Documentation Centre and Archives on Feminism, Equal Opportunities and Women's Studies
Documentation Centre and Archives Equal Opportunities in the European Union
Equality between women and men
Quite regularly information that matters to women is published on the websites of the European Union and the Council of Europe. Only, this relevant information is a little hard to find. That is why RoSa helps you with its selection of must-read messages, reports, decisions and regulations concerning gender equality. RoSa browses, you get informed at just one mouse click.
The Treaty of Rome
(25 March 1957) establishing the EEC , lays down in article 119
(later 141), the principle of equal pay for equal work.
Since the Member States showed little enthusiasm in the practical application of that principle, a number of
Equal Pay Directives have been designed as from 1975.
With this Treaty, entered into force on 1 May 1999, the principles of equal rights for women and men and of non-discriminiation on the basis of sex or sexual inclination are incorporated into the EC-Treaty.
The Charter presents a unique entity of classic human rights, social and economic rights and consumer rights, solemnly proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission at Nice on the 7th December, 2000. Article 21 (1) forbids any discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual inclination. Aricle 23 deals with equality between men and women and the acceptance of the principle of favouring the under-represented sex. Article 33 (2) protects pregnant women against dismissal and confirms the right to parental leave. Article 34 (1) recognizes the right to social assistance for mothers.
The Treaty of Lisbon, entered into force on 1 December 2009, reforms the European Union thoroughly, yields more power to the Parliament and establishes the fundamental rights of all European citizens. It recognizes the legal value of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and emphasizes gender equality explicitly in quite a number of articles, thus providing a strong legal basis for law suits on gender discrimination.
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