The aim of the report was not so much to provide a detailed overview of the national equal pay legislation, but rather to help reduce the often blurred discussion about the ‘gender pay gap’ to its essence and to reflect on the question of how law and legal instruments may help to close the gap. In this respect, it is particularly important to clearly differentiate between pay discrimination on the one hand, and pay discrepancies based on factors that have nothing to do with discrimination on the other hand. The country reports aim to reflect where there is pay discrimination in the strictly legal sense and where pay discrepancies are based on other factors. . .Report by the Commission's Network of legal experts in the fields of employment, social affairs and equality between men and women.
Collection of reports of European network of legal experts in gender equality and nondiscrimination on recent national case law and good practices on equal pay. These reports provide both insight into the .developments and the shortcomings of the enforcement of the equal pay principle in practice. First of all there is a lack of public availability of national case law on the equal pay principle between women and men. The lack of pay transparency might play a role in the limited number of legal proceedings on equal pay matters. Besides, the concept of positive action does not always seem to be well understood. In many countries, equality bodies play an active role in the enforcement of equal pay at national level. The reported examples on good practices show how diverse the initiatives at national level are, and illustrate a trend towards more obligatory measures aimed at employers.