EU Affirms June Deadline For The Pay Transparency Directive

In response to a question posed by a Member of Parliament (MEP) back in October, and against a backdrop of uneven progress on national implementation, the European Commission has confirmed that it expects all Member States to transpose the Directive by the deadline of June 2026.

The MEP's question and the Commission's response

On 18 December 2025, the Commission provided its written answer to an MEP's priority question made on 29 October 2025.

The MEP submitted their question following the announcement from the Netherlands that it would be delaying the implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive into national law beyond the implementation deadline of 7 June 2026 (we wrote about this further here). Against this context, the MEP raised three queries:

• "What is the Commission's view of the Netherlands' postponement of the Pay Transparency Directive?
• Does the Commission have any current plans to revise the Pay Transparency Directive with a view to cutting red tape for Europe's businesses and authorities?
• What is the Commission's estimate of the transition costs to business and to the public purse, as well as of the ongoing costs in the EU, of fully implementing the directive as it currently stands?"

In its written answer, the European Commission confirmed as follows:

"The Commission reaffirms that the Pay Transparency Directive is instrumental for the full realisation of the right to equal pay for the same work or work of equal value between women and men and remains fully committed to its effective and timely implementation. It expects all Member States to transpose the Directive by the deadline of June 2026. [...]"

The Commission goes on in its answer to outline the steps it has taken to assist national administrations and social partners with transposition of the directive, and also underscores the preparatory work behind the legislation, including the Impact Assessment and the integration of stakeholder input during its development.

Takeaway for employers

On the face of it, it might seem standard for the European Commission to commit to the transposition deadline of a directive. However, that overlooks the fact that this response comes at a time when there has been some uncertainty around the national implementation of the legislation.

With the Netherlands announcing it will delay implementation beyond June 2026, Denmark omitting an implementing draft bill from their legislative agenda (see here), and the broader progress from Member States being somewhat slow and patchy, there has been some noise around how the EU might react. From its recent statement the position is clear – the European Commission is holding firm on the June 2026 transposition date. For employers then, the message is simple: the clock is ticking, and the EU's deadline isn't moving.

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