Having received assurances by the Commission that any backsliding on the Pay Transparency Directive is ruled out, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is set today to conditionally endorse the Roadmap for Women’s Rights.
The Roadmap includes important principles, recognising the need to close the gender pay gap, investing in quality care jobs, and ensuring workplaces free from gender-based violence. These are long-standing ETUC demands.
The Roadmap includes important advances, amongst which commitments to introducing binding measures to tackle gender-based violence in the workplace. It is crucial that this voluntary political declaration be followed up with binding legislation, enforceable rights, and strong social dialogue.
The ETUC’s red lines for endorsement
The ETUC’s conditional endorsement is based on three essential demands:
- No backsliding on existing rights – Every equality Directive already adopted must be fully enforced. The ETUC will not accept any weakening, delays, or deregulation – especially when it comes to the Pay Transparency Directive.
- Turn words into laws – The Roadmap must lead to binding EU action, not remain a political statement. This includes ambitious new measures in the forthcoming Gender Equality Strategy, such as stronger protection against gender-based violence in the world of work.
- Put workers and unions at the table – Trade unions and social partners must play a central role in designing and implementing gender equality policies. Social dialogue and collective bargaining are key to delivering real progress for women at work.
The ETUC will continue to press for a bold Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030, set to be presented by the Commission on 8 March 2026, ensuring that the Roadmap’s principles are translated into ambitious, binding measures that protect and advance women’s rights in Europe.
Isabelle Schömann, ETUC Deputy General Secretary, said:
“The Roadmap may reaffirm important principles, but principles alone will not change the daily reality of women in Europe. Gender equality is not optional: it is a fundamental right anchored in the Treaties. The Roadmap has yet to prove its worth, and this will only happen if its principles are translated into binding action.”
Gloria Mills, ETUC Women’s Committee President, said:
“We cannot allow attempts by corporations to bring us backwards stop us from moving forwards. While the commitments we have received from the Commission that none of the hard-won rights in the Pay Transparency Directive will be rolled-back are positive, a defensive response is not enough. The Commission must now double down on moving concrete measures that strengthen women’s rights forward."
