"Equality is a core value of the European Union, and a principle we will keep fighting for. Equality
between women and men is no exception.
Europe ranks among the safest and most equal places for girls and women in the world. The number of
women in employment has reached historically high levels in the EU. More and more women are in
positions of power today. That is something we can be proud of.
But that does not mean that we are there yet or that these achievements should be taken for granted.
Also in Europe many women are still facing challenges, inequalities and threats in their everyday lives:
abuses and harassment, lower wages, fewer job and career opportunities. And that is unacceptable.
Particularly worrisome is the trivialisation of sexist hate speech, especially online, but also in the public
discourse. Words matter and can lead to actions. They can be a first step towards unequal treatment
or even physical violence. We call on all EU Member States to show zero-tolerance towards hate
speech and all forms of violence and discrimination against women.
Many of the remaining inequalities are linked to the place of women at work. The EU's new rules on
Work-Life Balance will contribute to getting more women at work by giving families a real choice on
how to organise their professional and private life. It will open up opportunities for working women and
men to share caring responsibilities, for children and relatives, on an equal basis. This will increase
opportunities for women to find jobs that reflect their level of education and ambition. Unlocking this
potential would be the best economic stimulus we could offer to boost our economies.
Women remain underrepresented in politics. In the upcoming European elections, we would like to see
more women across the EU not only voting, but standing and succeeding as candidates. The
Commission also calls for more women to be represented in the highest level of all EU institutions,
including as Commissioners. This Commission has been leading by example: today we have 9 female
Commissioners and women account for almost 40 % of our managers.
Gender equality is also at the core of our continuous engagement with partner countries worldwide.
The EU is striving to accelerate the efforts towards gender equality in the different fields of its external
action, as part of the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. All around the world ,
we remain strongly committed to implement actions fighting all forms of violence against women and
girls, including those affected by war, poverty or displacement, for example through our global
Spotlight Initiative together with the United Nations. We are committed to giving all women and girls
equal access to health services, education and economic empowerment, and the opportunities to shape
their own future. We will never stop fighting for true equality for all inside and outside the European
Union to make sure that the progress achieved is not undone."
Background
Across the EU, thanks to the newly agreed Work Life Balance directive, fathers will have a right to take
at least 10 working days off around the birth of their child. Parental leave also becomes an individual
right for mothers and fathers without a transfer of the four months to the other parent, a strong
incentive for men to also make use of this possibility. Across the EU, both women and men will be able
to use a ‘carer's leave' of five days per year in the event of sickness of a relative who depends on them
for care.
While working to implement all these initiatives, the Commission is itself leading by example. At the
beginning of this mandate, President Jean-Claude Juncker committed to have at least 40% female
participation in the Commission's management by 1 November 2019. Thanks to a number of measures
introduced since then, we are well on track and, as of 1 February 2019, women represented 39.6% of
all managers in the Commission.
The European Commission promoted effective access to justice and realisation of rights for women and
girls who were victims of trafficking, as described in the European Commission second progress report.
In cooperation with the Commission, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) published on
EU Anti-Trafficking Day practical guidance to practitioners for implementing the anti-trafficking
STATEMENT/19/1494
directive in a gender-specific manner.
EU Cohesion policy directly supports gender equality through business support to women
entrepreneurs and improving the quality and access to childcare. For early childhood education and
care infrastructure, €1.23 billion has been programmed in the 2014-2020 period.
Europe needs more women in science. Through Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation
programme, the European Commission is supporting research organisations and universities to put in
place gender equality plans. These will help improve the conditions for more women scientists to work
in research and innovation.
The 'Women in Transport – EU Platform For Change' strengthens women's employment and equal
opportunities in the transport sector across all modes and also serves for exchange good practices.
Today the Commission published the ‘ She Figures' report; which monitors the level of progress made
towards gender equality in research and innovation in the European Union. The report shows that the
number of women with a career in research is slowly growing in Europe. Yet, they remain significantly
underrepresented, and their potential is today not fully recognised and valued.
The European Commission encourages and empowers women to play a more active role in the digital
age through many initiatives such as the no woman no panel campaign, gender equality in the creative
Europe MEDIA programme. Women's participation in tech will also provide a boost to the economy and
allow for full participation in society.
The EU places gender equality at the centre of its external action through multiple partnerships with
multilateral and regional partners. In the G7 context, the EU and Canada co-hosted the first-ever
meeting of Women Foreign Ministers in September 2018 where they pledged to build a network of
governments and civil society organisations to advance gender equality and girls' and women's rights,
and to work towards implementing existing commitments.
The launch of the Spotlight Initiative by the European Commission together with the United Nations
addresses gender-based violence at global level. Several country programmes have already been
launched, including in Latin America and the Pacific region. In Africa, country programmes are
expected to be launched shortly.
The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Dialogue on Women Empowerment established a
mechanism to monitor the progress made by the UfM Member States towards gender equality. In
addition, a €3.24 million grant contract was recently signed with EuroMed Feminist Initiative to launch
a regional campaign to combat and prevent violence against women and girls in the Southern
Neighbourhood countries. Under the EU Trust Fund in response to the Syrian Crisis, two important
initiatives were launched last year to strengthen the resilience of Syrian women and hosting
communities in Iraq, Jordan and Turkey, and to reinforce access to protection, participation and
services for women refugees, internally displaced persons and hosting communities.
For more information
Spotlight: EU action for women
EIGE Gender Equality index
Factsheet: A Year of Focused Action to Stop Violence against Women (also available as a printable
booklet)
Public Consultation on EU rules implementing the Treaty principle on 'equal pay' – open until 5 April
2019
Call for proposals to prevent and combat gender-based violence and violence against children, youth
people and women – open until 19 June 2019
2018 Data collection on trafficking in human beings in the EU