What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Added:Z. whereas the Union is facing multiple crises, including climate disasters, armed conflicts, pandemics and populism, the effects of which are gendered; whereas armed conflicts disproportionately impact women and girls, including through the rise in the use of GBV as a weapon of war, and have resulted in an overall deterioration of women's rights, with detrimental consequences for the full enjoyment of the human rights of women and girls globally; whereas, despite the WPS agenda being central to contemporary global peace and security challenges, women's participation and leadership in foreign policy, defence, security and peacebuilding is still lacking, to a largely unknown extent due to the shortage of data collection; whereas several projects have been developed with the aim of collecting comprehensive data, such as the #SHEcurity index, that can serve as good practices and examples for data collection at EU level; whereas women are continuously under-represented in peace negotiations and in 2022 they represented only 16 % of negotiators in active peace processes led or co-led by the United Nations; whereas including the gender perspective in the EU's foreign and security policy means acknowledging and combating the specific gender dimensions and impact of global phenomena such as climate change, migration, trade and security, as well as putting a focus on the experiences and needs of women and groups facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalisation at the centre of policymaking; whereas the gender action plan (GAP) is the EU's ambitious strategy for contributing to the SDGs, in particular SDG 5, and accelerating progress on gender equality; whereas women's empowerment is a priority of all EU external policies and actions, having also played an active role in shaping the Agenda 2030; whereas the EU's external policies include a commitment to ensure that 85 % of all new programmes contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment; whereas such a commitment is currently missing from the EU's internal policies, including at Member State level, posing a risk of unequal progress towards gender equality within the EU;

Removed:AB. whereas the Union is facing multiple crises, including climate disasters, armed conflicts, pandemics and populism, the effects of which are gendered; whereas armed conflicts disproportionately impact women and girls, including through the rise in the use of GBV as a weapon of war84, and have resulted in an overall deterioration of women's rights, with detrimental consequences for the full enjoyment of the human rights of women and girls globally; whereas, despite the WPS agenda being central to contemporary global peace and security challenges, women's participation and leadership in foreign policy, defence, security and peacebuilding is still lacking, to a largely unknown extent due to the shortage of data collection; whereas several projects have been developed with the aim of collecting comprehensive data, such as the #SHEcurity index, that can serve as good practices and examples for data collection at EU level; whereas women are continuously under-represented in peace negotiations and in 2022 they represented only 16 % of negotiators in active peace processes led or co-led by the United Nations85; whereas including the gender perspective in the EU's foreign and security policy means acknowledging and combating the specific gender dimensions and impact of global phenomena such as climate change, migration, trade and security, as well as putting a focus on the experiences and needs of women and groups facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalisation at the centre of policymaking; whereas the gender action plan (GAP) is the EU's ambitious strategy for contributing to the SDGs, in particular SDG 5, and accelerating progress on gender equality; whereas women's empowerment is a priority of all EU external policies and actions, having also played an active role in shaping the Agenda 2030; whereas the EU's external policies include a commitment to ensure that 85 % of all new programmes contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment; whereas such a commitment is currently missing from the EU's internal policies, including at Member State level, posing a risk of unequal progress towards gender equality within the EU;

Removed:AC. whereas gender equality, as one of the core values of the EU, needs to be reflected and promoted across all EU programmes, policies and activities, including in the delivery of their objectives; whereas gender equality is one of the four horizontal principles in the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027, yet according to the European Court of Auditors, gender equality is the least well integrated horizontal priority in the EU's long-term budget86; whereas the current gender expenditure tracking methodology of the EU budget does not contain a category to capture budgetary interventions with a negative impact on gender equality; whereas EU gender budgeting has been applied primarily as a tracking mechanism, rather than being embedded throughout the entire budget cycle, from planning to evaluation; whereas this limits its transformative potential; whereas the implementation of the new post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy depends on the next MFF 2028-2034, which will therefore become a key vehicle for its execution; whereas there is a need to align the targets between the next MFF and the post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy;

