European Women's Lobby Statement to the Spring Council 2007 - 50 Years of European Gender Equality Legislation: Implement Gender Justice now!

While European Union (EU) legislation has been instrumental in promoting gender equality and women's rights in Member States and accession countries, the binding legal instruments do not address the obstacles and inequalities that women confront in the private sphere. The European Women's Lobby identifies key areas where EU institutions should intervene if gender equality is to be achieved. They include: the pay gap between women and men; differences in women's and men's pensions; overrepresentation of women in part-time work associated with the fact that women in average spend more time in paid and unpaid care for dependents; women and poverty, social exclusion, social protection and health care; and long-term implementation gaps in EU and national level laws and policies on equality between men and women. Recommendations include:
- an exchange of innovative policy initiatives amongst member states around closing the gender pay gap;
- develop mechanisms to accommodate women's employment patterns as experienced throughout women's life cycle, so that their pension benefits are not penalised due to career-breaks or part-time work;
- take concrete measures to provide universal and affordable care services for older people, disabled people and persons with additional support needs, and set European targets to achieve this goal;
- Member States should recommit to the full implementation of European gender equality legislation through a concrete set of actions to benefit those most likely to be discriminated against, and to guide employers and legal and justice professionals.