WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1271/98 by Freddy BLAK to the Commission. Equal pay in Denmark
C 354/86 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 19. 11. 98 Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (27 May 1998) In accordance with the decisions of the Amsterdam and Luxembourg European Councils, the applicant countries must meet the Schengen standards regarding external frontier controls. The Schengen acquis is currently being formulated in the Council. It will be possible to provide detailed answers to the questions put only when the Council has established the Schengen acquis and has examined the extent to which the applicant countries have adopted it. Nevertheless, on the basis of what has been established so far, the Commission considers that in certain respects the applicant countries still have to make considerable efforts to ensure the security of the external frontiers. It is primarily the responsibility of the applicant countries to eliminate the shortcomings. The Commission will, however, support such efforts with the existing Community programmes, especially PHARE. (98/C 354/138) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1271/98 by Freddy Blak (PSE) to the Commission (29 April 1998) Subject: Equal pay in Denmark The goal of equal pay for men and women in Denmark is still a long way off. Figures from the Danish Statistical Office (1995) show that Danish women in the 30-34 age category have an annual average income of DKR 170 500, whilst men in the same age group earn an annual DKR 231 000. In the 35-39 age group, womenís annual average earnings are DKR 179 899, whilst men earn DKR 253 400 per year. The Commission has previously referred to the 1996 code as an EU initiative designed to create better conditions for equal pay. A code of practice is an excellent initiative, but cannot stand in isolation. Does the Commission not believe that a more forward looking and proactive policy ought to be pursued by the EU and that tougher measures ought to be employed? Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (10 June 1998) The principle of equal pay for male and female workers doing the same work has been enshrined in Community law since the Treaty of Rome (Article 119 of the EC Treaty). It is also the subject of a specific directive, Directive 75/117 of 10 February 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women (1), which has been transposed by all Member States including Denmark. These various provisions have given rise to extensive Court of Justice case law. In particular, the Court has interpreted the concept of ápayí very broadly. But despite these provisions and case law, practice shows that pay differences between women and men remain substantial. The 1996 code of practice referred to by the Honourable Member is designed to further the principle of equal pay in practice. The Commission also makes the point that the Court has long recognised the direct effect of Article 119 of the Treaty, thus allowing any female worker who feels she is the victim of discrimination to cite this Article in proceedings before any competent national court. Consequently, as current problems are questions of practice, and in view of all the legal guarantees already provided by Community law, the Commission at the moment is not planning any further legislative initiatives concerning the principle of equal pay. (1) OJ L 45, 19. 2. 1975