16. Recalls, once more, that women earn on average 16,4 % less than men in the European Union; states that women do not receive the same salary in cases where they hold the same jobs as men or jobs of equal value; notes that in other cases they do not hold the same jobs, owing to the continuing vertical and horizontal occupational segregation and the higher incidence of part-time jobs; calls, therefore, on the Member States, employers and trade union movements to draft and implement serviceable, specific job evaluation tools to hel ...[+++]p determine work of equal value in order to ensure equal pay for women and men, and encourages companies to undertake annual equal pay audits and publish the data for maximum transparency and to narrow the gender pay gap; points out that the gender pay gap often leads to a retirement pension gap, which may result in women finding themselves below the poverty line;

16. Recalls, once more, that women earn on average 16.4 % less than men in the European Union; states that women do not receive the same salary in cases where they hold the same jobs as men or jobs of equal value; notes that in other cases they do not hold the same jobs, owing to the continuing vertical and horizontal occupational segregation and the higher incidence of part-time jobs; calls, therefore, on the Member States, employers and trade union movements to draft and implement serviceable, specific job evaluation tools to hel ...[+++]p determine work of equal value in order to ensure equal pay for women and men, and encourages companies to undertake annual equal pay audits and publish the data for maximum transparency and to narrow the gender pay gap; points out that the gender pay gap often leads to a retirement pension gap, which may result in women finding themselves below the poverty line;

Equality of pay between women and men was the main theme in 2001, the first year of the programme, because the salary gap between men and women is one of the most striking inequalities that women face in their professional lives.

We heard them years ago on equal pay for women, we heard them on all equal opportunities legislation, on improvements in maternity leave, we heard them in connection with the race directive before the summer, and so we should carry on regardless.

7. Recalls the decision of the Stockholm Summit that the Council together with the Commission will develop indicators to ensure that there are no discriminatory pay differentials between men and women; in this respect, strongly supports the proposal in the Guidelines to adopt a multi-faceted strategy to achieve gender pay equality in both the public and private sectors, but wishes the introduction of precise national quantitative targets and target dates to tackle the pay gap to be called for more specifically from the Member States; also expects European target figures to be set aimed at closing the gap between men's and women's pay, ...[+++]which will help to avoid the compartmentalisation of the labour market and change traditional roles; regrets, however, the little attention devoted by most Members States to combating the problem of gender pay gaps, and calls therefore on the Member States to encourage employers to develop annual reports with information on: (a) the proportions of women and men at different levels of the organisation, (b) pay differentials for equal work and for work of equal value, and (c) actions to improve the situation and increase pay transparency; also wishes the Member States to draw up equal pay plans and annual reports on developments in the area of equal pay which will serve as a basis for the Commission to draw up progress reports taking into account national action plans on employment.

For example, in France, despite the equal rights laid down by law, the difference in pay between men and women is still, on average, 27%.