EP calls for binding measures to close gender pay gap

The European Parliament voted on a non-legislative resolution Thursday, calling for binding measures for member states of the European Union (EU) to close the gender pay gap.

As EU member states did not take the opportunity to update their laws on equal opportunities and treatment, members of European Parliament (MEP) urged the European Commission to table fresh legislation providing for more effective means of supervising the implementation and enforcement in member states, EP said in a statement.

Despite the EU's 2006 directive on equality between men and women in the labour market, differences in their pay persist and are even growing, it said in the statement.

"Equal pay for equal work is a fair principle that must be valued by all employers. Today, this is not the case, which is why we need better legislation," said MEP Anna Zaborska.

According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, the gender pay and pension gaps still averaged 16.4 percent and 38.5 percent respectively across the EU in 2013, with significant differences between countries.

In view of the lack of progress in closing the gender pay gap, the EP proposed mandatory pay audits for large companies listed on the stock exchange and possible sanctions at the EU level in cases of non-compliance. Such measures could include excluding companies from EU budget-funded public procurement of goods and services, or financial penalties for employers who do not respect wage equality.

EU member states are often slow to apply and enforce the equal pay principle.

Only in the Netherlands and France does the directive's transposition into national law appear to be "sufficiently clear and correct", according to an EU Commission report.

The gender pay gap is widest in Estonia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and narrowest in Poland, Italy, Malta and Slovenia, the EP said. Endit