Despite countless legislative efforts, gender discrimination continues to exist in Europe at all levels: be it an unspoken social norm, a pay gap, or even physical violence and harassment, figures are still high across Europe. The main findings of the 2010 Background document to the European Commission’s 2010-2015 Strategy for Equality between Women and Men shows that although women’s participation in the labour market has approached 60% on average in the EU, 31.5% of them are working part-time – while only 8.5% of men do. The gender pay gap decreased in the last decade, but nevertheless remains high at 12.1 percentage points. According to statistics, women have lower pensions than men, they are more likely to suffer from poverty and they account for less than 30% of managerial positions.Within the framework of the 2010-2015 Strategy for Equality between Women and Men, the Commission is working hard to promote gender equality at all policy levels. Central to the mission is to provide women with the same levels of economic independence that men benefit from, to ensure that the pay gap is minimised and ultimately erased, and to provide them with equal access to decision-making and managerial positions – measures which will lead to faster and smarter economic recovery and growth.Public Policy Exchange is proud to continue its platform for discussion of gender equality with this timely international symposium, which will provide participants with an invaluable opportunity to discuss the latest developments in the context of the 2010-2015 Strategy. The symposium will explore how social, cultural and political obstacles can be overcome in order to implement innovative policies that will put an end to gender discrimination in the workplace and in society.