In a statement issued on Friday, the ETUC warned that women across Europe will continue to remain in the dark about pay discrimination. It noted that only three countries – Slovakia, Italy and Lithuania – have so far transposed the directive into national legislation, despite having been granted an additional year to implement it.
According to the ETUC’s findings, nearly half of EU member states have not even published a draft law, while around a quarter have prepared draft legislation but are not on track to complete the process within the next year.
Partial transposition delays have been recorded in Poland, the Czech Republic, Malta and Belgium. A full delay until 2027, despite draft legislation being in place, is expected in the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Finland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece.
In contrast, no draft legislation or timeline has been set in Ireland, Germany, Spain, Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia, while Sweden has expressed opposition to the directive.
The ETUC attributed the delays to strong lobbying pressure from employer organisations, which have described the law as a ‘regulatory burden’ aimed at weakening key rights for women.
So far, the European Commission has repeatedly rejected calls from employers to dilute the directive, sending what the ETUC described as a clear message to national governments to proceed with implementation.
ETUC general secretary Esther Lynch said: “Missing Sunday’s deadline is a betrayal of working women. It represents a shameful failure of political leadership in the face of aggressive corporate lobbying.”
She added that the Commission has remained firm in rejecting attempts to weaken the directive and must now ensure that governments meet their obligations.
“Pay secrecy hands all the power to the employer and leaves women and their unions without the basic information they need to defend themselves,” she said.
ETUC deputy general secretary Isabelle Schömann said the organisation is pushing for a swift and ambitious implementation.
“Working women have already waited too long. The exploitation of women at work must end,” she said.
She added that delays come at a tangible cost, noting that each additional year without action costs women an average of €4,256 in lost wages.
