Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015 : research report.
Date: 2016-04-05
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
Subjects: domestic violence, equal pay, equal treatment, equivalence of diplomas, female work, female worker, gender equality, participation of women, position of women, social integration, women's rights

EVALUATION 
OF THE STRENGTHS 
AND WEAKNESSES 
OF THE STRATEGY 
FOR EQUALITY 
BETWEEN 
WOMEN AND MEN 
2010 – 2015 

Research Report 

Prepared by Chiara Crepaldi, Daniela Loi, Flavia Pesce 
and Manuela Samek (coordinator)

Justice  
and Consumers

This report was financed by, and prepared for the use of the European Commission, Directorate-General for 
Justice and Consumers, Unit D2 “Equality between men and women”, in the framework of a contract managed 
by Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini (FGB) in partnership with Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale (IRS). 
The information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the 
official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in 
this report. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible 
for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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EVALUATION OF THE STRENGTHS 
AND WEAKNESSES OF THE 
STRATEGY FOR EQUALITY 
BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN 
2010 – 2015

Research Report 

Prepared by Chiara Crepaldi, Daniela Loi, Flavia Pesce 
and Manuela Samek (coordinator)

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 
Aims and structure of the study 
Main findings: the Strategy’s achievements, strength, weaknesses, and value 
added  
Relevance of the Strategy and emerging Challenges  
Suggestions for a post 2015 strategy  

1. Background, aim and structure of the report 

5
5

5
8
9

11

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectives   14
14
2.1 The Strategy intervention rationale 
18
2.2 The strategy overall achievements and value added  
20
2.3 Achievements, relevance and value added by priority area 

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, 
inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s  
key actions 
3.1 Reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the 
Strategy’s key priorities and actions 
3.2 The added value of the Strategy for Equality between women and men in 
33
Europe 
36
3.3 Assessment of the strategy priorities  
3.4 Internal coherence of strategy and coherence within the EU policy framework  41
3.5 Main strengths and weaknesses of the strategy according to HLG members 
and Ministers  

29

31

43

4. The Role of funding for gender equality 
4.1 Gender equality in the 2007-2013 EU programmes 
4.2 The 2014-2020 period and gender issues 
4.3 Conclusions 

5. Conclusions 
5.1 The Strategy’s achievements, value added, strengths and weaknesses  
5.2 Relevance of the Strategy and emerging Challenges  
5.3 Suggestions for a post-2015 strategy  

References 

ANNEXES 

Annex I 

Annex 2 

Annex 3 

45
45
52
54

55
55
58
60

63

69

70

89

100

Executive Summary

Aims and structure of the study

The key purpose of this study is to assist DG Justice and Consumers in reviewing 
the strengths and weaknesses of the Strategy for equality between wo-
men  and  men  2010-2015  as  implemented  up  to  June  2014  in  order  to  draw 
lessons for a possible new policy framework. 

The study covers all six priority areas of the Strategy and provides:

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

iv. 

 assessment  of  the  achievements  of  the  Strategy  in  relation  to  its 
objectives in the six priority areas and their relevance in addressing cur-
rent needs (Chapter 2);

 discussion of the role of the Strategy according to key stakeholders 
and whether it is perceived as a coherent framework (Chapter 3);

 assessment  of  the  role  of  funding  for  gender  equality  by  dedicated 
budget  support  in  the  previous  multiannual  financial  framework  (2007-
2013) and the prospects for the 2014-2020 period (Chapter 4);

 concluding remarks on the Strategy’s main strengths, weaknesses and 
value added, as well as some indications emerging from the analysis and 
stakeholders indications in relation to any new policy framework (Chapter 5).

The assessment is based on a desk review of existing documents, as well as the 
results of an on-line survey conducted by the Commission’s services between June 
and August 2015 among the members of the High Level Group for Gender Main-
streaming.

