Transfer stimulates dialogue between the European trade union movement and the academic and research community. It contributes research findings on issues of strategic relevance for trade unions, in particular with regard to developments at the European level. Transfer publishes original peer-reviewed research on issues such as new developments in industrial relations, social policy, and labour market developments.
Volume 6 Issue 2, Summer 2000
Equal opportunities between women and men has been -in one form or another -on the social policy agenda of the European Community since its very beginning in the 1950s. The Maastricht Treaty in 1992 gave the trade union and employers’ organisations a more prominent role in European decision-making, a role which was reinforced in the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997. Asa result of the new provisions, Directives relevant to gender equality - on parental leave and on part-time work - have resulted from framework agreements reached by the social partners at European level on the invitation of the Commission.