AA. whereas discrimination based on the characteristics listed in Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is prohibited; whereas many women, girls and vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities, people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, people who are racialised, people from ethnic, minority or migrant backgrounds, LGBTIQ+ people, especially trans and intersex women, Roma people, and people experiencing discrimination on the basis of age (both younger and older people) (hereinafter the list of non-discrimination grounds), face intersecting inequalities and discrimination in the EU; whereas women and girls with disabilities constitute 29,2 % of the female population in the EU, and they face exclusion and discrimination in all areas of life, as well as a high rate of GBV; whereas women and LGBTIQ+ individuals, whether in transit or residing in reception facilities, are frequently exposed to specific gender-based risks, including violence, insufficient access to healthcare and legal insecurity; whereas this should be specifically addressed;

Change 22

Changed:AE.AB. whereas gender inequalities are more evident in certain sectors, such as agriculture, financial and consumer services87,services, health and care88,care, STEM89,STEM, and in some areas, such as rural regions, islands and outermost regions; whereas women from these areas and sectors who experience intersectional discrimination face specific structural barriers that make it difficult to participate in the labour market and access healthcare, education, housing, digital connectivity, and essential public services and infrastructure, and in some cases these are entirely unavailable; whereas depopulation is occurring in rural areas, including in the outermost regions, with young people being more likely to leave, especially girls and women90,women, undermining their right to stay in those areas; whereas a targeted and intersectional approach is needed to address the persistent gender gaps, in particular in the aforementioned sectors and regions, and to ensure that women and girls are not left behind in the implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy;

Change 23

Changed:AF.AC. whereas all of the Member States are bound to act in children’s best interest by safeguarding their right to family life and prohibiting discrimination based on their parents’ marital status, sexual orientation or method of conception; whereas around two million children may still face legal uncertainty in cross-border family recognition; whereas in 2022, the Commission proposed a Council regulation91regulation on parenthood and the creation of a European Certificate of Parenthood and this still pending in the Council;

11 unchanged paragraphs

AD. whereas the Roadmap for Women’s Rights reaffirms the EU’s strong commitment to safeguarding and advancing gender equality and women’s rights, outlining the principles and long-term vision for progress on which the post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy will rely;

1. Calls on the Commission to present an ambitious Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030, building on the first Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, with concrete, measurable, tangible legislative and non-legislative measures and objectives in the key areas outlined below;

Gender-based violence

2. Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal to the Council to include GBV as a new area of crime listed under Article 83(1) TFEU and to eliminate, without delay, all forms of violence against women and girls, including systemic violence, which constitutes one of the most widespread fundamental rights violations in the EU;

3. Calls on the Commission to swiftly publish its recommendation on the prevention of harmful practices against women and girls, including all forms of obstetric and gynaecological violence, malpractice in medical settings, forced abortion and forced sterilisation, the denial of abortion care, and female and intersex genital mutilation, and to ensure that it complements the Directive (EU) 2024/1385;

4. Calls on the Commission to monitor and encourage a swift transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence;

5. Urges the Commission to recognise femicide as a distinct and stand-alone crime and emphasises that understanding femicide as 'the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender' is critical to understanding its root causes linked to gender discrimination and power imbalances;

6. Calls again for the Commission to develop guidelines for Member States on the implementation of Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence and on violence in all areas of life, including clear guidelines on comprehensive and age appropriate sexuality and relationship education with a focus on consent education in line with international standards, and to pay particular attention to the full implementation and enforcement of all articles of the directive, and especially of Article 35, which addresses the distribution of consent education materials and organisation of awareness-raising campaigns or programmes to increase knowledge of the fact that non-consensual sex is considered a criminal offence;