Given the nature of the assessment carried out and the necessity to take into ac-
count all the other intervening factors (in primis the financial end economic crisis 
and the austerity measures) that may account for the changes that have occurred 
in  gender  equality  conditions,  it  is  not  possible  to  assess  the  contribution  of  the 
Strategy to reaching the ultimate expected outcomes. For these reasons, the asses-
sment conducted focuses mainly on the Strategy outputs and immediate outcomes, 
and provides a qualitative indication of the extent to which the Strategy could con-
tribute to achieving its objectives. The analysis of stakeholders’ perceptions provi-
des additional inputs for the final assessment.

Main findings: the Strategy’s achievements, strength, weaknesses, 
and value added 

Overall, the Strategy has produced several outputs and important immedi-
ate outcomes. The outputs mainly concern the actions implemented, comprising 
awareness-raising measures, new data-gathering tools, studies and indicators, as 
well as important soft and hard legislative measures addressing women’s economic 

5

Executive Summarysituation and access to the labour market, women’s presence in top management 
positions and political life and the fight against gender-based violence. Among the 
main  immediate  outcomes  it  is  worth  stressing  the  improved  knowledge  on  the 
many different dimensions of gender inequalities; the increased awareness among 
both  the  overall  population  and  the  policy-makers  of  the  importance  of  tackling 
gender inequalities in policy making1; the support to gender mainstreaming in the 
European Commission services. 

Progress has, however, been uneven across the priority areas, reflecting the 
different standing and salience of each priority in the European policy debate. 

Achievements  appear  to  have  been  greater  in  those  priority  areas,  like  gender 
equality  in  decision-making  and  violence  against  women,  which  were  not 
systematically tackled in previous years. The first priority area (Equal  economic 
independence) and the horizontal issues suffer, on the other hand, from a lack of 
focus and prioritization of the envisaged actions, which makes it difficult to assess 
progress out of the many important actions that have been implemented. 

Overall, the Strategy appears to have produced positive effects in terms of va-
lue added especially in relation to the agenda setting and learning dimensions, 
by providing a valuable framework for gender mainstreaming in the European Com-
mission and for the implementation of a coherent framework for gender equality 
policies in Member States.

The Strategy supported the implementation of a considerable number of new ac-
tions at the EU level (volume effects), further strengthening the policy areas 
already partly addressed in the Road Map 2006-2010. In particular, the Stra-
tegy enhanced attention to the gender pay gap, innovation and gender in ICT and 
research.  The  Strategy  also  shows  an  extension  of  the  types  of  actions  and 
measures implemented, with increasing attention to awareness-raising measu-
res, data-gathering, monitoring and evaluation tools. 

According to the key stakeholders, the main strengths of the Strategy include:

•	 The provision of a reference framework on priority policy areas and actions to 
be implemented for national gender equality strategies and action plans 
and of a coherent guidance for multi-annual priorities. This reference role 
is recognised as particularly important for those Member States where gender 
equality is still receiving relatively little attention.

•	 The adoption of the dual approach based on the combination of targeted mea-

sures and gender mainstreaming.

•	 The identification of priority areas of intervention considered important by 
most of the strategy stakeholders and experts, and a good capacity to adjust to 
changing socio-economic contexts.

•	 The capacity to combine both legislative and practical measures in a coher-
ent and consistent way and the attention to awareness-raising measures, 
acknowledging the importance of a wide and extensive use of communication 
and awareness-raising tools in order to change “traditional” cultural views and 
fight gender stereotypes.

•	 The provision of a reference framework for the mainstreaming of gen-

der equality in EU funding programmes.

•	 The  involvement  of  the  European  Commission  DGs,  even  if  to  different 

1   European Commission (2015b), Special Eurobarometer 428 Gender equality, 2015.

6

Executive Summarydegrees, in the programming and implementation of gender mainstreaming in 
almost all policy areas, the establishment of an interdepartmental coordina-
tion  mechanisms  and  the  support  for  a  greater  gender  balance  in  the 
Commission services management positions and committees.

•	 The support for the development of monitoring and evaluation systems 
and of indicators and data-gathering tools (such as the 2013 FRA survey 
on violence against women and the development of new gender indicators, like 
the EIGE Gender Equality Index), important to improve knowledge of the many 
dimensions of gender inequality, as well as the exchange of practices for insti-
tutional learning to support more effective policies on the basis of an evidence-
based approach. 

