Former Prime Minister Alfred Sant has called for an assessment to ensure that companies to which EU funds are addressed have high working standards and ban all forms of discriminatory practices towards women.

While voting in favour of a European Parliament resolution on the gender pay gap in the EU, MEP Alfred Sant said that the principle of equal pay for work of equal value was reiterated in the European Pillar of Social Rights and closing the gender pay gap should be at the forefront of the fight for social justice.

Illegal pay discrimination among men and women is still practiced in the EU. Companies participating in its persistence are preventing women from being autonomous and independent, denying their empowerment.

“The causes are numerous. Women being the main caregivers of families can explain it, with career breaks and lower hours. Discontinuous careers should be better valued by our societies as this is later reflected in the pension gap and retirement ages. Nevertheless, other causes remain unexplained, linked to gender stereotypes and undervaluation of female-dominated work. This is unacceptable”, stated Sant.

Pay transparency is still rare in the private sector. Lack of pay transparency opens opportunity to perpetuate inequality. 

Sant concluded his explanation of vote in the European Parliament acknowledging that the EU is currently working on a European-wide answer, with the aim of helping the victims to be better informed on wage structures and in order for them to contest unequal treatments.