7. Urges the Commission to highlight the importance of the reporting element of Directive (EU) 2024/1385, in order for the directive to work effectively in preventing and eliminating such violence against women and girls; calls on the Commission to prioritise the prevention of GBV both online and offline, while stressing the importance of adequate, targeted and timely prevention measures, through education, digital literacy, training of professionals, and information and awareness-raising campaigns as a key element in combating violence against women and girls in line with the provisions of the related EU legislation;

8. Calls on the Commission to address the specific needs of victims of GBV, including, but not limited to, psychosocial support, housing for victims, lifelong learning programmes and childcare, and calls for the proper protection of victims and survivors, by ensuring and increasing long-term public investments and guaranteeing effective responses, which should be structural, intersectional and survivor-centred and should address the social, economic and cultural root causes of GBV;

9. Calls on the Commission to urge the Member States that have not yet ratified the Istanbul Convention to do so and to expedite this process; calls on the Commission to ensure, monitor and promote the process of implementation;

Change 24

Changed:10. Underlines that marginalised groups face a heightened risk of violence and that intersecting forms of discrimination intensify the effects of GBV and re-victimisation, including due to law enforcement practices;re-victimisation; calls on the Commission, therefore, to develop and, in cooperation with the Member States, implement mandatory, comprehensive training for all legal professionals, including judges and prosecutors, on issues related to GBV, intersectionality and victim support to ensure that legal professionals are adequately equipped to handle cases, both offline and online, in a gender sensitive and intersectional manner and to ensure that victims are not subject to secondary victimisation during legal proceedings;

Change 25

Changed:11. Calls on the Commission to put forward EU legislation to criminalise rape on the basis of the absence of consent in all Member States; notes that 14 Member States still require either some form of violence to criminalise rape or do not mention consent explicitly; reiterates that rape is not only a violation of women’s fundamental rights, bodily autonomy and integrity, but also a form of sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls, which is an EU crime according to the TFEU92;TFEU; calls on the Member States that still use the definition of rape based on the assumption of violence to commence legislative changes to bring the definition in line with the latest international standards and with Article 36 of the Istanbul Convention;

6 unchanged paragraphs

12. Underlines the Commission’s and Member States’ legal obligation to protect women’s rights and their physical integrity; urges the Commission to ensure the swift and full transposition of the revised Anti-Trafficking Directive setting out stricter rules, providing stronger tools to fight trafficking in human beings, including new forms of sexual exploitation, and organised criminal groups, such as through better cross-border communication, and especially protecting the rights of minority and migrant women; stresses that demand reduction is a key instrument for the prevention and reduction of human trafficking, as it targets financial incentives; urges, furthermore, the Commission and the Member States to support efforts to rescue and rehabilitate victims;

13. Stresses that a society's approach towards prostitution impacts its understanding of gender equality and women’s rights and conveys messages and norms; calls on the Commission to encourage and support efforts of the Member States to take action in the areas of prevention, decriminalisation of people and especially women in prostitution, demand reduction, punishment of clients, destigmatisation and the elimination of stereotypes, and to ensure sufficiently financed, easily accessible and high-quality exit programmes for those who wish to exit prostitution; calls on the Member States to ensure that people in prostitution are actively involved in policymaking concerning their rights; calls on the Commission to support these efforts;

14. Condemns the practice of surrogacy, which involves the reproductive exploitation and use of women's bodies for financial or other gain, in particular in the case of especially vulnerable women in third countries; calls on the Commission to take measures to support ending this phenomenon;

15. Calls on the Commission to recommend EU support for studies into the relationship between GBV, intimate partner violence and cancer;

Comprehensive gender-responsive healthcare

16. Emphasises that health is a fundamental right, and therefore everyone must have access to quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare services respecting their informed consent and bodily autonomy; urges the Commission to ensure universal access to gender-responsive and quality-, patient- and outcome-centred healthcare in line with the highest standards for women and girls, in all their diversity, in particular groups experiencing intersectional forms of discrimination, including people with disabilities and from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, victims of GBV, racialised people and people from ethnic, minority or migrant backgrounds, older, LGBTIQ+ people, especially intersex women, transgender and non-binary individuals, women in rural and remote areas and outermost regions, pregnant women and mothers, especially single mothers; stresses the need for healthcare staff to be trained in gender-sensitive health issues and to respond to gender-based and sexual violence;