There are, however, areas for improvement underlined by most of the Strategy 
stakeholders and experts, including:

•	 The  need  to  better  target  and  focus  the  envisaged  priorities  and  key 
actions within each policy field in order to improve effectiveness. For example, 
some actions belonging to the same policy field are scattered across different 
priorities (such is the case of education and R&D), making it difficult to moni-
tor implementation. In addition, greater attention to the heterogeneity of 
women and men needs and conditions could improve definition of the ac-
tions to be implemented. 

•	 The link with the EU 2020 strategy is weak: the EU2020 strategy does not 
explicitly  address  gender  equality.  A  stronger  connection  could  reinforce  both 
strategies. 

•	 Gender  mainstreaming  and  institutional  mechanisms  promoted  within 
the horizontal pillar are far from being achieved in those policy domains that 
are  not  seen  as  directly  related  to  women  and  gender  equality2.  In  addition, 
some  important  tool  for  decision-making,  like  Gender  Impact  Assessment 
(GIA) and Gender Budgeting (GB), are still rarely adopted in EU or national 
institutions.

In particular, some bottlenecks hamper strategy implementation and effectiveness 
mainly involving:

•	 The lack of adequate resources (both human and financial). The strategy 
has  no  budget  earmarked  to  it  because  for  the  majority  of  funding  pro-
grammes it is not possible to earmark resources to gender equality measures. In 
addition, the European Commission unit in charge of Gender Equality appears to 
be under-resourced in its efforts to support gender mainstreaming in all the Eu-
ropean Commission DGs. Finally, the austerity measures imposed by the cri-
sis are likely to further reduce the scarce resources available for gender equality. 
•	 The  fact  that  gender  mainstreaming,  even  if  greatly  improved,  still  re-
mains weakly institutionalised in the EU decision-making process is another 
drawback. Gender equality units in the European Commission have limited power 
to  interact  on  the  same  level  with  other  decision-making  bodies.  In  addition, 
the recent tendency to merge all grounds of discrimination, including dis-

2     e.g.  environmental  policies,  transportation  and  competition  policies,  regional  development, 
macroeconomic policies, and the media and communication policies that may affect women and men 
differently, as shown by recent developments in socio-economic research.

7

Executive Summarycrimination  based  on  sex,  within  the  promotion  of  civil  rights  and  equal 
treatment for all risk to downgrade the profile of gender equality and gender 
mainstreaming in the policy agenda.

Relevance of the Strategy and emerging Challenges 

The actions and outputs of the Strategy appear to address adequately the needs 
identified  when  the  Strategy  was  launched.  These  needs  continue  to  be  relevant 
and the crisis and the austerity measures adopted by most MSs in order to contain 
budget  imbalances  have  aggravated  most  of  them.  In  addition,  emerging  demo-
graphic and socio-economic challenges have important gender effects that have to 
be considered in the design of a new policy framework. The following are considered 
particularly important in the current debate:

•	 Emerging demographic and socio-economic challenges with important gen-
der effects have however to be considered in the design of a new policy frame-
work. Particularly important for their gender effects are the following:
•	

The ageing of the population. The gender gap in life expectancy will in-
crease the share of elderly women living alone in the total population with 
important  policy  implications.  In  the  gender  perspective,  this  issue  needs 
to be tackled in terms of: employment continuity, income levels, work-life 
balance and elderly care services. 

•	 Migration, with the specific risks faced by migrant women, concerning for 
example  the  increasing  role  of  migrant  women  in  the  provision  of  family 
care and their employment conditions; their vulnerability to trafficking and 
to traditional harmful practices; the recognition of their skills and education 
levels and of their specific work-life balance needs. 

•	

The increasing fragmentation of household models and employment 
patterns, which introduces new forms of fragility, especially among women 
and  the elder population, calling for closer attention to single households 
in welfare policies and to the associated increase in the demand for social 
and care services. The growing diffusion of various forms of employment 
characterised  by  limited  duration,  short  and/or  flexible  working  hours  and 
new forms of autonomy also needs to be addressed in the design of social 
protection systems, in order to avoid increasing poverty risks.

