Regulation (EC) No 806/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on promoting gender equality in development cooperation
Date: 2004-04-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: cooperation policy, development aid, gender equality

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REGULATION (EC) No 806/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 21 April 2004

on promoting gender equality in development cooperation

EUROPEAN

THE
COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

PARLIAMENT AND THE

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 179 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (1),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals call
for gender equality and empowerment of women,
setting clear targets in the field of education that have
to be achieved no later than 2015.

Two-thirds of children out of school are girls. Enrolment
rates for girls are still
lower than those for boys and
drop-out rates for girls are higher.

the Treaty stipulates that

the
Article 3(2) of
activities referred to therein,
including a policy in the
sphere of development cooperation, the Community is
to aim to eliminate
inequalities, and to promote
equality, between men and women.

in all

the world's poor are
A disproportionate majority of
women. Therefore, the promotion of gender equality is
important for the overarching goal of poverty reduction
by 2015.

Gender equality of women and men of all ages is
recognised as being important to effective and efficient
work against poverty. To achieve the goal of gender

(1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 18 December 2003 (not yet
published in the Official Journal), Common Position of the Council
of 19 February 2004 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and
Position of the European Parliament of 30 March 2004 (not yet
published in the Official Journal).

equality through the gender mainstreaming strategy,
there is a need to combine it with specific measures in
favour of women of all ages.

(6) Women's contribution to development is achieved in the
face of numerous obstacles,
limiting the outcome of
their work and reducing the benefits for themselves and
to society as a whole. The importance of women's
economic, social, and environmental roles across the life
in developing countries has led to increasing
course,
international
full participation
without discrimination is indispensable for sustainable
and effective development.

recognition that

their

(7)

(8)

(9)

The Community and its Member States were signatories
to the Declaration and Platform for Action of the 1995
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, which
stressed the need for action against world-wide obstacles
to gender equality and established gender mainstreaming
as a strategy to promote gender equality.

The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
all forms of Discrimination against Women considers
discrimination against women as
to
development, and the parties to the Convention agree to
eliminate
appropriate
this discrimination using all
means.

an obstacle

Council Regulation (EC) No 2836/98 of 22 December
1998 on integrating of gender issues in development
cooperation (2) aims to support the mainstreaming of
gender analysis in all area of development cooperation
policies and to support and facilitate the inclusions of
actions addressing major gender disparities. It ensures
that gender equality is promoted in national plans
designed to implement major elements of the Beijing
Platform for Action. That Regulation expired on 31
December 2003.

(2) OJ L 354, 30.12.1998, p. 5. Regulation as amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

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(10)

The Declaration by the Council and the Commission on
the European Community's development policy, adopted
on 10 November 2000, states that gender equality is a
cross-cutting issue.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

The Commission's Communication to the Council and
the European Parliament of 21 June 2001 on the
Programme of Action on the mainstreaming of gender
equality in Community development cooperation sets
the implementation framework for that mainstreaming.
That programme of action was endorsed by the Council
in its Conclusions of 8 November 2001.

The European Parliament stressed in its Resolution of 25
April 2002 (1)1 on that programme of action its
commitment to gender mainstreaming as the approach
to furthering the goal of gender equality and improving
the position of women in developing countries.

This Regulation lays down, for the entire duration of the
framework constituting the
programme, a financial
prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the
Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission
on budgetary discipline
the
budgetary procedure (2),
the budgetary authority
for
during the annual budgetary procedure. In general, EC
development-related funding should also contribute
towards gender equality as a cross-cutting issue.

and improvement of

CHAPTER I

SCOPE

Article 1

1.
The purpose of this Regulation is to implement measures
to promote gender equality in Community development
cooperation policies, strategies and interventions.

To this end, the Community shall provide financial assistance
and appropriate expertise aimed at promoting gender equality
into all its development cooperation policies and interventions
in developing countries.

The

Community

2.
at
support
complementing and reinforcing the policies and capacities of
developing countries as well as the assistance provided through
other instruments of development cooperation.

aimed

shall

be

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation:

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Regulation should be adopted in accordance with
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission (3).

(a)

‘gender mainstreaming' concerns planning, (re)organisation,
improvement, and evaluation of policy processes, so that a
gender
all
development policies, strategies and interventions, at all
levels and at all stages by the actors normally involved
therein;

incorporated

perspective

equality

in

is

Since the objective of the proposed action, namely to
promote gender equality in development cooperation,
cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States,
and can therefore, by reason of the scale and effects of
that action, be better achieved at Community level, the
Community may adopt measures in accordance with the
the
principle of subsidiarity set out
of
Treaty.
accordance with
proportionality,
this
Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in
order to achieve that objective,

in Article 5 of
principle
the
in that Article,

set out

In

as

(1) OJ C 131 E, 5.6.2003, p. 153
(2) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1. Agreement as amended by Decision
2003/429/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L
147, 14.6.2003, p. 25).
(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

to

prevent

for
or
(b) specific measures
disadvantages
linked to sex may be maintained or
introduced with a view to ensuring equality in practice
between men and women; such measures should, in the
first instance, aim at improving the situation of women in
the field covered by this Regulation.

compensate

Article 3

The objectives to be pursued by this Regulation, in accordance
with the goal of promoting gender equality and empower
women as
specified by the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals, the United Nations Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the
the
Fourth World Conference on Women,

the outcome of

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Special Session of the General Assembly ‘Women 2000: gender
equality, development and peace for the 21st Century', are the
following:

(c) supplies, audits, evaluation and monitoring missions.