Change 26

Changed:17. Calls on the Commission to urgently address the gender health gap, including by tackling gender-specific health needs and risks throughout all life stages, while paying particular attention to diseases that disproportionately affect women, addressing gender disparities and biases in medical research, training and clinical trials and encouraging more women to pursue medical careers; calls on the Commission to put forward a specific action plan to tackle these issues and to further orient forthcoming health-related initiatives towards the concept of gender medicine, as introduced by the WHO93;WHO;

6 unchanged paragraphs

18. Urges the Commission to ensure that the new Gender Equality Strategy includes a strengthened focus on gender equality in public health; calls on the Commission to build on the growing understanding of the factors that affect treatment outcomes by supporting the gathering of more and better-quality disaggregated data to identify health disparities in subgroups that might not otherwise be apparent in the population, designing health interventions addressing subgroups in which disparities exist and monitoring health outcomes in high-risk populations; notes that special attention should be paid to pregnant and breastfeeding women;

19. Calls on the Commission to address the persisting mental health challenges faced by women and girls and marginalised groups and urges the Commission to ensure universal access to gender-responsive mental healthcare and to increase investment in healthcare facilities in rural areas and develop adaptable solutions such as mobile health clinics;

20. Calls on the Commission to address – at EU level – the gaps, inequalities and barriers to accessing healthcare for women in all their diversity, including women from vulnerable groups;

21. Calls on EU Member States to ensure and guarantee access to essential healthcare services and medications and calls on the Commission to increase investment in gender mainstreaming in health systems; stresses that the training of all medical professionals and healthcare workers should include a gendered approach; calls on the Commission to ensure that no one, especially women with disabilities, is subjected to harmful, invasive or irreversible treatments against their will, and to establish that all medical interventions are based on each individual’s personal, free and fully informed consent;

22. Urges the Commission to develop a comprehensive EU strategy to address women’s highly specific health needs at every life stage and to address the factors that impact the health of women and girls, also by including health in the EU Semester;

23. Stresses the importance of cooperation and exchange of best practices at European level alongside the efficient use of related EU funds to address common challenges in healthcare and calls on the Commission to strengthen inter-service cooperation between relevant policy services to ensure gender equality is systematically integrated across all initiatives related to health; calls on the Commission to encourage and support Member States with the implementation or expansion of national health insurance systems that offer comprehensive and affordable care;

Change 27

Changed:24. Calls on the Commission to develop a gender sensitive approach to healthcare and to address specific issues where challenges persist, such as mental health, cancer, endometriosis or maternal healthcare; calls on the Commission to develop common EU-wide standards in antenatal, childbirth, postnatal midwifery and newborn and maternal healthcare to update the EU Directive on Midwifery94Midwifery in alignment with international standards and to enable healthcare professionals to share best practices in this field; calls for the establishment of an EU framework on the safe use of medicines during pregnancy and lactation;

10 unchanged paragraphs

25. Calls on the Commission to support healthcare systems to develop, implement and evaluate gender-focused disease prevention strategies as prevention can improve women’s and girl’s quality of life; therefore, urges the Commission to implement measures that are both prevention-based and raise awareness about the right to access healthcare services;

26. Stresses the need to address territorial disparities in access to healthcare by ensuring the availability of gender-responsive health services in rural, remote and depopulated areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States to invest in mobile health units, telemedicine and the training and deployment of healthcare professionals in underserved regions;

