Should the EU Ensure Gender Equality?

Gender equality is one of the EU's declared values, yet member states have made very different progress. According to the EU's 2025 gender equality index, the union scores 63.4 out of 100 points overall, with Sweden leading at 73.7 points. Denmark and Sweden rank among the highest - yet no member state has achieved full equality.

In recent years, the EU has adopted concrete rules in this area: the pay transparency directive gives employees the right to information about wage levels and requires larger companies to report wage gaps between women and men. There are also rules on gender quotas in boards and combating violence against women. The EU's equality strategy sets long-term goals to reduce wage and pension gaps and strengthen equality in the labour market - but recent figures show that women in the EU earn on average around 77% of men's annual income, and women remain significantly underrepresented in top management positions.

The question is where the limits of the EU's role lie. Several member states - including Denmark, Hungary and Poland - are critical of the EU interfering in family policy, parental leave and social rights, which have traditionally been national matters.

The debate at the Main Library focuses on these questions: how far has Europe come, what challenges remain, and how should responsibility be divided between the EU and member states going forward? The speaker is Mai Rasmussen, communications director at KVINFO - Centre of Knowledge on Gender and Equality.

Venue: Main Hall