The European Commission has said it will be proposing binding measures on pay transparency “in the coming weeks” in an effort to tackle the male-female pay gap in the EU.

The latest figures from the EU’s statistics body Eurostat show that the pay gap between women and men across the union has slightly improved since last year — from 14.5% to 14.1%.

As a result, European Equal Pay Day — when women symbolically stop getting paid compared to their male colleagues for the same job — falls tomorrow (10 November) this year.

Three commissioners — Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmi and Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli — have issued a joint statement pledging to accelerate the process of ending pay discrimination.

They said the pandemic had exacerbated inequalities, with women over-represented in frontline low-paid jobs providing the most basic and essential community services.

Minimum wage

The commissioners said adequate minimum wages could play a part in helping to reduce the pay gap, since more women than men earn a minimum wage.

Last March, the commission published a pay strategy for the next five years.

This included an initiative to introduce binding pay transparency measures.