27. Calls on the Commission to create a comprehensive, binding framework and to ensure full and equal access, to all sexual and reproductive healthcare services, for everyone in the EU regardless of their migration or residence status; notes that these services and rights include respectful and high-quality obstetric, gynaecological, antenatal, childbirth and postnatal midwifery and newborn healthcare, comprehensive information and services on family planning, gender-affirming care and access to medically assisted reproduction and fertility care and treatments, safe and affordable modern contraception methods of one’s choice and the right to safe and legal abortion care services (medical and surgical), age appropriate sexuality and relationship education, STI prevention, post-exposure prophylaxis, detection and treatment services as an integral part of their human rights, without which the rule of law cannot be upheld; emphasises that Member States must ensure these services are accessible, affordable, and non-discriminatory; calls on the Commission to recognise all violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights as a form of GBV;

28. Stresses that any equality strategy should tackle all forms of GBV, including backsliding over and violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights; reiterates that access to healthcare and public services, particularly access to abortion care and psychological support for women victims of violence should be considered a priority; calls on the Commission to apply sanctions in cases of regressions in women’s rights, including restrictions on SRHR, access to abortion care or sexuality education, which must be considered violations of EU values and trigger proportionate institutional responses, including infringement procedures and consequences for funding; calls on the Commission to establish a monitoring and accountability mechanism, to swiftly address any retrogressive developments or threats to gender equality and all violations of women’s rights including SRHR and LGBTIQ+ people’s rights, in Member States, as well as to use existing mechanisms to assess compliance with the rule of law or fundamental rights, or as a dedicated mechanism and to include a dedicated sub-pillar on GBV in its annual Rule of Law report; calls on the Commission to encourage and engage men as active allies in the promotion of SRHR to address the broader context of the rising backlash among young men against young women and feminism;

29. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to include Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, including the right to safe and legal abortion care, in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as laid out in Parliament’s resolution of 11 April 2024;

30. Highlights EU citizen’s broad support for enabling everyone in the EU to have access to safe abortion care, no matter who they are or where they come from, as it is among other things reflected by the successful European citizen’s initiative (ECI) ‘My voice, my choice’ calling on the EU to pass legislation that would create a financial mechanism helping Member States that voluntarily join this policy to provide safe abortion care for all those who lack access to it; urges the Commission to take swift action and follow this ECI demand and to establish a financial solidarity mechanism between Member States to ensure women in the EU can access abortion care;

31. Calls on the Commission to issue Recommendations to Member States on how to combat all forms of obstetric and gynaecological violence, which encompass a variety of neglectful, demeaning, abusive or harmful practices including but not limited to the ‘husband stitch’; calls on the Commission to facilitate exchanges among Member States on the issue of obstetric and gynaecological violence and to mandate EIGE to develop a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure the prevalence and manifestation of obstetric violence and to allocate sufficient resources to addressing it;

32. Calls on the Commission to issue, in the framework of the implementation of the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, clear guidelines on the provision of sexual and reproductive healthcare to victims of sexual violence, in line with international public health and human rights standards, including the WHO standards on the clinical management of rape;

33. Recognises that fertility is a critical aspect of women’s health, and emphasises the need to proactively address the multifaceted factors and challenges related to fertility, such as the lack of access to fertility-related healthcare and treatments, or insufficient information and support services; urges the Commission to ensure that information on fertility preservation is accessible to all;

Gender equality and women’s empowerment in the world of work

Change 28

Changed:34. Calls on the Commission to follow up and report back to Parliament on the implementation of the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive95andDirectiveand Pay Transparency Directive96,Directive, including the guarantee of robust pay-reporting requirements, effective access to judicial remedies for victims of pay discrimination, and appropriate sanctions for non-compliance, and the transposition of the Women on Boards Directive97;Directive; urges the Commission to monitor and guarantee the proper and timely enforcement of these Directives, which is of crucial importance for women on the labour market and will enable them to enjoy equal rights and conditions throughout their career;