•	 The gender effects of the crisis and austerity measures are also to be con-
sidered. The crisis has in fact driven European countries to revise their welfare 
policies drastically with little attention to their effects in terms of increased pov-
erty risks and gender inequalities. The austerity measures are also threatening 
the survival of Equal Opportunity bodies. 

•	 The persistence of gender stereotypes is another aspect to keep under at-
tention. Despite the several initiatives implemented at both policy and legal lev-
els, there is still a deeply entrenched gender inequality persisting as a result of 
discriminatory norms and practices, as well as cultural frameworks and gender 
stereotypes often reinforced by the media and social networks. 

8

Executive SummarySuggestions for a post 2015 strategy 

The assessment of the current strategy and the stakeholders’ positions underlines 
the need to continue the strategic approach adopted in 2010 and to strengthen it 
further with attention to: 

•	 The heterogeneity of women’s and men’s conditions, adopting an intersec-
tional perspective and recognising the different needs and the multiple discrimi-
nation faced by some groups of women. 

•	 Gender  stereotypes,  which  should  be  addressed  more  directly.  This  means 
targeting men as well as women and developing new, more effective measures 
to fight gender stereotypes in schools and the media, starting from an in-depth 
assessment of what has worked in past experience. 

•	 The mobilisation of women’s organisations to support gender equality 
strategies at both the EU and national level. The degree to which women’s 
organisations are involved is important for the design and implementation of ef-
fective gender equality strategies and to pressure policymakers to keep gender 
equality issues high in the policy agenda. 

•	 Maintaining  gender  equality  in  public  debate  is  crucial  to  keep  gender 
equality high in the policy agenda. This means that, besides legislative and non-
legislative measures, it is important to adopt effective communication measures 
targeting public opinion and adopting the “right” language. 

•	 Continuing to support the development of gender-relevant and gender-
sensitive data, indicators and research in all policy fields as well as accu-
rate evaluations of the effectiveness of gender equality policies and good prac-
tice exchange in gender equality issues. This would increase the level of gender 
awareness  and  a  better  understanding  of  the  dimensions  of  gender  equality 
and its trends in the member states, as well as institutional learning as to what 
policies are more effective in terms of the objectives. This also implies that it is 
necessary to assess the (potential) gender impact of proposed changes 
and cuts in welfare provisions and public services, as well as of mea-
sures proposed to support recovery. Governance aspects should also be 
considered in evaluation studies in order to understand how outputs and results 
are produced and which mechanisms (especially at the institutional and orga-
nizational level) need to be reinforced to increase the Strategy effectiveness. 
•	 Continuing to support attention to gender equality issues in EU funding 
programmes, which will constitute the most important financial support avail-
able for the implementation of gender equality policy in the EU by providing sup-
port to Managing Authorities and closely monitor the use of these funds.

As for the policy domains to be considered, the main indications emerging from 
the literature and debate are: 

•	 In employment and social inclusion policies the priority areas and key ac-
tions already identified are to be maintained. Within these priority areas, some 
policy fields usually given little attention in gender equality strategies are be-
coming increasingly relevant due to fiscal consolidation measures impacting dis-
proportionately on women: pension reforms; cuts and restrictions in care 
related  benefits/allowances/facilities;  the  tightening  of  eligibility  cri-
teria and cuts on housing benefits and welfare provisions; increases in 
fees for publicly subsidized services.

9

Executive Summary•	 Outside the employment and social inclusion domain, policy fields of im-
portance for their effects on gender equality are: communication policies and 
the role of media to oppose gender stereotyping, growth and competition 
policies, fiscal policies, transportation and environmental policies, ter-
ritorial development, research and innovation policies. 

10

Executive Summary1. Background, aim and 
structure of the report

The  Commission’s  Strategy  for  Equality  between  women  and  men  for  the  period 
2010-20153 is a comprehensive policy framework committing the Commission to 
integrate gender equality into all its policies, reflecting the Commission’s resolve to 
step up its activities in this field. 

