Page 3 - BPW-UK -E-news - Edition 107 - November 2022 - BINDED

2022 October EU Info Report

EU Council approves the Women on Boards Directive
After adoption by the European Parliament in May, the Women on Boards Directive has been adopted
by the EU Council on Monday, 17 October. This is a historic achievement after 10 years of blockage.
The directive, which will have to be transposed into national law, lays down that at least 40% of non-
executive director positions in listed companies should be held by members of the underrepresented
sex by 2026. If member states choose to apply the new rules to both executive and non-executive
directors, the target would be 33% of all director positions by 2026. Member states have two years
following the entry into force of the directive to adopt the required national measures. The directive will
enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The directive still needs to be adopted by the European Parliament.

For more information, you can see the EC Proposal COM/2012/0614 final , EP Legislative Train Info,
EU Council press release.

➢ Interest to follow up at National level the good implementation.

Equal pay for equal work between men and women Directive
Equal pay for equal work is one of the EU’s founding principles, enshrined in Article 157 of the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union. However, the implementation and enforcement of this
principle remain a challenge. One concern is that, due to a lack of pay transparency, pay discrimination
often goes undetected and victims are prevented from bringing claims. In 2014, the European
Commission adopted a non-binding recommendation on pay transparency with a view to strengthening
the existing EU equal pay legislation (Directive 2006/54/EC). In 2020, a Commission
assessment concluded that the non-binding nature of the recommendation had limited its impact.

In her political guidelines, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that
she would introduce a proposal on binding pay transparency measures in the first 100 days of her
mandate in order to address the gender pay gap and ensure application of the principle of equal pay
for equal work. The Commission's legislative proposal, originally included in Commission's 2020 work
programme, was adopted on 4 March 2021. It is one of the key priorities in the EU Gender Equality
Strategy 2020-2025. See EC Directive Proposal 2021/0050(COD).

Currently under the interinstitutional negotiations between the European Parliament and the European
Council. The 1 trilogue took place on 30 June 2022. The second trilogue took place on 6 October
st
2022. In this second round of talks on pay transparency rules, EU institutions discussed the inclusion
of non-binary people and intersectionality in the scope of the directive. The Council of the EU and the
European Parliament are preparing for the third round of inter-institutional negotiations on
Thursday 27 October.

For more information: European Directive Proposal 2021/0050(COD) on Strengthening the application
of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through
pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms and EP Legislative Train Info

➢ Make sure that the discussed text between the European Parliament and
European Council is going in our way.

Gender Equality Index 2022
The freshly launched Gender Equality Index 2022 reveals that progress continues at a snails' pace,
with a mere 0.6-point increase since last year's edition. As a result, the EU average score now stands
at 68.6 out of 100 points, only 5.5 points higher than in 2010. Published on 24 October.
➢ Do not hesitate to use and communicate it.

Miette Dechelle - BPW Europe Representative, EWL Board Member - 29/10/2022
BPW Europe: www.bpw-europe.org EU Transparency Register: 836392015840-91
EWL: womenlobby.org : EU Transparency Register: 85686156700-13 Page-1