On 22 May 2026, the European Commission confirmed that ‘it does not envisage’ that the Pay Transparency Directive will be included in any future omnibus simplification package or ‘stop-the-clock’ measure (as have been applied to other EU legislation).

The confirmation came in response to a priority question submitted by Kris Van Dijck on 30 March 2026. In it, he argued that European competitiveness is ‘suffering from an excessive regulatory and administrative burden’. He also noted how ‘companies are sounding the alarm that the implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive will lead to excessive complexity, administrative burdens, and costs.’

In his question, Mr Van Dijck asked whether the Commission was:

• considering a ‘stop-the-clock’ measure;
• planning to include the Directive in a future omnibus regulatory simplification package;
• taking alternative steps to reduce the burdens, costs and uncertainty for organisations arising from the Directive.

The Commission declined to extend the above measures to the Directive, as it ‘considers the Directive essential for the full realisation of the right to equal pay between men and women’. It also states in its response how the Directive already provides ‘proportionate pay transparency obligations’ and ‘flexibility’ concerning equal value methodologies.

The Commission’s response will be closely watched by Member States that are yet to transpose the Directive and had maybe hoped for a possible reprieve. These countries now approach the 7 June 2026 transposition deadline with confirmation that no delay is planned.

As illustrated by our regularly updated transposition map, implementation remains uneven and most Member States are expected to miss the deadline. As a result, attention is likely to shift to how the Commission responds in practice, including whether and when it may initiate infringement proceedings against non-compliant countries.

Some of you will be asking, haven’t we been here before? Yes, we have. In December last year, the EU Commission confirmed that it ‘expects all Member States to transpose the Directive by the deadline of June 2026’ (we wrote about this here).

Fast forward five months, and despite concerns around regulatory burden and uneven transposition, the message is similar once again.

For employers, the Commission’s recent comments make clear that delaying preparation in the hope of legislative certainty is not advisable. Even where national implementation is late, the Directive may still influence how the law is interpreted, particularly once the June transposition deadline has passed.