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In addition, the proposal to allocate specific funds in the new EU budget to reduce the gender gap in wages and pensions has also been accepted.
Strasbourg, 11 March 2026 - In plenary today, the European Parliament adopted a report entitled:”Gender pay and pension gap in the EU: state of play, challenges and way forward and development of guidelines for better evaluation and fairer remuneration for work in female-dominated sectors”, for which the party's deputy Možemo! Gordan Bosanacbio shadow reporter for the Greens/EFA Group, in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL).
The report begins by stating that equal pay for equal work or work of equal value one of basic principles. The European Union and that the Member States have an obligation to eliminate gender-based discrimination in all aspects of remuneration, working conditions and types of employment contracts.
During the negotiations several amendments by Bosanac were accepted on behalf of the Greens, highlighting in particular the call on the European Commission and the Member States to place a strong emphasis on economic strengthening of pensioners and to the allocation of special means in the new multiannual EU budget to reduce the gender gap in wages and pensions.
“Croatia has the poorest pensioners in the European Union, who, with an average of 5,600 euros a year, cover only 60% of the cost of living. Likewise, the majority of European pensioners are at the throes of poverty because they cannot live off their pension. Women are particularly affected here, as years of pay inequality have spilled into unequal pensions. I am pleased that my colleagues in the EP have supported the Report, as it has shown that it is possible for us to work together to reduce the poverty of the pensioners who have built today's EU and all its members.” Bosanac pointed out in his speech on the Report during the plenary debate.
Also, Bosanac invites small and medium-sized enterprises to consider the application of best practices in the field of gender balance in their management structures.
In the report, the European Parliament expresses its concern Gender pay gap. In the EU, it is about 12%,and in some Member States it even reaches 18%. This means that women, compared to men, work on average free of charge from 54 to 67 days annually.
Gender gap in pensions is even bigger. According to the EIGE Institute data from 2025, it is 25%at EU level, resulting from Accumulated inequalitiesduring the working life of women and from periods of absence from the labor market, as well as from lower wages.
In its report, the European Parliament therefore calls on the Member States and the European Commission to taking various measures elimination of gender-based discrimination in the areas of wages, participation in the labour market, taking parental leave, care for children and the elderly, tax policy and the like.
On the proposal of the Greens, the European Commission is invited to adopt The European Agreement on Care(European Care Deal), as announced during parliamentary hearings in 2024. This agreement should include a set of policies, programmes and recommendations, combined with a specific package of investments in care, with the aim of fostering a transition towards a care economy that recognises care as a right and values it as the backbone of our society.
