Pro-family groups have reacted with dismay to news that an EU report about the gender pay gap is excising the word “man” and “woman” and replacing the word “sex” with “gender”. In addition, the European Parliament will bypass a Plenary debate on the report that deals with an EU directive.

The report responds to a European Commission proposal to tackle the gender pay gap through the implementation of pay transparency measures. Two Committees, the EMPL and FEMM, adopted the report, “Strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women”, which amends the Commission’s proposal.

The Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) say the report is highly problematic in its content and should have been the subject of an open and democratic debate.

“Indeed, it systematically replaces the mention of ‘sex’ with ‘gender’. The mention of ‘women’ or ‘men’ is replaced by ‘workers of different gender’”, according to a press release.

FAFCE’s Vice-President, Angelika Weichsel Mitterrutzner highlighted that, as stated by the Commission, “If the aim of this directive is to fight the gender pay gap between men and women, what kind of protection will these measures implement if no mention is made of women?“.

FAFCE’s President, Vincenzo Bassi, notes that “The text, as modified by the European Parliament, would shift the directive from being a legislative act aimed at protecting women on the basis of the EU law on sex discrimination, to a vague condemnation of pay discriminations for different grounds.