A truly inclusive society

empowers and uses everyone's potential.

This is our aim in the European Union.

In the past years,

we have put forward new initiatives against discrimination.

We worked for a better union

where women and men,

Europeans of all minority groups,

origins,

races,

and sexual orientations

can thrive.

With our Gender Equality Strategy,

we are pushing for more and faster progress

to promote equality

between men and women.

To have a society and economy

where every individual can flourish.

And we've made good progress.

We adopted rules to improve gender balance on corporate boards.

This is a huge step towards breaking the so-called ‘glass ceiling’

to promote equality and decision-making between women and men.

Thanks to this, at least 40% of non-executive director positions

in listed companies will be occupied by the under-represented sex.

We also introduced

groundbreaking rules to combat pay discrimination.

These rules require companies 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%.

This will help to close the gender pay gap.

There can be no true equality without freedom from violence.

So we also adopted new rules to protect victims and criminalise

violence against women,

including female genital mutilation,

forced marriage, cyberstalking, or cyber harassment.

Those committing these crimes will be punished by prison sentences

ranging from at least 1 to 5 years.

And we have a bold strategy to achieve equality

for LGBTQ+ people

in the European Union.

Because we want our union to be a place where all people can be themselves

without risk of discrimination, exclusion or violence.

We also came forward with legislation to ensure the rules

relating to parenthood guarantee that

if you're a parent in one country,

you are a parent in every country.

Another major priority is fighting racism.

And we are combating racism in all its forms.

For that, we adopted an anti-racism action plan

and we appointed the first ever anti-racism coordinator.

We are also working to improve the situation of Roma,

promoting their equality, inclusion and participation.

We also introduced new measures

to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in Europe.

With the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card,

individuals with disabilities will have equal rights when traveling across Europe.

And we are fighting hate and discrimination with measures

to protect against physical and online threats

and encouraging mutual respect.

We have put equality at the heart of our agenda

to build a Union of Equality

where all people can live free from discrimination.

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