Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) softened his stance on the EU pay transparency directive Friday, clarifying his previous criticism targeted administrative burdens on companies rather than efforts to reduce the pay gap.
Meanwhile, Eesti 200 leader Kristina Kallas disputed claims that the directive would significantly increase administrative burdens for businesses.
“This is indeed one very specific area where we have to say that what is coming from Brussels does not suit us,” Tsahkna said at a government press conference Thursday afternoon. “It is quite clearly an ideological and overregulating, command-and-control type of directive which, I am convinced, may not at all lead to the outcome being discussed, and may instead even stifle entrepreneurship.”
On Thursday evening, Kallas issued a press release taking a noticeably more moderate stance, stating the directive includes important measures that should be transposed.
“Estonia’s gender pay gap is among the largest in the European Union, and it has not changed significantly in recent years. The gender pay gap is an indicator of weaknesses in our economy, not strengths,” Kallas said.
On Friday morning, Tsahkna posted a clarification on social media replacing his previous description of the directive as ideological and command-and-control. He explained his criticism was aimed at excessive overregulation and bureaucracy rather than the goal of reducing the pay gap.
“I said that the EU directive represents an ideological confrontation. I was not referring to the pay gap between men and women, but to overregulation, unreasonable bureaucracy, and the desire to regulate society through commands and prohibitions,” he wrote.
Tsahkna added that elements of the directive could be adopted if done in a way that avoids imposing excessive administrative burdens on businesses in areas that do not help solve the pay gap.
However, Kallas had taken a somewhat different position the day before.
“Today there has been a lot of discussion about the measures proposed in the directive that could increase the administrative burden on our companies. In reality, much of this data can already be provided quite easily from our information systems, and no additional obligations would arise for companies. Estonia already has sufficient data on the pay gap. Estonia has also already complied with several other guidelines stemming from the document, including those related to monitoring bodies or complaint handling,” Kallas said.
ERR previously reported that the Estonian government is seeking to delay the implementation of the EU pay transparency directive by two years and renegotiate its contents.
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