Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Framework Strategy on Gender Equality - Work Programme for 2003 {SEC(2003) 137}
Date: 2003-02-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, EU policy, EU statistics, European social policy, gender equality

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 03.02.2003
COM(2003) 47 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

Framework Strategy on Gender Equality - Work Programme for 2003

{SEC(2003) 137}

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

Framework Strategy on Gender Equality - Work Programme for 2003

I - Introduction

This  document  presents  the  3rd  annual  work  programme  of  the  Community  Framework
Strategy  on  Gender  Equality1,  and  sets  out  the  Commission's  planned  activities  for  2003  in
order to promote gender equality in all policy areas. The present communication sets out the
priority actions of the Commission to progress with its gender equality policy in all areas. It is
supplemented by the Commission  staff  working paper {SEC(2003)137}, which  describes in
detail  the  policy-specific  activities  of  each  Directorate-General  and  service  to  promote
equality  between  women  and  men  including  the  gender  mainstreaming  method.  These
activities reinforce the implementation of the priority actions set out in this Communication.

The  annual  gender  equality  work  programmes  are  prepared  jointly  by  all  Commission
services.  The  activities  in  the  work  programme  are  used  as  performance  indicators,  with
progress  and  achievements  being  monitored  by  the  Commissioner's  Group  on  Equal
Opportunities2, supported by the Inter-service Group on Gender Equality and reported in the
Gender Scoreboard3.

The  experience  drawn  from  the  elaboration  and  the  monitoring  of  the  two  previous  annual
work programmes shows that this is an effective approach which delivers results.

This work programme  will  take  us  to  the  midpoint  of  the  five-year  Community  Framework
Strategy on Gender Equality (2001-2005), at which stage there will be a more detailed study
of the progress made in the implementation of gender equality within the various services of
the  European  Commission,  including  evaluation  of  resource  implications  (human  and
financial).

II - Evaluation of the implementation of the 2002 gender equality work programme

The present document highlights some of the successes achieved during 2002, on the basis of
which  the  priorities  for  2003  have  been  drawn  up.  However,  as  a  general  remark,  gender
mainstreaming  seems  to  be  evident  only  in  the  policies  of  those  Directorates  General  and
services  where  gender  equality  is  expressly  incorporated  into  the  legislative  basis  of  the
policy, and/or where the employment of women in the economic sector is high. Thus for the
other policy areas, gender mainstreaming does not appear to have been seriously taken up as
an integral approach to better policy conceptualisation, implementation and evaluation.

Activities in 2002 centred around three priority actions, namely

– 

1

2

3

Conducting a gender impact assessment of selected policy areas, which have, up to
now, not been gender mainstreamed,

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions towards a "Community Framework Strategy on
Gender Equality (2001-2005) COM(2000) 335 final.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equ_opp/strategy/com_group_en.html
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equ_opp/index_en.htm "Gender Scoreboard"

2

                                                
– 

– 

Systematically collecting gender desegregated data on people, and using this data to
develop indicators,

Awareness-raising  and  training  on  gender  issues  at  all  levels  in  the  Commission
services

The Commission services chose several new policy areas to incorporate the gender aspect in
2002. (A full evaluation with elaborated data of all policy areas will be included in the gender
score board that will be inserted in the website in March 2003).

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

As  foreseen  in  its  work  programme,  Enterprise  Directorate-General  completed  a
Study aimed at identifying National measures promoting female entrepreneurship in
the EU and EFTA/EEA countries. The main findings of this Study and a selection of
cases of good practices will be presented at a European Forum scheduled for March
2003. Future actions will be focussed in the dissemination and exchange of the good
practices identified among EU Member States and Candidate Countries.

The study "The role of women in the fisheries sector in the 15 Member States"
was finalised in 2002. This will be followed by a conference on the role of women in
the fisheries sector at the beginning of 2003 in order to exchange experiences, good
practises, and identify benchmark initiatives to be promoted.

Gender  Mainstreaming  in  the  Structural  Funds  is  a  good  example  of  a  close  co-
operation  between  various  Commission  services,  in  this  case  Directorates-General
Regional  Policy,  Employment  and  Social  Affairs,  Agriculture,  Fisheries  and
Education  and  Culture.  A  thematic  working  group  of  Member  State  officials  and
Commission services has been created in the framework of the inter-service group of
the  Structural  Funds.  The  aim  of  the  group  is  to  co-ordinate  actions  focused  on
gender equality and to analyse specific questions related to the Structural Funds. The
main event in 2002 was the Third European Seminar "Equal opportunities for women
and  men 
the  Commission  Communication
"Implementation  of  gender  mainstreaming  in  the  Structural  Funds  programming
documents 2000-2006" is planned to be adopted by the end of 2002.

the  Structural  Funds".  Also 

in 

A  sub-group  on  external  relations  has  been  established  within  the  context  of  the
Inter-service group on gender equality, with representatives of Directorates General
External  Relations,  Development,  Trade,  Enlargement,  EuropeAid,  Humanitarian
Aid Office and Employment and Social Affairs. The sub-group is preparing a review
of  the  existing  policies,  including  the  state  of  implementation  of  the  three
Communications in the external relations area (Gender in development co-operation,
Women in conflict prevention,  the EU's  role in  the  promotion  of  human  rights  and
democratisation).

