In 2023, 11% of EU spending contributed to promoting gender equality. ‘Euronews’ analyzes Brussels’ plans to improve these figures in the next legislature.
The EU budget amounts to around €140 billion annually, and its senior officials say it needs to focus more in promoting gender equality in the next review. As ‘Euronews’ has learned, public spending, far from being neutral, can perpetuate, reduce or increase existing inequalities between men and women.
Gender budgeting, as it is known, aims to promote equitable spending so that taxpayers’ money can identify and remove barriers that negatively affect women and girls in the EU.
The EU budget, which invests significant funds in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure and science, It will be reviewed starting June next yearand it seems likely that plans for the next seven years reinforce the integration of the gender perspectivea spokesperson for the European Commission told ‘Euronews’.
An amendment to the bloc’s current Financial Regulations will require that “programs and activities be implemented taking into account the principle of gender equality and that all outcome indicator data collected for financial programs be disaggregated by gender where appropriate,” the spokesperson added of plans yet to be approved.
A budget with a gender perspective
This approach seems to be receiving the applause of the legislators of the European Parliament. The Spanish MEP Lina Gálvez (Socialists and Democrats), president of the Women’s Rights Commission of the European Parliament, has declared to ‘Euronews’ that one of the main challenges for the next legislature will be putting gender perspective budgeting into practice and elevate it to the highest political level.
And experts have confirmed that EU spending could also play an important role in promoting equality. “By taking into account the gender impact of fiscal policies, gender budgeting can correct imbalances such as wage inequality, underrepresentation in decision-making positions and limited access to services such as healthcare and education” said Mirta Baselovic, spokesperson for the European Women’s Lobby (LEM).
For example, a budget with a gender perspective would take into account aspects such as unpaid care worksomething that four out of five women in the EU do daily, compared to less than half of men. This, in turn, affects women’s formal employment in the labor market, hence unemployment rates and overall macroeconomic outcomes.
The next EU Commission will focus on promoting competitiveness, so experts want to establish a link to sound economic policies. “Budgeting with a gender perspective is good budgeting. It makes sense from an economic point of view and is a tool to guarantee gender equality in the long term,” Helena Morais, researcher at the European Institute of Equality, told ‘Euronews’. of Gender (EIGE).
Addressing gender equality, according to EU agency research could help boost per capita growth up to 9.6% and create up to 10.5 million additional jobs by 2050.
“It is also important to ensure that the funds, or the operational programs between the Member States and the Commission behind these funds, are really aimed at women and men to achieve the agreed objectives,” Morais said.
However, despite a significant increase in budget spending compared to previous years, at program level, only 11% of the EU budget spent in 2023 will contribute to promoting gender equalityeither as a main or important objective, which is equivalent to about 48 billion euros.
To date, 13 of the 49 EU programmes, including the Erasmus+ student exchange programme, the European Social Fund+, the Recovery and Recovery Facility and Horizon Europe, have main objective gender equalityaccording to the latest data from the Commission.
Horizon, the EU’s main funding program for research and innovation, specifically requires applicants to have a gender equality plan to qualify for it.
“Horizon Europe is the program with the greatest gender perspective“said Gálvez, who added that “reflection on gender impact that we already have in this program should really be transferred to other funds.” But this gender perspective does not extend to all countries, emphasizes the EIGE researcher.
Should it be mandatory?
“If this example became mandatory for all countries to guarantee access to financingthen it could be a practical way to apply budgeting with a gender perspective in EU financial mechanisms“, argues Morais.
ADVERTISINGThere are also a legal argument: The founding treaties of the EU require it to eliminate inequalities, including gender inequalities, in all areas, including through its financing.
The current budget framework, which covers 2021 to 2027, was designed to be more sensitive to the issue, but the full implementation of gender budgeting in all EU financial instruments It is still “a pending task”Baselovic lamented.
Gender budgeting will not necessarily be more expensive or excessively burdensome, since it is use resources more intelligentlythey stressed from the LEM.
“Although it may require an initial investment in trainingdata collection and adaptation of existing processes, these efforts will be offset by long term benefits more equitable and effective public spending,” said Baselovic.
ADVERTISINGBut there is still data to be collected and lessons to be learned before EU lawmakers get to work negotiating new spending deals, Morais said. “This is a process, and we must learn from the application of different approaches“he added.
Jack Schickler contributed to this article.
