Euro­pean Commis­sion publishes its Roadmap for Women's Rights.

On 7 March, one day before the International Women's Day, the European Commission presented its Roadmap for Women's Rights and the 2025 Report on Gender Equality. The roadmap does not contain any concrete initiatives, but principles and goals for the promotion of women's rights in the coming years. It forms the basis for the new multi-year strategy for gender equality which will be published next year. The current Gender Equality Strategy has been in place from 2020 to 2025.

Report on Gender Equality

The report states that Europe is moving in the right direction, but that the situation varies greatly from one Member State to another. Over the past five years, the EU has made great progress in terms of pay transparency, work-life balance for equal care responsibilities, gender balance on corporate boards and combating violence against women. However, the gender pay gap is still over 10 per cent in most countries. After retirement, this translates into a gender-specific pension gap of 25.4 per cent in 2023. Moreover, one in three women in the EU has experienced physical or sexual violence or threats in adulthood, and discriminatory norms and stereotypes persist.

Eight goals of the Roadmap for Women's Rights

In light of the findings of the Report on Gender Equality, the Roadmap for Women's Rights aims to tackle structural discriminatory norms in our societies in order to achieve a total of eight goals. These include, among others, freedom from gender-based violence, work-life balance and care, equal employment opportunities and adequate working conditions as well as political participation and equal representation.

Health stan­dards and gender pension gap

Another goal is to achieve the highest health standards for girls and women by supporting the Member States in guaranteeing access to sexual and reproductive health and the associated rights. The promotion of gender-sensitive medical research, clinical studies, diagnoses and treatments is also relevant in this context. With a view to equal pay and the economic empowerment of women, the gender pay and pension gap is to be eliminated, among other things.

Gender equality for greater compet­i­tive­ness

The European Commission's current focus on competitiveness is also reflected in the Roadmap for Women's Rights. The roadmap emphasises that recognition and utilisation of the potential of all women as workers, entrepreneurs and managers are indispensable for the growth and stability of the EU. According to forecasts, improved gender equality could increase the EU's gross domestic product per capita by 6.1 to 9.6 per cent by 2050, which corresponds to EUR 1.95 to 3.15 trillion. Against this background, the promotion of women's rights is also a strategic investment in the EU's economic growth and competitiveness.

Outlook

The principles set out in the roadmap relate to the key areas within the realm of gender equality: violence, health, time, money, labour, education and knowledge, power and institutional mechanisms. The post-2025 gender equality strategy should build on this and present specific political measures to overcome these challenges. A corresponding public consultation is to be launched in spring 2025.