In  the  context  of  the  above  sub-group,  Directorate-General  Development  has  taken
up  the  coordinating  role  of  the  Directorate-General  External  Relations  on
mainstreaming gender equality in external relations. On a regular basis meetings are
convened  for  exchange  of  experiences,  methodology  and  instruments  to  strengthen
implementation.

Directorate-General Development has participated in innovative policy initiatives on
gender  equality  with  respect  to  trade  relations  (Sustainability  Impact  Assessment),
Corporate  Social  Responsibility  and  core  labour  standard  and  labour  relations.  The
aim is to introduce gender equality into areas not previously examined.

3

– 

As part of the evaluation of the European Employment Strategy a Eurobarometer
survey  among  policy-makers  responsible  for  elaborating  and/or  implementing  the
National  Action  Plans  on  employment  was  conducted.  The  aim  was  to  gather
information on tools for gender mainstreaming in Member States and opinions of the
policy-makers  on  the  concept  and  the  implementation  of  gender  mainstreaming  in
national  employment  policy.  Moreover,  the  Employment  Committee  sub-group  on
Indicators  worked  on  improving  the  set  of  indicators  on  gender  equality  used  for
monitoring the implementation by Member States of the 4th Pillar of the Employment
Guidelines.

In the area of data collection and engendered indicators, progress is being made:

– 

– 

– 

– 

In the Commission Communication on Structural Indicators it was recognised that
the gender breakdown of the indicators should be considered as a general principle.
Therefore, a gender breakdown was extended to ten structural indicators.

Eurostat and OECD have now integrated gender breakdown into the relevant tables
of their MSTI (Main Science and Technology Indicators) section of their R&D. From
the end of 2002 it will be possible to obtain clean and harmonised descriptive data on
the presence of women in science.

Moreover, Eurostat has launched a project to continue the development of child care
statistics and published several reports on gender specific topics (Statistics in Focus)
and a Panorama publication on "The life of women and men in Europe"4.

The report on the concrete future objectives of the Education and Training Systems
in Europe includes gender mainstreaming indicator as a special field of action.

Concerning awareness raising and training :

– 

– 

– 

– 

In October 2002, the Directorate-General for Personnel and Administration inserted a
presentation  on  equal opportunities in the introduction  courses  organised  for  newly
recruited Commission staff.

The  Directorate-General  for  Employment  and  Social  Affairs  integrated  gender
mainstreaming in its Induction Course for newcomers.

A seminar, including officials of the Member States, was organised by Directorate-
improve  gender
General  for  Employment  and  Social  Affairs  on  how 
mainstreaming in the Social Inclusion Process. The seminar allowed mutual learning
on  the  basis  of  good  practices  of  mainstreaming  gender  in  the  identification  of
challenges, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies aiming at
combating  poverty  and  social  exclusion.  Special  attention  was  given  to  the
institutional mechanisms used to promote gender equality.

to 

Figures on the evolution of the female/male balance of staff show that  Directorate-
General Internal Market presents an attractive environment for both genders :

4

ISBN 92-894-3568-2

4

                                                
– 

– 

– 

tools 

Seeking 
that  promote  a  family-friendly  equal  opportunities  working
environment  (organisation  of  internal  meetings  at  convenient  hours  for  all  staff
concerned).

Part-time  working  is  favourably  looked  upon  both  for  female  and  for  increasingly
larger male number of staff.

Directorate-General  Internal  Market  encourages  and  will  continue  to  encourage  the
staff - in particular female staff - to participate in courses to prepare for management
positions.

III - Priority actions for 2003

The Commission gender equality work programme for 2003 builds on the successes achieved
in  2002  and  includes  pro-active  as  well  as  reactive  interventions,  i.e.  adjusting  existing
policies by applying gender mainstreaming, and introducing specific interventions designed to
improve the situation of the disadvantaged or under-represented sex in the respective policy
area.

The  gender  equality  work  programme  consists  of  a  dual  approach  –  horizontal  priorities
applicable  to  all  Directorates  General  and  services;  and  policy  specific  initiatives  by  each
Directorate-General and service, covering:

– 

– 

The integration of a gender perspective in policy initiatives (gender mainstreaming)
and

Specific  actions  addressed  to  the  disadvantaged  or  under-represented  gender  in  the
relevant policy area.

The following priority actions will be implemented by all Commission services:

1.

