On april 10th 2019 the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) published a report on “Gender Budgeting. Mainstreaming gender into the EU budget and macroeconomic policy framework”. It presents the main research results of the gender budgeting projects of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The projects supported policy makers and practitioners from the EU and EU Member States to adopt a consistent and systematic approach to implement gender budgeting as the main tool of gender mainstreaming within EU economic governance and budgetary processes.
The report investigates, on the one hand, how gender equality policies are anchored in the EU budget and, on the other hand, describes in detail how the EU institutions and the Member States can contribute to gender equality through gender budgeting.
EU funds serve growth and have helped transform less-developed regions and reduce inequalities across the EU. However, the report of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) estimates that less than 1% of the EU Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) is earmarked for promoting gender equality. According to the report, gender mainstreaming also has little influence on the content of the current funding programs. The proposals for the EU budget beyond 2020 under the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) also show little ambition. This is true despite the legal and political commitments of the EU to close the factual gap between women and men.
In its report, EIGE makes proposals on how the next MFF can serve the entire population in the future. Currently women earn less on average, spend more time on caring and housework, and ultimately have significantly lower pensions than men. According to the report, financing programs are the most direct way for EU funds to influence individual life.
The research also shows that narrowing the gender gap in the EU could create 10 million additional jobs and lead to an increase in GDP of up to € 3.15 trillion by 2050.