Council calls for greater equality to boost EU competitiveness
EU ministers are shining a light on equality as a driver of economic growth and competitiveness in Europe. In conclusions approved today, the Council emphasises the vital role played by equality and non-discrimination in strengthening the EU’s economy and fostering competitiveness. It calls on the Commission and member-state governments to do more to promote equal treatment and remove barriers to labour-market participation.
The Council’s conclusions address various forms of discrimination and their impact on growth and competitiveness. The areas covered are gender equality, LGBTI equality, disability, anti-racism and Roma inclusion, and age discrimination and ageism.
The conclusions make the economic case for greater diversity in the labour market, highlighting benefits such as higher employment rates, job creation, greater productivity, and a broader and more diverse talent pool. They propose a range of possible measures at local, regional, national and EU level, including:
- ensuring effective enforcement of non-discrimination and gender-equality laws via appropriate sanctions and remedies and support for relevant stakeholders such as civil society organisations
- integrating inclusiveness, equality and non-discrimination into business and talent attraction strategies, as well as in entrepreneurship policies across all sectors, including via targeted funding for underrepresented groups
- monitoring the impact of AI on the labour market from an equality perspective, particularly as regards issues such as pay, working conditions and potential job losses
- promoting equality mainstreaming in economic, consumer, social and digital policies at national and EU level with the aim of boosting the link between equality and competitiveness
- improving the collection, analysis and use of labour-market and equality-related data at local, regional and national level, and monitoring the socio-economic cost of discrimination and the barriers faced by specific high-risk groups.
Background
Discrimination and inequality continue to pose structural obstacles to full, equal and meaningful labour-market participation in Europe. Recent data from the OECD has revealed that discrimination not only weakens economic potential by negatively affecting employment, income, educational attainment and health, but also places an additional burden on governments in the form of public expenditure on social and health services. According to EIGE, improving gender equality has the potential to create as many as 10.5 million jobs and raise the EU’s employment rate to 80% by 2050. Likewise, countries that have introduced the most legal protections for LGBTI people fare better in terms of GDP per capita, while racial discrimination is estimated to cost the EU up to 12.7 billion euros in lost GDP annually (OECD).
Equality and non-discrimination are founding values that are enshrined in the EU’s Treaties and its Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the EU has adopted a comprehensive framework of legislative acts promoting equality and prohibiting discrimination. The need to promote equal access to the labour market was highlighted in the Competitiveness Compass for the EU, and has also featured in recent (or recently updated) EU strategies focusing on areas such as gender equality, LGBTIQ+ equality, anti-racism, and the rights of persons with disabilities.