The Commission has now endorsed the generalised approach of Impact Assessment5.
Thus from 2003, an Impact Assessment based on the three pillars of social, economic
and  environmental  sustainability  will  gradually  be  applied  to  all  major  new
initiatives, i.e. those which are presented in the Annual Policy Strategy or later in the
Work Programme of the Commission. This impact assessment will replace existing
requirements  for  business  impact  assessment,  gender  assessment,  environmental
assessment,  small  and  medium  enterprises  assessment,  trade  impact  assessment,
regulatory impact assessment etc. Indeed, the new integrated Impact Assessment tool
builds on these existing practices and incorporates them into the new tool.

It  remains  however  for  individual  DGs  to  ensure  that  the  impact  assessments  they
conduct  take  into  account  gender  impacts  as  well.  It  is  equally  important  that  in
addition  to  impact  assessments  of  new  policy  initiatives,  the  work  of  gender
mainstreaming continues especially for existing policy initiatives, as part of interim
and ex-post policy analysis.

5

Communication from the Commission on Impact Assessment COM(2002) 276 final, see
http://europa.eu.int/comm/press_room/presspacks/pdf/276-4en.pdf

5

                                                
2.

3.

Since gender sensitive policy planning and analysis require gender desegregated data
as  input  in  the  relevant  policy  area,  each  service  will  enhance  its  efforts  to  collect
gender  desegregated  data  and  systematically  break  down  by  gender  all  related
statistics. All services will continue the development of indicators, which will allow
assessment  of  progress  of  gender  equality  in  that  policy.  The  Interactive  Policy
Making Initiative (C (2001) 1014 of 3 April 2001) allows all Commission services to
obtain knowledge through two Internet based instruments (an IPM - knowledgebase
fed  by  existing  European  networks  and  a  mechanism  for  structured  on-line
consultations) to collect and process stakeholders’ views as gender desegregated data
and systematically broken down by gender.

There  is  still  a  considerable  need  for  awareness-raising  on  gender  issues  in  the
Commission  services  and  for  training  of  the  Commission  staff  on  the  methods  for
assessing  the  different  impact  of  policies  on  women  and  men  respectively  and  for
mainstreaming  a  gender  equality  perspective  into  the  policy  planning  and
implementation  process.  Each  Directorate-General  and  service  will  therefore  insert
gender mainstreaming modules in its training plans for staff members of all levels, in
particular management level. This may take the form of specific  gender equality or
gender mainstreaming training sessions or as modules of general training courses.

IV. - Gender balance in Committees

The  Commission  is  committed  to  achieving  gender  balance  in  its  committees  and  expert
groups as set out in its Decision 2000/407/EC of 19 June 20006, adopted as a follow-up of the
1996  Council  Recommendation  on  the  balanced  participation  of  women  and  men  in  the
decision-making  process7.  The  Commission  Decision  on  improvement  of  gender  balance  in
committees  and  expert  groups  sets  the  target  of  40%  minimum  participation  of  women  and
men respectively.

The  Decision  applies  to  existing  and  new  committees  and  groups  of  the  Commission,  and
includes  all  members  whether  appointed  by  the  Commission  itself  or  nominated  as
representing  a  Member  State  or  other  organisation.  For  the  former  group,  the  Commission
attempts to balance participation at the time of replacement of members (or at the end of the
term  of  appointment)  by  requesting  a  gender-mixed  proposal  of  four  candidates  for  each
vacancy. For nominations by other parties, the need for gender balance is recalled at the time
of nomination.

The first survey of expert groups of the Commission was conducted in 2000, with a  second
one  in  2001.  A  third  survey  covering  all  Commission  committees  and  expert  groups  was
conducted in 2002. Thus it is possible to begin to detect a trend.

6

7

Commission Decision relating to Gender Balance within the Committees and Expert Groups established
by it Official Journal L 154, 27/06/2000 p. 34-35
96/694/EC: Council Recommendation of 2 December 1996 on the balanced participation of women and
men in the decision-making process Official Journal L 319 , 10/12/1996 p. 11 - 15

6

                                                
All members

Members appointed
by the Commission

Members nominated by
other bodies

Women

Men

Women

Men

Women

Men

2000

2001

2002

13.5%

86.5%

29%

30%

71%

70%

30.5%

26.1%

69.5%

73.9%

28.6%

31.1%

71.4%

68.9%

The results  of the 2002  survey indicate that  in  comparison with the previous  two  years,  the
number  of  women  in  committees  and  groups  overall  has  slightly  increased.  Whilst  this  is  a
positive  trend,  it  is  regrettable  that  this  upward  shift  is  due  to  the  enhaced  nomination  of
women  by  other  bodies,  while  Commission  appointed  members  seem  to  have  become  less
gender balanced.  Thus it is clear that continuous and increased efforts are  necessary  so  that
the aim of 40% minimum participation of women and men respectively can be reached. In the
sectors where the participation rate of women has decreased, special efforts are needed.

Results vary between the different services. There was gender balance in committees in six
Directorates General in 2002: Development; Enlargement; Education and Culture; Health and
Consumer Protection, Europeaid and External Relations.

Progress will continue to be monitored and reported as part of the work programmes of the
Framework Strategy on Gender Equality.

Gender balance in committees

% women  % men

100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%

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