The Strategy is structured around six priority areas: 

1.  equal economic independence ;

2.  equal pay for work of equal value;

3.  equality in decision-making;

4.  dignity, integrity and ending gender violence;

5.  promoting gender equality beyond the EU;

6.  horizontal issues. 

For each priority area, the Strategy identified some key actions to be carried out by  
2015 as well as more than 120 actions to be implemented by different Commission 
services and the European External Action Service (EEAS). 

Each Commission service is responsible for the promotion of gender equality in the 
policy falling under its competence. The Inter Service Group (ISG) on equality 
between women and men (managed by DG Justice and Consumers) contributes 
to the programming, monitoring and reporting of the Strategy’s priorities and ac-
tions. It is composed of representatives from nearly all services and serves as a 
forum for exchange of information and best practice in the field of gender equality 
and gender mainstreaming. 

Promotion of gender equality and gender mainstreaming are implemented as part 
of the Commission’s policy-making and defined according to the distribution of re-
sponsibilities. Each Directorate General is responsible for designing and implement-
ing the promotion of gender equality in its activities, as well as for the monitoring 
and  evaluation  of  the  outcome  of  their  gender  equality  activities.  The  DGs  have 
to report every year to the secretariat of the inter-service group managed by the 
gender equality unit in DG Justice and Consumers. The secretariat of the inter-ser-
vice group coordinates the annual monitoring and reporting of the actions carried 
out and provides a summary of the main developments in the Annual Report on 
Equality between Women and Men presented each year. 

3   COM(2010) 491 final 
(http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri= COM:2010:0491:FIN:EN:PDF). 

11

1. Background, aim and structure of the reportThe mid-term review of the Strategy, published by the Commission on 14 Octo-
ber 20134, provided information about the contribution of each Commission service 
and the EEAS to the implementation of the Strategy. The mid-term review found 
that, half-way through the strategy’s five-year time scale, the Commission is deliv-
ering on its commitments. 

To follow up on the mid-term review, DG JUST concluded a review of activities 
carried out by Directorates-General between January 2013 and June 2014. This re-
view was carried out by Inter Service Group (ISG) on equality between women 
and men. 

Within  this  framework,  the  key  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  assist  DG  Justice  and 
Consumers in a preliminary review of the strengths and weaknesses of the 
Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-2015 as so far imple-
mented in order to draw lessons for a possible new policy framework. 

The assessment is based on review of the existing documents, as well as the results 
of an on-line survey conducted between June and July 2015 among the members 
of the High Level Group for Gender Mainstreaming.

The assessment covers all six priority areas of the Strategy and aims to answer the 
following research questions:

1.  To what extent have the Strategy actions achieved their objectives within the 6 
priority areas defined in it? What factors influenced the achievements observed? 

2.  To what extent do the original objectives still correspond to the needs within 

the EU?

3.  How relevant and effective was EU funding for gender equality related interven-
tions in the previous multi-annual financial framework (2007-2013) and what 
are the prospects for the 2014-2020 period?

4.  What is the Strategy’s EU added value? To what extent is the Strategy perceived 

as a coherent EU framework by key stakeholders? 

5.  What  are  the  Strategy’s  main  strengths  and  weaknesses  and  which  advice 

would the contractor provide in relation to any new policy framework?

In order to address these questions, this report is organized in 5 chapters, comple-
mented by three annexes.

Following  this  introductive  chapter,  Chapter  2  provides  an  assessment  of  the 
Strategy achievements, relevance and value added. This analysis was carried 
mainly through desk research literature and documentation review of work already 
carried out by the Commission. The analysis presented in this chapter is comple-
mented by Annex 1 providing a more detailed assessment. 

Chapter 3 discusses whether the Strategy’s initiatives responded to the main ex-
pectations  from  key  stakeholders,  on  the  basis  of  available  documents  and  the 
results of an on-line survey among the members of the High Level group on gender 
mainstreaming (HLG). This chapter is complemented by Annex 2, which provides a 
more detailed analysis of the results of the on-line survey among the members of 
the HLG and by Annex 3, which sets out the main positions of the relevant stakehol-
ders.

