Article 157 [Equal Pay Between Men and Women]

The current EU has, from its origins, put the emphasis on the protection against non-discrimination on grounds of sex in the field of wages. Ex-Article 119 TEEC included likewise the meaning of ‘remuneration’ (now ‘pay’), as well as of the principle of ‘equal remuneration without discrimination based on sex’. The content has practically remained unchanged in the first two paragraphs of Article 157 TFEU. Then, the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty (Article 141 TEC) added two other paragraphs on legislative procedure and positive measures, which also practically coincide with current paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 157 TFEU after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. That new approach introduced by the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty has been of course maintained in Article 23 EUCFR. Finally, a Protocol on Article 157 TFEU has been annexed to the Treaties. In this context, alongside the major substantial challenge (the ‘traditional’ existence of gender wage gap), it is necessary to face it in conjunction with other two important procedural challenges: firstly, the role of social partners and relevant organisations of civil society in salary negotiations; and secondly, the extension of the scope of the valid comparator beyond the same undertaking to make easier the protective role of national judges. In both aspects, the synergies between the EU and the Council of Europe in a broder social Europe are essential.