2024 report on gender equality in the EU

Gender equality is a core EU value under the Treaties, with the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 delivering on the von der Leyen Commission’s commitment to achieving a Union of Equality. The fourth year of the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy, 2023, was another successful year for gender equality in the EU. 2023 was a particularly important year for gender equality in the EU. In May, the Pay Transparency Directive was adopted. It aims to strengthen the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, through pay transparency measures and enforcement mechanisms. The Directive tackles pay secrecy, making it easier for all workers to find out if their gender was a factor in setting their salary and to defend their right to equal pay in court. In June, the EU’s accession process to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (commonly known as the Istanbul Convention) was finally concluded. With the accession, the EU is bound by ambitious and comprehensive standards to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement and with regard to its institutions and public administration. In December, the Council of the EU reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on a new EU directive to strengthen the independence and powers of the national equality bodies. The directive covers the mandate of equality bodies in the area of gender equality in the area of employment and occupation. Most recently, a political agreement has been reached on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating violence against women and domestic violence. The proposed directive is a milestone - the first comprehensive legal instrument at EU level to tackle violence against women, which is still too pervasive in the European Union. With this directive all victims of violence against women and domestic violence across the European Union will benefit from the same comprehensive set of measures of protection, support and access to justice. The report focuses on the key actions and achievements of EU institutions in this area. It also provides encouraging examples of legislative and policy developments by Member States (indicated in the boxes), and work by EU-funded projects in the above areas.