EVALUATION ROADMAP

Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to share any relevant information that they may have.

Title of the evaluation

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'

Lead DG – responsible unit

DG JUST/D2

Indicative Planning

(planned start date and completion date)

Q2 2018 – Q4 2019

Additional Information

https://ec.europa.eu/info/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/combatting-discrimination/gender-equality/equal-pay_en 

The Roadmap is provided for information purposes only. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the document, including its timing, are subject to change.

A. Context, purpose and scope of the evaluation

Context

Gender equality is one of the fundamental values of the European Union. Yet, it is not a reality at work. Women in the EU, across the economy, earn on average over 16% less per hour than men do 1 .

Ineffective implementation of the equal pay principle 2 in practice remains one of the biggest challenges in tackling pay discrimination, which could in turn contribute to reducing the gender pay gap. Both the report on the implementation of Directive 2006/54/EC 3 and the report on the implementation of the 2014 Pay Transparency Recommendation 4 show persisting problems with practical enforcement and legal interpretation of the principle of 'equal pay for equal work or work of equal value'. These problems are confirmed by the cases brought before the Court of Justice of the EU, the cases reported by the equality bodies competent for the enforcement of Directive 2006/54/EC and complaints received by the European Commission.

The Commission's Action Plan 2017-2019: tackling the gender pay gap 5 , adopted on 20 November 2017 provides that the Commission will assess the possibility of targeted amendments to Directive 2006/54/EC with the aim, in particular, of improving pay transparency 6 . In the REFIT Scoreboard 7 , under "Equal Pay" section the Commission has defined that it will evaluate Directive 2006/54/EC.

Purpose and scope

The lack of visible progress in combating pay discrimination and the gender pay gap is mirrored by the limited follow-up to the 2014 Commission Recommendation on pay transparency by Member States. This stagnation raises questions as to the need for more profound evidence-based assessment of existing legal provisions.

The evaluation will cover the analysis of relevant provisions of the Directive 2006/54/EC with a view to assess its progress in improving the implementation of the equal pay principle, its enforcement and protection of victims of discrimination. The evaluation of the Directive will take into account other existing legal provisions (Art. 157 TFEU, having direct horizontal effect) and the non-binding 2014 Pay transparency recommendation and their impact. It will provide evidence as to whether existing EU equal pay and related legal provisions are achieving their objectives and are still fit for purpose, in accordance with the Commission's Better Regulation rules.

Taking into account the enlargement process, the evaluation will cover all EU Member States, from the time of the transposition of Directive 2006/54/EC and previous directives it consolidates 8 . It will cover the period 2006-2017 as such, but the scope of this evaluation would focus in particular on how the directive has been applied/enforced since 2014 (looking for additional insights in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of EU legal provisions on equal pay since the adoption of the 2014 Recommendation). In accordance with the Better Regulation Guidelines, the evaluation will also assess the coherence, relevance and EU added value of the existing legal provisions of Directive 2006/54/EC in question.

B. Better regulation

Consultation of citizens and stakeholders

An on-line public consultation based on a questionnaire is due to be launched in Q4 2018. It will be open for at least 12 weeks Questions to be put to the public will address among others the effectiveness of the Directive in implementation of equal pay principle and examine to what extent previous evaluation findings, as mentioned above, are still valid and whether new obstacles have emerged. It will be addressed to:

·the general public,

·stakeholders, Member States, EU institutions and other bodies,

·national, regional and local authorities,

·intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, 

·researchers with an interest in gender equality issues and/or labour and social security issues,

·equality bodies and social partners,

·civil society organizations and other organisations or individuals. 

The public consultation and questionnaire will be published on the “Your voice in Europe” website 9 . The contributions received will be published together with a summary of the public consultation, and the consultation synopsis will be included in a Commission Staff Working document (SWD - which will also be published online).

In addition, in Q1 2019 the Commission will organise a targeted expert seminar for the social partners to discuss the experiences with implementation of equal pay measures in Member States.

Data collection and methodology

Information on the implementation of the relevant provisions of Directive 2006/54/EC is available from the time when the Commission prepared its 2013 and 2017 implementation reports. This information was mainly gathered on the basis of questionnaires addressed to Member States. The 2013 Commission report showed that the enforcement of the equal pay principle in practice is the most problematic area of Directive 2006/54/EC. Furthermore, the 2017 report revealed an absence of tangible progress across the EU in strengthening pay transparency.

List of relevant evaluations and studies:

·Commission staff working document Accompanying the document >>Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the application of 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 – SWD (2013) 512 final

·Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the application of 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 – COM(2013) 861 final

·Commission staff working document impact assessment on costs and benefits of measures to enhance the transparency of pay. Accompanying the document Commission Recommendation on strengthening the principle of equal pay between men and women through transparency – SWD(2014) 59 final

·Report on the implementation of Commission Recommendation on strengthening the principle of equal pay between men and women through transparency, Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council (2017)

·The enforcement of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value – European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (2017)

·Legal Aspects of the Gender Pay Gap, European Commission’s Network of legal experts in the fields of employment, social affairs and equality between men and women, Prechal, S., Burri, S., van Seggelen, I., de Graaff, G. (2007), European Commission

·Equality Bodies and the Gender Goods and Services Directive, Equinet

·Pay transparency in the EU – European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (2017)

·Tackling Gender Pay Gap, EIGE

·Gender Pay Gap, OECD,

·Closing the gender pay gap: A review of the issues, policy mechanisms and international evidence, ILO,

·Global Wage Report 2016/17 / ILO, 2016

·European Parliament, Policy Department C, Application of the Principle of Equal Pay for Men and Women for Equal Work of Equal Value: European Added Value Assessment, Study, 2013.

·European Parliament, EPRS, Towards Gender Equality in Employment, At a glance, 2015.

·Study on the magnitude and impact factors of the gender pay gap (2016) 

·Study on the origins and policy responses to the gender pay gap (2006)

The present evaluation study would complement existing knowledge. It will be based on desk research (literature reviews, reports), data gathering, expert meetings and interviews with key stakeholders (including employers survey), case law, and to the extent possible economic modelling.