New Gender Equality Strategy: European Commission

The Commission recently adopted a five-year strategy for promoting equality between women and men in Europe. The strategy aims in particular to make better use of women’s potential, thereby contributing to the EU’s overall economic and social goals. It translates the principles set out in the European Commission’s Women’s Charter into specific measures, ranging from getting more women into company boardrooms to tackling gender-based violence. The gender equality strategy spells out a series of actions based around five priorities which include:
■ Getting more women into the labour market and helping to reach the Europe 2020 target employment rate of 75% overall for women and men
■ Introducing targeted initiatives to get more women into top jobs in economic decision-making
■ Promoting female entrepreneurship and self employment
■ Instituting an annual European Equal Pay Day to raise awareness of the fact that women continue to earn an average of nearly 18% less than men across the EU
■ Working together with all Member States in combating violence against women, especially eradicating female genital mutilation in Europe and beyond
The Commission will also set up a yearly top-level Gender Equality Dialogue involving the European Parliament, the Council presidencies, European social partners and civil society to assess progress in implementing the strategy. For a copy of the new gender equality strategy in your language, visit here.

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