35. Highlights that Parliament will firmly oppose any attempt to withdraw or weaken the Pay Transparency Directive;

Change 29

Changed:36. Urges the Commission to actively promote women’s labour market entry and retention, take measures to reduce the employment gap, gender pay and pension gap and invest in lifelong learning programmes for women and girls; calls on the Commission to set EU-wide targets aimed at increasing women’s participation in the labour market, to be monitored within the framework of the European Semester;market; welcomes the EIGE’s analysis of the main barriers to women’s employment in Europe, including barriers to full-time employment, providing a foundation to Member States to address structural barriers to women’s employment; calls for structural reforms, with gender-responsive public investment and economic redistribution to address systemic gender inequalities; calls on the Commission to encourage the Member States to ensure women’s equal access to work with rights and decent wages, including through collective bargaining; calls on the Commission to encourage the Member States to take firm measures to sanction businesses that discriminate between men and women and fail to comply with labour legislation;

37. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen policies and funding instruments that support women returning to the labour market after maternity leave or prolonged career breaks related to caregiving responsibilities; underlines the importance of active labour market measures, tailored reskilling and upskilling programmes, and individualised job counselling, and calls on the Commission to promote and support employers in offering flexible, quality employment opportunities to returning women; stresses the need to address the discrimination against women in the workplace, especially women with children; calls on the Commission to ensure that pregnancy and maternity discrimination are combated through flexible working arrangements that are properly designed and communicated; calls on the Commission to propose legislation on teleworking rules and the Right to Disconnect without further delay and to ensure it is done in a gender-responsive manner which does not exacerbate existing gender inequalities; calls on the Commission to support gender sensitive workplaces to ensure women suffering from non-communicable diseases, chronic diseases, disabilities or menopause symptoms have equal rights and opportunities in accessing and remaining in the workplace;

38. Calls on the Commission to propose a legislative framework to tackle GBV in the world of work to ensure the protection of all workers from GBV, including harassment, intimidation and any form of sexual violence in the workplace; calls on the remaining Member States that have not yet done so to ratify ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work and to recognise the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including GBV;

Change 30

Changed:39. Urges the Commission to strengthen efforts to address discrimination faced by the most vulnerable women, girls and persons faced with intersectional discrimination, as mentioned in the list of non-discrimination grounds and those affected by the automation of jobs; reiterates that these groups are more likely to encounter specific or disproportionate labour market challenges, such as high unemployment rates, low pay and precarious jobs and difficulties accessing labour protection, maternity leave and social security; calls on the Commission to encourage programmes ensuring equal opportunities, including access to leadership and decision-making roles for all those faced with discrimination and uncertainty in the labour market; notes that this should be done by, among other things, ensuring the implementation of the Employment Equality Directive98Directive across the Member States, strengthening equality bodies, as provided for by Directive 2024/149999(EU) 2024/1499 and ensuring access to minimum wages on an equal basis with others; stresses the need to develop targeted employment and upskilling strategies for women over the age of 55 and women living in rural or structurally disadvantaged regions, who face compounded barriers; calls on the Commission to support the Member States in designing inclusive labour market policies including through cohesion policy instruments and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+);

40. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the Member States take the gender dimension into account when reforming pension systems and adapting the retirement age, and to consider the differences between the work patterns of women and men, including all unpaid employment practices, taking into account the higher risk of intersectional discrimination faced by women in the labour market; calls on the Commission and the Member States to put forward a comprehensive plan to address the gender pension gap, including by ensuring adequate childcare support and, mitigating the ‘motherhood penalty’ as well as boosting financial literacy for women and improving financial advice to women in particular to narrow the gender investment gap;

Change 31

Changed:41. Calls on the Commission to review the Social Security Directive 79/710079/7/EEC to ensure that it enables the adoption of positive action and contributes to closing the gender pension gap;

Change 32

Changed:42. Stresses that women currently represent only one third of entrepreneurs in the EU101,EU, highlighting the need for targeted action to close the gender gap in entrepreneurship;