4   SWD(2013)339.

12

1. Background, aim and structure of the reportChapter 4 illustrates the role of funding for gender equality through dedica-
ted budget support in the 2007-2013 EU programmes (ESF, ERDF, PROGRESS, EU 
Plan of Action on GEWE in Development, 7th Research Programme) and provides an 
outlook for the 2014-2020 period. The analysis was carried out mainly through a 
review of the available literature and documentation. 

Finally, chapter 5 draws the main conclusions on the Strategy’s EU added-value 
and its main strengths and weaknesses and provides some indications emerging 
from the analysis and the stakeholders’ indications regarding a possible new policy 
framework.

Three annexes complete the report:

Annex  1  includes  tables  presenting  in  greater  detail  the  Strategy’s  main  achie-
vements (outputs and immediate outcomes) in each of the six priority areas and 
horizontal issues.

Annex 2 presents the main results of the Survey to the High-Level Group on gender 
mainstreaming.

Annex 3 presents the main positions shown by the relevant stakeholders, by prio-
rity areas.

13

1. Background, aim and structure of the report2. Strategy achievements 
and the progress made 
towards the objectives 

In this chapter we consider the preliminary effects generated and progress made 
towards the Strategy’s objectives within the six priority areas, including assessment 
of the relevance of the Strategy to addressing existing and future needs. 

The following research questions are to be answered:

1.  To what extent have the Strategy actions achieved their objectives within the 6 

priority areas it defines? 

2.  What factors influenced the achievements observed? 

3.  To what extent do the original objectives still correspond to the needs within 

the EU?

2.1 The Strategy intervention rationale

To answer the evaluation questions we must consider the strategy’s basic rationa-
le, linking the strategy priority areas to the needs they are meant to address, their 
key actions, expected outputs and outcomes.

The basic rationale is not made explicit in the Strategy and in the accompanying 
documents, but can be deduced from the Commission staff working document “Ac-
tions to implement the Strategy of equality between Women and Men 2010-2015”, 
accompanying the Communication on the Strategy 5, which links the strategy prio-
rity areas and key actions to the activities foreseen to implement/complement the 
key actions and the European Commission services in charge of each action and the 
expected delivery dates. 

Table 2.1 provides a reconstruction of the Strategy Intervention rationale based on 
these documents. 

In the following sections we provide an initial assessment of the Strategy rele-
vance, effectiveness and value added, on the basis of the documents available. 

A full evaluation of the Strategy would have required more time and ad hoc field 
work to assess the actual outcomes. For this reason, in the following exercise we 
consider  mainly  the  Strategy  outputs  and  provide  qualitative  indication  of  the 
extent to which we expect the Strategy could contribute to achieving the ultimate 
outcomes; its relevance in relation to needs; and its value added. The analysis of 

5   Commission Staff Working Document, SEC (2010) 1079/2 Brussels 
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/document/index_en.htm.

14

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesstakeholders perceptions conducted in chapter 4 provides additional inputs for the 
final assessment presented in the closing chapter.

Effectiveness has been assessed on the basis of the following questions:

1.  Has the Strategy delivered the expected outputs? 

2.  To  what  extent  has  it  contributed  to  the  immediate/  intermediate  outcomes 
identified  in  the  logic  model?  And  how  far  would  it  go  towards  achieving  the 
ultimate expected outcomes (potential effectiveness)?

Relevance has been assessed considering the following questions: 

1.  To what extent do the needs identified in the Strategy continue to be relevant in 

Member States and/or at EU level? 

2.  To what extent do the (type of) actions and outputs of the strategy respond to 

the needs? 

The European added value criterion was assessed on the basis of the following 
aspects:

1.  Does the strategy ‘add’ to existing action or directly produce beneficial effects 

that can be expressed in terms of volume? 

2.  Does the strategy ‘broaden’ existing action by addressing groups or policy areas 

that would not otherwise be addressed (scope effects)? 

3.  Does the strategy support innovation and the transfer of ideas (Agenda setting, 

innovation and learning effects)?

