A comparative analysis of gender equality law in Europe 2024: The 27 Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and the United Kingdom compared

This report provides a general overview of the ways in which EU gender equality law has been implemented in the domestic laws of the 27 Member States of the European Union, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (the EEA countries), and the United Kingdom. The analysis thus covers 31 countries in total. The analysis is based on the country reports written by the gender equality law experts of the European Equality Law Network (EELN). This report also explains the most important elements of the EU gender equality acquis. The term ‘EU gender equality acquis’ refers to all the relevant EU Treaty and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights provisions, legislation and case law of the CJEU in relation to gender equality. The development of EU gender equality law has been a gradual process. In 1957, the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), the origin of the current EU, contained only one single provision (Article 119 EEC Treaty, nowadays Article 157 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ‘TFEU’) on gender equality, namely the principle of equal pay between men and women for equal work. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the European Community and the EU merged into one single legal order, the European Union. However, we continue to work with two treaties: the Treaty on European Union (TEU) that lays down the basic structures and provisions, and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which is more detailed and elaborates the TEU. In addition, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU entered into force in 2009 and has the same legal value as the two Treaties (the TEU and the TFEU). The TEU, the TFEU and the Charter all contain provisions that are relevant to the field of gender equality.