Brussels, November 20 (EFE) .- The European Commissioner for Gender Equality, Vera Jourová, today presented an action plan to correct the insufficient progress in reducing the wage gap between men and women, still important despite the efforts of recent years.

Jourová denounced in a statement that in Europe "women are still underrepresented in the labor market and decision-making positions ", both in politics and in companies, and recalled that gender-based violence" is still widespread ".

The commissariat He recalled that women still charge an average of 16% less in the EU than men.

Therefore, he announced that the EC action plan, which will last until 2019 and will focus on the reduction of the wage gap, encourages the member states to "carry out the necessary measures to combat segregation between sectors", explained Jourová.

Women "work in sectors with less income ", said the commissioner and indicated that there is only 13% of women in the digital economy, but that there is a" huge wage gap "compared to other sectors as "education, social assistance or health care", where there is more female representation.

The commissioner also identified as a source of the wage gap that "the care of the family is mainly on the shoulders of women, "and asked the Council and the European Parliament to adopt the legislative and non-legislative proposals that the EC presented at the summit. of Gothenburg (Sweden) last weekend.

Likewise, he called for an improvement in the gender balance in senior management of companies and decision-making positions in politics to eliminate the glass ceiling, for which he added that "we need everyone to get involved" and called on companies, governments and civil society to cooperate in that regard.

With this announcement the commissioner opened the Colloquium of Fundamental Rights of 2017, which is held between today and tomorrow and which this year has as its main theme "the rights of women in times turbulent ".

The event, he said, will allow collecting" ideas to promote and protect these rights. "

The European Commissioner also recalled a recent statement by the ministers of the G7 on "the economic empowerment of women and against gender violence".