Welcome Address by Laila Dåvøy, Norwegian Minister for gender Equality

Towards the closing of the gender pay gap

European transnational conference, 17.November 2002, Centre for Gender Equality, Oslo

Dear friends and colleagues

On behalf of tonight’s joint hosts, I would like to wish you a very warm welcome to this reception. It is a great pleasure to have you here in Oslo as our guests. I want to thank you for coming all the way to Norway (at this time of the year, bringing so much snow??) .We hope that you will enjoy your stay.

We are gathered here for these two days to mark the conclusion of our European project on equal pay. I see this as a unique opportunity to discuss politics on equal pay with experts from six European countries, and the European Commission.

It has been a rewarding experience to manage a European project with partners from Austria, Denmark, Greece, Iceland and United Kingdom. A wide range of countries are represented here tonight. I would like to thank you all for your excellent contributions, and for making this project a success.

In addition I would like to thank the Commission for the good co-operation.

Their close contact and many answers to difficult questions have been of great help.

The same applies to the Centre for Gender Equality and their partners here in Norway. The management of the project has been in the best of hands and I would take this opportunity to thank you for your great work of organising the conference and making this event possible.

The theme of this conference is equal pay. This is a top priority of the Commission this year. It is also an issue close to my heart. For, if women are to become economically independent, if women are to be on an equal footing in the labour market, the equal pay is vital. In the modern world, we can not longer accept – ladies and gentllemen – a situation were women earn on average 20 per cent less than men.

Equal pay is not a new issue. On the contrary, demand for change was already being voiced at the ILO congress in 1889, - more than a hundred years ago.

In Norway the historical links are also strong. 50 years ago (1959), we established our first machinery based on the ILO convention on equal pay. A Council on equal pay was created; its topics are today on the agenda of the Centre for Gender Equality.

We, therefore, welcome the gender priorities of the Commission. We are very grateful for their funding of this project. It is important to be part of the European Framework Strategy on Gender Equality.

I know the project partners have carried out some very interesting, transnational studies on the pay gap among three quite different occupations. Their results will be presented in the coming days, and I hope to be with you for at least part of the conference. I am very interested to hear more about the results and what conclusions you will reach.

The pay gap is a reality facing all women – not just in Europe but across the globe. Transnational co-operation is, therefore, an important gateway to understanding today’s differences in the working conditions of women. We need all the knowledge of and insights into recent developments that we can possibly get. And I am convinced that the initiative from the Commission together with the results from this project and from the discussions here in Oslo will bring us a major step further.

New ways must be found to address the persistent pay gap. At the same time we must push ahead with the excellent work already being done, both at the European and the national level.

So, once again welcome to this reception and the sessions to come. We are very much looking forward to the forthcoming discussions which, I am convinced, will lead not only to a fruitful exchange of views, but also to real achievements

In other words, ladies and gentlemen, together we can achieve much in our crusade for equal pay for women and men. Perhaps we should adapt the words and spirit of the French revolutionaries:

"Let me propose a toast to liberty". Let me say sisterhood, and finally (fair pay).

Thank you!