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Press material Monday 24 April 2023

● Council of the EU   24/04/2023 13:57 | Press release | Gender pay gap: Council adopts new rules on pay transparency   The Council has adopted new rules to combat pay discrimination and help close the gender pay gap in the EU. Under the pay transparency directive, EU companies will be required to share information about how much they pay women and men for work of equal value, and take action if their gender pay gap exceeds 5%. The new directive also includes provisions on compensation for victims of pay discrimination and penalties, including fines, for employers who break the rules. Why pay transparency? Women in the EU earn on average 13% less than their male counterparts, and the gender pay gap has largely stagnated over the last decade. While a number of factors contribute to this difference, pay discrimination has been identified as one of the key obstacles to achieving gender pay equality. Unequal pay puts women at greater risk of poverty and contributes to the EU’s pension pay gap, which in 2018 stood at around 30%. Accessing information The new rules will make it compulsory for employers to inform job seekers about the starting salary or pay range of advertised positions, whether in the vacancy notice or ahead of the interview. Employers will also be prevented from asking candidates about their pay history. Once in the role, workers will be entitled to ask their employers for information about average pay levels, broken down by sex, for categories of employees doing the same work or work of equal value. They will also have access to the criteria used to determine pay and career progression, which must be objective and gender neutral. Reporting obligation Companies with more than 250 employees will be required to report annually on the gender pay gap in their organisation to the relevant national authority. For smaller organisations (initially those with over 150 employees), the reporting obligation will take place every three years. If the report reveals a pay gap of more than 5% that cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, companies will be required to take action in the form of a joint pay assessment carried out in cooperation with workers’ representatives. Access to justice Under the new directive, workers who have suffered gender pay discrimination can receive compensation, including full recovery of back pay and related bonuses or payments in kind. While the burden of proof in pay discrimination cases has traditionally fallen on the employee, it will now be up to the employer to prove that they have not violated EU rules on equal pay and pay transparency. Penalties for violations must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive and will include fines. Broadening the scope For the first time, intersectional discrimination (the combination of multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage, such as gender and ethnicity or sexuality) has been included in the scope of the new rules. The directive also contains provisions ensuring that the needs of workers with disabilities are taken into account.

Press material Monday 24 April 2023

● Eurogroup   24/04/2023 14:04 | Media advisory | Media advisory - Press briefing ahead of Eurogroup meeting of 28 April 2023   The press briefing ahead of Eurogroup meeting will take place on Wednesday, 26 April at 10.30. The briefing will be "off the record" and will be given by Tuomas Saarenheimo, President of the Eurogroup Working Group. The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists will be able to participate and ask questions either remotely or in person at the Europa building press room. If you haven't registered for one of the previous Eurogroup press events, please use this link to do so and have the possibility to ask questions remotely. Deadline for registration: Wednesday, 26 April 2023, 09.00 Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants after the deadline.

Press material Monday 24 April 2023

● Council of the EU   24/04/2023 12:22 | Press release | Moldova: EU sets up a civilian mission to strengthen the resilience of the security sector   The Council today established the EU Partnership Mission in the Republic of Moldova (EUPM Moldova) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The objective of this civilian mission is to enhance the resilience of the security sector of the country in the areas of crisis management and hybrid threats, including cybersecurity, and countering foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). "As one of the countries most affected by the fallout of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, we witness increased and continued Russian attempts to destabilise Moldova with hybrid actions. Today we are stepping up EU support to Moldova protect its security, territorial integrity and sovereignty. The deployment of this new mission is yet another important political sign of the EU’s support in the current difficult circumstances." Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy To this end, the mission will provide advice at strategic level on the development of strategies and policies, and identify the needs for capacity building for early warning, detection, identification, attribution of threats and the response to hybrid threats. The mission will feature a project cell responsible for identifying and implementing projects in the aforementioned areas, in close coordination with other like-minded actors. In response to Moldova’s request, EUPM Moldova will have an initial mandate of two years and its Operational Headquarters will be in Moldova. Stefano Tomat, EEAS Managing Director of the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC), will be the Civilian Operation Commander;  Council of the European Union General Secretariat ART - Analysis and Research Team ChatGPT in the Public Sector – overhyped or overlooked? Large language models such as ChatGPT are here to stay and are set to become an integral part of the workplace. The role of the public sector in serving the public and being held to account for its actions means that it is confronted with very specific issues in relation to the introduction of AI-based tools. But can the public sector take advantage of this technology whilst mitigating its risks? ART’s latest Research Paper, ChatGPT in the Public Sector – overhyped or overlooked, takes ChatGPT as a starting point to examine what the emergence of increasingly sophisticated language models might mean for public administrations. The paper aims to cut through the current debate around ChatGPT and take an objective look at the technology behind it. It then assesses the potential risks and opportunities for the public sector in using Large Language models both now and in the future. Enjoy your reading. Read the paper Kind regards, The Analysis and Research Team Contact: ART@consilium.europa.eu Press material Monday 24 April 2023   ● Council of the EU   24/04/2023 10:54 | Press release | The EU and Ukraine will recognise and enforce each other’s court decisions   Today the Council agreed to establish treaty relations with Ukraine in the framework of the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters (so called Judgments Convention). Concluded in 2019, this Hague Convention is an international treaty that commits contracting states to recognise and enforce judgments handed down in civil or commercial matters in other states party to it. "With this decision to recognise and enforce each other’s judgments the ties between the EU and Ukraine will only become stronger." Gunnar Strömmer, Swedish Minister for Justice No obstacles to two-way recognition In 2022, Ukraine ratified the Convention, under which treaty relations between Ukraine and the EU will be established on 1 September 2023 unless either of them objects to them. European Union member states consider that there are no fundamental obstacles, such as related to the independence and efficiency of the judiciary, the fight against corruption or the respect of fundamental rights, which could prevent the EU from entering into treaty relations with Ukraine. Today’s decision therefore clears the path for the EU to enter into treaty relations with Ukraine under the Judgments Convention. It will facilitate the recognition and enforcement of the EU's and Ukrainian judgments in civil and commercial matters, making it an important instrument to facilitate international trade.