The European Union has adopted gender mainstreaming as an official approach to equality between women and men, alongside targeted measures to eliminate discrimination and promote the role of women. From 25 to 28 October 2021, European Parliament committees and delegations will organise a series of events to highlight the importance of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in different policy areas. [1] According to the Communication of 5 March, the Commission understands by this “the combination of gender with other personal characteristics or identities and how these overlaps contribute to unique experiences of discrimination”. The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) defines `intersectionality` as an “analytical tool to study, understand and respond to how gender and gender overlap with other personal characteristics/identities and how these overlaps contribute to unique experiences of discrimination” (see: eige.europa.eu/thesaurus/terms/1263) The EU Strategy for Gender Equality women fulfils the von der Leyen Commission`s commitment to a Union of Equality. The strategy sets out strategic objectives and measures to make significant progress towards a gender-equitable Europe by 2025. The objective is a Union in which women and men, girls and boys, in all their diversity, are free to follow the path of life they have chosen, have equal opportunities to develop and in which they can participate and lead our European society equally. As defined by the European Commission in 1996, gender mainstreaming means “not limiting efforts to promote equality to the implementation of specific measures in favour of women, but mobilising all general policies and measures specifically with the aim of achieving equality”. Does the European Union still offer a privileged space for the implementation of ambitious public initiatives to combat equality between women and men? However, gender gaps persist and women are still over-represented in the labour market in low-wage sectors and under-represented in decision-making positions. The objectives set out in the EU Treaties are achieved through different types of legal acts, including regulations, directives, recommendations and opinions, which detail in more detail the objectives agreed by Member States in the Treaties.
A “directive” is a legal act that sets a goal that all EU countries must achieve. However, it is up to each country to decide how. Europa website. “Regulations, directives and other legal acts”. Retrieved 17 September 2012. In the area of equality between women and men, there are a number of common directives: promoting equal economic independence between women and men, reducing the gender pay gap, promoting gender balance in decision-making, ending gender-based violence and promoting equality between women and men outside the EU. The strategic engagement highlighted the contribution of gender equality to economic growth and sustainable development and confirmed the European Pact for Gender Equality 2011-2020. It built on the priorities and experiences of the Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015.
At the turn of the twenty-first century, the EU`s gender equality policy was considered by all observers to be “extraordinary” or “unique” compared to other socially regulated European policies. For several decades, equality between women and men seemed to be the only field of action in the social field where regulation was not limited to a minimalist compromise between standardization to the highest standards and the total absence of regulation. The promotion of equality between women and men and the fight against gender discrimination was seen as one of the few areas where the EU has gone beyond simply fluidising the market by imposing on Member States a set of standards and values higher than those in force in most countries. The 2022 report on equality between women and men in the EU is the second report of the new strategy for equality between women and men 2020-2025. The report takes stock of the position of the EU and its Member States on equality between women and men. It highlights the EU`s achievements in the five key areas of the strategy and provides inspiring examples of Member States and EU-funded projects in these areas. As defined by the European Commission in 1996, gender mainstreaming means “not limiting efforts to promote equality to the implementation of specific measures in favour of women, but mobilising all general policies and measures specifically with the aim of achieving equality”. It was adopted in the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) as an official political concept in the European Union and its Member States, and the legal basis was strengthened in Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in which it undertakes to eliminate inequalities and promote the principle of equality between women and men in all their actions.
The specific priorities of the current EU Gender Equality Strategy for the period 2020-2025 include: gender mainstreaming in major climate and digitalisation initiatives, as well as in specific sectors such as transport, energy and agriculture; the introduction of an intersectional approach in all EU policies; and ensuring dedicated funding for an equal future. The European Parliament`s gender mainstreaming policy, which was officially launched in 2003, has evolved considerably over time. The new Gender Action Plan adopted in July 2020 and the Roadmap for its implementation adopted in April 2021 include a series of measures to ensure that Parliament becomes fully gender-sensitive in terms of legislative activities, gender balance and culture. A specific objective is to strengthen the Gender Mainstreaming Network, which contributes to bringing a gender dimension to the work of committees and delegations. Gender mainstreaming is not a policy goal per se, but a tool to promote gender equality by ensuring that all laws, policies and funding programmes make a positive contribution to equality and take into account impacts on women and men that may inadvertently cause or sustain inequalities. A gender dimension may be more visible in some areas than in others, but it cannot be assumed that an intervention is gender-neutral.