3.

Community financing may cover:

(a)

cooperation,

gender mainstreaming

areas of
to support
development
specific
measures in favour of women of all ages, with the goal of
promoting gender equality as an important contribution to
poverty reduction;

combined with

in all

(a)

investment projects, with the exception of the purchase of
real estate, and

(b) to support endogenous public and private capacities in
developing countries which can take the responsibility and
initiative for promoting gender equality.

(b) operating expenditure of a beneficiary body including
recurring administrative and maintenance costs that should
not exceed the cost foreseen for administrative expenditure.

Article 4

Operating grants shall be awarded on a gradually decreasing
basis.

Activities

1.
eligible for financing include, in particular:

in the field of promoting gender equality

(a) supporting specific measures related to access to, and
monitoring of,
in
resources and services
particular, in the areas of education and training, health,
and
economic
infrastructure,
political
to
decision-making processes;

employment
in

participation

for women,

activities,

social

and

and

(b) promoting the

collection, dissemination, analysis and
improvement of statistics disaggregated by sex and age,
development
of methodologies,
dissemination
guidelines, ex-ante and ex-post gender impact assessments,
thematic studies, qualitative and quantitative indicators,
and other operational instruments;

and

Article 5

In the selection and implementation of activities referred to in
Article 4(1), particular attention shall be paid to:

(a)

the potential of interventions and programmes to act as a
catalyst and a multiplier in order to support the strategy of
gender mainstreaming on a large scale in Community
interventions;

(b) strengthening

strategic

partnerships

transnational cooperation which reinforces,
regional cooperation in the area of gender equality;

and

initiating
in particular,

(c) supporting awareness-raising and advocacy work and the
establishment of stakeholders' networks in the field of
gender equality;

(c)

the pursuit of cost-effectiveness and sustainable impact in
the design and planning of interventions;

(d) supporting activities aiming at strengthening institutional
and operational capacities of key stakeholders in partner
countries
the
training and technical
provision of gender
assistance.

in the development process,

specialists,

such as

2.
The instruments to be financed in the course of
activities referred to in paragraph 1 may take the form of:

the

(a) methodological

and organisational

studies on gender

mainstreaming relevant to all age-groups;

(d) the clear definition and monitoring of objectives and

indicators;

and poverty diseases,

(e) efforts made to promote synergies with policies and
programmes targeting reproductive and sexual health and
rights
in particular HIV/AIDS
to combat violence, girl-child
programmes, measures
issues, the education and training of women of all ages,
ageing people,
the environment, human rights, conflict
prevention, democratisation and the participation of
social
in
women
decision-making process;

economic

political,

and

the

(b) technical assistance including gender impact assessment,
information society or other

training,

the

education,
services;

(f) gender mainstreaming in the six priority areas of EC

development policy;

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(g) the importance of paying special attention to the education
the situation of unequal
to be redressed by

of girls, and to the fact
opportunities for girls could start
recruiting and training local female teachers.

that

(e)

agencies,

international organisations, such as the United Nations and
its
as
development banks, financial institutions, global initiatives,
international public/private partnerships;

programmes,

as well

funds

and

CHAPTER II

IMPLEMENTATION OF AID

Article 6

Financial support pursuant to this Regulation shall take

1.
the form of grants or contracts.

2.
A grant may finance the entire costs of an action only if
it is shown that this is essential for it to be carried out, with
the exception of actions resulting from the implementation of
financing agreements with third countries or actions managed
by international organisations.
In other cases, a financial
contribution from the beneficiaries defined in Article 7 shall
the contribution
be sought.
requested, regard shall be given to the capacity of the partners
concerned and the nature of the operation in question.

In specifying the amount of

Contracts with beneficiaries may cover the financing of
3.
their operating expenditure, in accordance with Article 4(3)(b).

The

financial

provision of

4.
Regulation may entail co-financing with other donors,
particular with Member States,
international or
institutions.

this
in
the United Nations, and
financial

regional development banks or

assistance

under

(f)

research
universities.

and

development

studies

institutes

and

to paragraph 1(e), Community
2. Without prejudice
financial assistance in the form of grants shall be available to
partners whose head office is located in a Member State or in
a third country that is a beneficiary or potential beneficiary of
Community assistance under this Regulation, provided that this
office is the actual centre which directs business operations. In
exceptional cases, this office may be located in another third
country. Priority will be given to endogenous structures that
can play a role in developing local capacities with respect to
gender.

