The European Commission has adopted on 21 September a five-year strategy for promoting equality between women and men in Europe. With this strategy, based in five top priorities, the Commission aims for a better use of women's potential, contributing to the EU's overall economic and social goals.

The gender equality strategy adopted by the European Commission on 21 September translates the principles set out in the European Commission's Women's Charter into specific measures, ranging from getting more women into company boardrooms to tackling gender-based violence.

Actions for EU strategy on gender equality

The gender equality strategy adopted by the European Commission spells out a series of actions based around five priorities: the economy and labour market; equal pay; equality in senior positions; tackling gender violence; and promoting equality beyond the EU.

This actions include:

• Getting more women into the labour market and helping to reach the Europe 2020 target employment rate of 75% overall for women and men.
• Putting forward targeted initiatives to get more women into top jobs in economic decision-making;
• Promoting female entrepreneurship and self employment.
• Instituting an annual European Equal Pay Day to raise awareness of the fact that women continue to earn an average of nearly 18% less than men across the EU.
• Working together with all Member States in combating violence against women, especially eradicating female genital mutilation in Europe and beyond.

The Commission will also set up a yearly top-level Gender Equality Dialogue  involving the European Parliament, the Council presidencies, European social partners and civil society to assess progress in implementing the strategy.

The role of women within society

The EU’s achievements in fostering equality between women and men have helped improve the lives of many European citizens. There are some encouraging recent trends: more women are in the labour market (approaching 60% on average in the EU, up from 52% in 1998) and education and training have been improved. Young women (20-24) represent 59% of university graduates in the EU.

However, gender gaps remain in many areas. In the labour market, women are still over-represented in lower paid sectors and under-represented in decision-making positions. Parenthood keeps female employment rates down: female entrepreneurs make up only 33.2% of the self-employed. In addition, women also continue to work more unpaid hours than men at home.

Gender-based violence remains an issue. A recent Eurobarometer survey measured how domestic violence against women is perceived by the public. 26,800 citizens were interviewed in February and March 2010 in all 27 EU Member States. The survey follows a previous Eurobarometer conducted in 1999 in the then 15-Member State EU.