Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Accompanying the 2011 report on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (see summary of the first legislative document dated 16 April, 2012), the Commission presents a report on progress on equality between women and men in 2011 accompanies the 2011 Report on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The present Report on progress on equality between women and men is a part of the Strategy for equality between women and men (2010-2015).

For the first time, this year it is annexed to the Communication on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It provides an overview of the performance and activities organised at EU level in 2011 in the five areas of the Strategy namely: equal economic independence; equal pay for equal work and work of equal value; equality in decision-making; dignity, integrity and ending gender-based

violence, and gender equality in external action policy.

The following dimensions are emphasised:

• the economic and business case for gender equality,
• the efforts made to promote gender equality in the follow-up to the Europe 2020 strategy,
• the consequences of the crisis and recovery measures for women and gender equality,
• the advantage of tackling the gender pay gap at EU level, both for economic growth and meeting poverty targets,
• the economic case for promoting a balanced representation of women and men in economical decision-making,
• the human and economic costs of violence,
• the EU's clear commitment to gender equality when dealing with third countries and international organisations.

In what follows, these aspects are illustrated by examples of actions carried out at EU level and by Member States individually. The report also provides the most recent EU comparable statistics enabling an overview of the situation for women and men, the changes occurring over time, and remaining gender gaps in the European Union.