Article 8

1. Where operations are the subject of financing agreements
between the Community and the recipient country,
such
agreements shall stipulate that the payment of taxes, duties or
any other charges is not to be covered by the Community.

2.
All financing agreements, grant agreements or contracts
concluded pursuant to this Regulation shall provide for the
Commission and the Court of Auditors to conduct on-the-spot
checks in accordance with the usual procedures laid down by
the Commission under the rules in force, in particular those of
the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the
European Communities (1).

The necessary measures shall be taken to emphasise the
to this

the aid provided pursuant

3.
Community character of
Regulation.

Article 7

The partners eligible for financial assistance under this

1.
Regulation include:

(a) administrative authorities and agencies at national, regional

and local government levels;

(b)

field of gender

local communities, NGOs, particularly those operating in
the
equality, women's organisations,
community-based organisations, trade unions, and other
not-for-profit natural and legal persons;

(c)

the local private sector;

Article 9

1.
Participation in invitations to tender and the award of
procurement contracts shall be open on equal terms to all
natural and legal persons of the Member States, assimilated
countries, and in all developing countries. It shall be open to
other third countries on the condition of reciprocity. It may be
extended, under exceptional and duly justified circumstances,
to other third countries.

Supplies

shall originate in the Member States,

2.
the
beneficiary country or other developing countries. In the cases
mentioned in paragraph 1, supplies may originate in other
third countries.

(d) regional organisations;

16.9.2002, p. 1).

(1) Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 248,

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Article 10

deadlines for specific areas of action, assumptions and expected
outcomes. Programming shall be multiannual and indicative.

1.
In order to secure the objectives of consistency and
complementarity referred to in the Treaty and to ensure
maximum effectiveness of these operations as a whole, the
Commission may take all necessary coordination measures,
including in particular:

(a)

the establishment of a system for the systematic exchange
and analysis of information on the operations financed and
those which the Community and the Member States
propose to finance;

(b) the on-the-spot coordination of

the implementation of
operations through regular meetings and exchanges of
information
the
between
Commission and the Member States
in the recipient
country, local authorities and other decentralised bodies.

representatives

the

of

2.
The Commission should raise the question of gender as a
standing item on the agenda during meetings between
representatives of the Commission, Member States and partner
countries in order to increase awareness of gender issues in
emerging areas of development cooperation.

The Commission shall draw on the experiences of
3.
Members States, other donors and partner countries in the
field of gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment.

The Commission, together with the Member States, may
4.
take any initiative necessary for ensuring proper coordination
with the other donors concerned, in particular those forming
part of the United Nations system.

2.
An annual exchange of views shall take place once a year
on the basis of a presentation by the representative of the
Commission of the general guidelines for the operations to be
carried out,
the
Committees referred to in Article 14(1).

in the framework of a joint meeting of

Article 13

1.
The Commission shall be responsible for appraising,
deciding on and administering operations covered by this
Regulation according to the budgetary and other procedures in
those laid down in the Financial
force, and in particular
Regulation.

The work programme shall be adopted under

2.
procedure referred to in Article 14(2).

the

Article 14

The Commission shall be assisted by the geographically

1.
competent Committee for development.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4
and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to
the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

CHAPTER III

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at 45 days.

FINANCIAL PROVISIONS AND RELEVANT DECISION-MAKING
PROCEDURES

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 11

The financial framework for the implementation of this
1.
Regulation for the period 2004 to 2006 is hereby set at EUR
9 million.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
financial

authority within the

limits of

the

2.
budgetary
perspectives.

Article 12

The Commission shall be

1.
for drafting
strategic programming guidelines, defining the Community's
cooperation in terms of measurable objectives, priorities,

responsible

CHAPTER IV

REPORTS

Article 15

After each budget year, the Commission shall submit in
1.
its annual report on EC development policy to the European
Parliament and to the Council, information on the operations
financed in the course of
that year and the Commission's
conclusions on the implementation of this Regulation over the
previous budget year.

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The summary shall in particular provide information about the
strengths, weaknesses and outcomes of operations, those with
whom contracts have been concluded as well as the results of
any independent evaluations of specific operations.

this Regulation,

One year before the expiry of

2.
the
Commission shall submit an independent appraisal report on
its implementation to the European Parliament and the Council
with a view to establishing whether its objectives have been
the
achieved
effectiveness of
this
appraisal report, the Commission may make proposals for the
future of this Regulation and,
if necessary, proposals for its
amendment.

improving
providing
future operations. On the basis of

guidelines

and

for

Article 16

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

It shall apply until 31 December 2006.

Done at Strasbourg, 21 April 2004.

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

P. COX

The President

D. ROCHE