15

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesTable 2.1 - The Strategy logic of intervention

Priorities

Needs

Key Actions

Outputs

Expected outcomes

1. Economic 
independence

Persisting gender gaps 
in the labour market and 
poverty risks which reduce 
women access to economic 
resources and indepen-
dence

Some disadvantaged 
groups particularly at risk 
of poverty and exclusion

2. Equal pay for 
equal work

Persisting gender pay gap 
for equal work and work of 
equal value

3. Equality in 
decision-making

Women still largely under-
represented in economic, 
political and research deci-
sion making processes and 
positions at both the EU 
and MS level

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

•	

promoting equality as part of the Eu-
rope 2020 strategy and through EU funding;

promoting female entrepreneurship and self-
employment;

assessing workers’ rights with regard to leave 
for family reasons;

assessing Member States’ performance with 
regard to childcare facilities;

supporting gender equality in matters of im-
migration and integration of migrants.

exploring possible ways to improve the trans-
parency of pay with social partners;

supporting equal pay initiatives in the work-
place such as equality labels, ‘charters’ and 
awards;

instituting a European Equal Pay Day;

seeking to encourage women to enter non-
traditional professions, for example in the 
‘green’ and innovative sectors.
proposing targeted initiatives to improve the 
situation;

monitoring progress made towards achiev-
ing the 25% target for women in top-level 
decision-making positions in research;

promoting increase in the number of women 
in the committees and expert groups estab-
lished by the Commission, with the aim of 
achieving at least 40% female membership;

promoting greater participation of women in 
European Parliament elections.

42 Actions promoted

Immediate and intermediate outcomes

11 European Commission 
services involved 

Improvement in knowledge of conditions for women in the labour market and 
poverty risks and on effectiveness of policies 

Improvement in work-life conciliation measures

Progress in gender mainstreaming and Gender Equality awareness in all policies 
that could support women in the labour market and reduce poverty risks

Greater support for gender equality with European funds

Improved monitoring of implementation of the envisaged actions and directives

Ultimate outcomes

Increase in women’s participation and employment rates 

Progress in the provision of care facilities and reduction of gender differences in 
parental leave take ups

18 actions promoted

Immediate and intermediate outcomes

Reduction in women’s poverty risks

5 European Commission 
services involved

Improved knowledge and awareness on the GPG and its root causes

Promotion of actions to address the root causes of gender segregation in educa-
tion and employment in primis)

Monitoring measures implemented and their effects

Ultimate outcomes

Reduction of gender segregation in education and employment and of the gender 
pay gap 

8 actions promoted

Immediate and intermediate outcomes

6 European Commission 
services directly involved 
+ all DGs (gender balance 
within the European Com-
mission services)

progress in the gender balance in management positions in the European Commis-
sion services, in EU committees

improved knowledge of the gender balance in economic and political and economic 
decision-making

Ultimate outcomes

Reduction of gender imbalances in economic, research and political decision mak-
ing at the EU and MS levels 

4. Dignity, 
Integrity and end 
to gender based 
violence

Large share of women 
victims of violence

proposing an EU-wide strategy on combating vio-
lence;

Presence of gender in-
equalities in health care 
access and research

Gender differences in asy-
lum-seekers’ needs 

ensuring that EU asylum legislation takes account 
of gender equality considerations

monitoring gender issues in the field of health.

17 actions promoted

Immediate and intermediate outcomes

5 European Commission 
services involved

improved knowledge of the dimension and features of gender-based violence and 
of its cost and the effectiveness of the measures adopted

implementation of specific recommendations and directives

increased awareness of the dimension of gender based violence among the gen-
eral population and practitioners in the judicial and health care systems

improved gender mainstreaming in health policies and awareness of gender differ-
ences in health conditions in health research and policies

 Ultimate outcomes

Improvement in the effectiveness of measures adopted to contrast gender based 
violence

Change in attitudes towards gender based violence and reduction of gender based 
violence

Improvement in the effectiveness of health care policies for women and for men 

5 Gender equality 
in external actions

Women are still discrimi-
nated against and victims 
of violence in many coun-
tries 

6. Horizontal 
issues

Gender roles and ste-
reotypes are among the 
strongest barriers to gender 
equality;