4 unchanged paragraphs

43. Urges the Commission to develop guidelines for the Member States, the private sector and civil society to help establish gender equality targets and strategies including equal leadership opportunities in the economy, including for women entrepreneurs and to remove barriers for women to start and own businesses in order to reduce the gender gap in entrepreneurship; calls on the Commission to support the Member States in these efforts, and to promote gender equality in access to finance, and address the persistent gender gap in business leadership and innovation;

44. Reiterates that the gender gap in the digital and AI sectors inevitably results in biased algorithms; calls therefore on the Commission to promote gender equality in companies working on AI- and ICT-related activities, including through financing women-led projects in the digital sector and promoting a minimum number of women researchers participating in AI- and ICT-related research funding calls; calls on the Commission to put forward targeted initiatives to support women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and to motivate girls to consider STEM, ICT and AI-related careers, including by defining a target for the participation of women researchers in STEM and AI projects, in order to close the overall skills and gender gap in this sector; emphasises the need to reflect the interests of women and vulnerable groups in the digital transition; calls on the Commission and Eurostat to enhance the monitoring of the gender composition in STEM professions, such as in the healthcare workforce;

45. Stresses that women empowerment as citizens and economic actors is both an ethical and economic imperative, and that achieving an effective and equitable ‘Union of Skills’ requires dedicated efforts to eliminate the barriers currently limiting labour market participation, particularly for women; urges the Commission to encourage women’s economic activity and ensure equality on all levels throughout everyone’s professional life in the EU, as it is a benefit for European society, the economy and the world of work, given that gender equality is a precondition for European success, competitiveness and sustainable growth; urges the Commission to ensure that proposals for regulatory simplifications do not conflict with the aim of achieving gender equality;

46. Points out that the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value enshrined in EU law must be applied in practice; calls on the Commission to tackle the systemic disparities in pay due to the lack of recognition and undervaluation of work in female-dominated sectors such as care, healthcare, education and retailing; calls for binding EU measures to also ensure equal pay for work of equal value, and to improve working conditions in undervalued female-dominated sectors; urges, therefore, the Commission to work with the Member States and social partners to develop gender neutral job evaluation tools and criteria allowing for an EU-wide definition and comparison of ‘the value of work’ with the aim of fairer valuation and remuneration of work carried out in female-dominated sectors; notes that this should be done by ensuring collective bargaining rights, strengthening labour inspections and guaranteeing equal representation of female workers in social dialogue;

Change 33

Changed:47. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to effectively address the horizontal and vertical segregation of the labour market as one of the main reasons for a persisting gender pay gap, including by targeting the ESF+ funds to support the combating of gender stereotypes in education and labour counselling, and promoting diversity charters and initiatives in the private and public sectors;

Female poverty

Change 34

Changed:48. Calls on the Commission to make the upcoming anti-poverty strategy gender-responsive by putting a strong focus on women’s structural poverty; urges the Commission and the Member States to reinforce economic and social measures to tackle female poverty and women’s social exclusion, particularly with regard to access to decent and affordable housing, energy and transport; underlines that decent and affordable housing is a fundamental right to be protected and recognised as a precondition for the enjoyment of other fundamental rights; recalls that inequality in housing drives many women to live in undignified, unsafe situations, at risk of homelessness and violence; calls for the Commission to take this into account in its upcoming EU affordable housing plan and to pay specific attention to the housing needs of victims of GBV and adequate shelter capacities; stresses that access to social security and housing for all should be effectively safeguarded in Member States and calls on the Commission to promote it continuously; urges the Commission to continue the fight against menstrual poverty, which is the lack of adequate access to menstrual hygiene products and facilities, affecting an estimated 10 % of the menstruating population in the Union, and disproportionately affecting marginalised and vulnerable groups, limiting participation in social, educational and professional life; calls on the Commission to ensure access to free and accessible menstrual products and, as a first step, to initiate a review of Directive 2004/113/EC with the aim of removing VAT from menstrual products and eliminating unjustified price differences – often referred to as a ‘pink tax’ – that result in higher costs for healthcare products and services marketed to women;

Women’s rights and gender equality in education, training and the digital sphere