  women's 
participation  in  decision-making:  engaging  men  as  change  agents’.  These  events  allowed 
high-level  international,  national  and  European  policymakers,  civil  society  organisations, 
media  and  social  media  representatives,  the  world  of  business  and  education,  legal 
professionals, and youth to share ideas and experience to improve women’s representation in 
political  decision-making  (action  point  13).  They  also  contributed  to  supporting  practices 
aimed at improving gender balance in decision-making processes and positions across sectors 
and to help combat vertical segregation.  

5 

 CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD 

5.1 The action plan paved the way for further commitments  

This implementation report of the action plan confirms that all of the action plan’s 24 action 
points have been completed either fully or in part. In addition, the implementation of the large 
majority of the action points will be continued under separate policy initiatives. This points to 
a very good follow-up overall, as well as to a need for continued, targeted actions in tackling 
this form of persistent gender-based discrimination. 

A detailed description of the concrete measures taken to give effect to the individual actions 
has been annexed to this implementation report. Despite testifying to the multitude of actions 
taken  by  the  Commission  to  close  the  gender  pay  gap,  the  list  of  concrete  measures  also 
shows that areas remain, where further actions would be necessary to address the gender pay 
gap  in  a  meaningful  way.  The  action  plan  was  intended  to  demonstrate  the  Commission’s 
political  commitment towards tackling the gender pay  gap and was successful in  translating 
this  commitment  into  a  list  of  concrete  actions.  It  however  also  invited  the  Commission  to 
look  for  synergies  between  measures  taken  by  key  stakeholders  at  European,  national  and 
corporate  level.  The  annexed  description  of  concrete  measures  shows  that  multiple  efforts 
have been made and continue being made to reach out to stakeholders, whose commitment is 
necessary  for  bringing  about  change.  In  some  cases,  these  efforts  could  however  have  been 
more substantial. 

In  addition,  further  measures  could  have  been  taken  to  address  segregation  in  those  sectors 
where  women  are  traditionally  overrepresented,  such  as  education,  nursing,  and  healthcare. 
Similarly,  additional  efforts  may  have  been  useful  to  bring  about  change  in  women’s 
underrepresentation in corporate and political decision-making. 

53 https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/item-detail.cfm?item_id=115277. 
54 https://ec.europa.eu/info/events/annual-colloquium-fundamental-rights/2018-annual-colloquium-fundamental-rights-2018-
nov-26_en.    

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The latest data from 2018 shows very slow movement in tackling the gender pay gap and the 
gender  pension  gap  during  the  implementation  period  of  the  action  plan  (by  0,3  percentage 
points for the gender pay gap between 2017 and 2018 for the EU-28). Despite being on the 
decrease, the  gender pay and pension  gaps continue to  be significant  in  the EU on average, 
and are far from being closed.  

The  evaluation  of  the  current  equal  pay  provisions,  conducted  under  the  action  plan,  has 
shown  that  better  and  more  easily  available  information  on  pay  levels  can  reveal  possible 
gender biases or discrimination in corporate pay structures or at industry level. Stronger pay 
transparency  measures  should  make  it  easier  to  identify  pay  discrimination  in  individual 
cases.  Awareness  of  different  pay  levels  for  equal  work  or  work  of  equal  value  within  a 
company  can  also  make  it  easier  for  individuals  to  challenge  pay  discrimination  before 
national  courts.  By  bringing  structural  differences  into  light,  pay  transparency  can  also 
facilitate an analysis of the underlying causes of the gender pay gap and ensure better-targeted 
policy action.  

As  announced  in  President  Ursula  von  der  Leyen’s  Political  Guidelines  of  the  Commission 
2019-2024, together with this implementation report and at the same time with the publication 
of  the  equal  pay  evaluation,  the  Commission  presents  an  EU  gender  equality  strategy  for 
2020-202555. The strategy sets out further actions to close the gender pay gap, an initiative to 
introduce  binding  pay  transparency  measures.  The  implementation  of  the  individual  actions 
has  likewise  comprehensively  underlined  the  close  link  between  the  gender  pay  gap  and 
gender stereotypes. Addressing gender stereotypes will also be one of the policy objectives of 
the EU gender equality strategy.    

5.2 Conclusions 

Due to its set of holistic actions, the action plan has provided a broad policy framework and 
evidenced the commitment of the European Commission to address the gender pay gap in a 
meaningful way. Thanks to the data collection activities and the evaluation of the equal pay 
legislation  in  particular,  the  implementation  of  the  action  plan  has  helped  to  create  a  solid, 
informed basis for further activities against pay inequalities. 

The individual implementation measures, a more detailed description of which is provided in 
the  staff  working  document  in  annex,  highlight  the  broad  scope  of  the  actions  required  to 
effectively close the gap. The action plan, and the broad set of measures taken to implement 
it,  point  to  a  need  to  move  forward  from  debating  the  existence  of  the  gender  pay  gap  to 
taking concrete, concerted measures towards eradicating it.  

In addition, the action plan’s sectoral actions have helped to underline the need for specific, 
tailored measures to bring about change towards more equal opportunities in employment and 
occupation.   

As shown in this report, the actions undertaken to implement the EU action plan 2017-2019 
on tackling the gender pay gap will inform the European Commission’s future work to close 
the gender pay gap.  

55 A Union of Equality:  Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, COM(2020)152.  

12