New position on a new EU gender equality strategy

In the position, CESI demands EU measures in the following issue areas:

• Strengthening freedom from violence and harassment: CESI urges full and effective implementation of the recently adopted EU Directive on combatting violence against women and domestic violence and requests that the EU supports Member States, especially those yet to ratify the Istanbul Convention, with capacity-building, legal assistance, and social partner engagement.
• Closing the gender ay and pension gaps: CESI calls for the rigorous enforcement of the EU Pay Transparency Directive, with systematic monitoring, resourcing for labour inspectorates, and involvement of trade unions/worker representatives in pay audits and collective bargaining processes.
• Breaking the glass ceiling: CESI recommends expanding the scope of binding gender quotas in the EU (women on boards directive) to include not only corporate boards but also public administrations and managerial positions at least in mid-sized companies. Access to flexible, remote and part-time leadership roles must be increased, particularly in public service and traditionally male-dominated sectors.
• Fair distribution of care and gender equality in care work: The strategy should promote policies valuing care work as skilled labour, with decent pay and protections, particularly for migrant and informal care workers. Building on the Work-Life Balance Directive, CESI supports stronger EU minimum standards on non-transferable, paid parental leave for both parents, aiming at an equal-earner/equal-carer model.
• Ensuring equal access to quality employment and working conditions: CESI calls for reinforced gender mainstreaming in all future employment-related legislation and legislative fitness checks. The European Commission and its agencies must strengthen monitoring of gender-based occupational segregation, working conditions in precarious jobs, and violence in the workplace.
• Advancing digital and STEM inclusion: The strategy must invest in upskilling and reskilling programmes tailored to women for digital, AI, and STEM sectors, alongside targeted outreach for underrepresented groups (e.g. Roma, rural women, and women with disabilities). Gender-sensitive AI regulation should be a priority: algorithms must be trained on diverse, unbiased datasets, and automated decision systems should be audited for gender impacts.
• Gender budgeting and monitoring mechanisms: Gender budgeting must become a binding principle for all EU financial instruments, including the EU’s structural and investment funds and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: "The next EU Gender Equality Strategy must be more than a declaration of intent – it has to deliver concrete and measurable progress for women across Europe. We need binding rules accompanying soft law and awareness raising, and we need strong enforcement of legislation and effective resources to ensure that equality becomes a reality in the workplace, in public life and at home. Gender equality is not only a matter of fairness and human rights – it is also a prerequisite for a resilient, innovative, and socially cohesive Europe."

The full position is available here.