Thanks to the invaluable personal contribution from Anne Nègre, the European Committee of Social Rights, the supervisory body of the European Social Charter, adopted 15 decisions on State compliance with the right to equal pay and the right to equal opportunities in the workplace, as well as on the representation of women in decision-making positions in private companies.
The complaints, filed under the collective complaints procedure by the international NGO University Women Europe (UWE), concerned 15 states that accepted collective complaints at the time. 14 of these 15 States were found to be in breach of one or more of their obligations to guarantee the right to equal pay and the right to equal opportunities in the workplace.
Following this, the Committee of Ministers adopted recommendations addressed to the 14 States in question, together with a general statement on the subject. Thanks to the efforts of Anne Nègre and the UWE, these unprecedented achievements marked a turning point in terms of the procedures and outcomes of collective complaints and their follow-up, and reaffirmed the principles that should guide gender equality.
The project “75 women in 75 years of Council of Europe history” is organised by the Delegation of the European Union to the Council of Europe with the Council of Europe and the Permanent Representations of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
