Question and answer
Can I ask what my colleague earns?
In short
Not directly — the Directive doesn't give you a right to a specific colleague's salary. It gives you something just as useful: the right to your own pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for your category of workers doing the same work or work of equal value. Your employer must answer in writing within 2 months.
In detail
The request is made in writing — directly or through your workers' representatives. Employers must remind all workers of this right every year.
The averages by sex tell you whether there is a systematic difference in your category — exactly the information that matters in a negotiation or a claim, without exposing any individual's salary.
Separately, pay-secrecy clauses are unenforceable: you cannot be prevented from disclosing your own pay for the purpose of enforcing equal pay (Art. 7).
More questions with direct answers: the FAQ.