Legislation against sex 
discrimination needs 
monitoring, enforcement, 
evaluation and updating to 
remain effective

Implementation of gender 
equality policies is often 
hampered by the lack 
of adequate governance 
mechanisms and tools

identifying progress in equal treatment between 
women and men in the candidate and potential 
candidate countries for accession to the EU;

implementing the EU Plan of Action on Gender 
Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Develop-
ment (2010-2015);

conducting regular dialogue and exchange of ex-
perience with the European Neighbourhood Policy 
partner countries;

integrating equal treatment considerations into 
humanitarian aid operations.
the role of men in gender equality;

disseminating good practices in redefining gender 
roles in youth, education, culture and sport;

correct implementation of European legislation, 
particularly Directive 2004/113/EC on equal treat-
ment in the access to and supply of goods and 
services and Directive 2006/54/EC on equal op-
portunities;

governance and gender equality tools, particularly 
by drafting an annual report on gender equality to 
contribute to a yearly top-level Gender Equality 
Dialogue involving the European Parliament, the 
Commission, Member States and key stakeholders.

14 actions promoted

Immediate and intermediate outcomes

7 European Commission 
services involved

Increased attention to Gender Equality issues and capacity building in EU services 
and delegations involved in external actions, humanitarian aid and trade relations;

improved knowledge on gender issues in countries addressed with EU external ac-
tions, humanitarian aid and trade relations on the effectiveness of Gender Equality 
policies in different context

Ultimate /long term outcomes

Contribute to reduce gender inequalities in countries addressed with EU external 
action, humanitarian aid, and trade relations.

33 actions promoted

Immediate and intermediate outcomes

10 EU services + EIGE +

Improved knowledge of: the role of men in Gender Equality and of gender differ-
ences among the youth population and sport; the implementation of the EU equal 
treatment legislation; the gender dimension in disability policies:

Improved knowledge of the implementation of the BPfA; and of models and indica-
tors to support gender mainstreaming ;

Greater cooperation between the EP, Commission, MSs and key stakeholders on 
progress on Gender Equality;

Adoption of Gender Equality institutional mechanisms and tools (GIA, GB, etc.) in 
the European Commission

Improved awareness and capacity for the integration of gender aspects in all 
policy areas in the Commission services 

Ultimate /long term outcomes

Greater effectiveness of GM and Gender Equality policies

2.2 The strategy overall achievements and value added 

Before assessing the Strategy’s achievements and value added, it is to be noted 
that the Strategy is composed of European Commission actions, and is based 
on the division of competencies between the EU institutions and Member States. 
The assessment thus considers what the European Commission has and could have 
done. 

In addition, it is worth stressing that it is not possible to evaluate the Strategy 
ultimate outcomes and its effectiveness in achieving the gender equality 
objectives in the envisaged priority areas, given the scope of this study (based 
on the review of existing materials and documents) and the many intervening fac-
tors that have shaped the situation of women and men in Europe in the five years 
of implementation of the Strategy, in primis the dramatic financial and economic 
crisis  and  the  austerity  measures  that  have  negatively  affected  gender  equality 
developments. For this reason, as anticipated in the previous section, we mainly as-
sess the outputs produced and their potential contribution to obtaining the strategy 
intermediate and final objectives. 

Overall the Strategy has produced several outputs and important immedi-
ate outcomes. The outputs mainly relate to the implemented actions, comprising 
awareness-raising measures, new data-gathering tools, studies and indicators, as 
well as important soft and hard legislative measures addressing women’s economic 
conditions and access to the labour market, women’s presence in top management 
positions and the fight against gender-based violence.

Notable  among  the  main  immediate  outcomes  is  improved  knowledge  of  the 
many  dimension  of  gender  inequalities;  increased  awareness  both  in  the  overall 
population  and  policymakers  of  the  importance  of  addressing  gender  differences 
in  policy-making6;  implementation  of  gender  mainstreaming  in  the  Commission 
services.  While  all  the  envisaged  actions  have  the  potential  to  contribute 
greatly to achieving the Strategy’s priorities, it is difficult to assess their 
actual effectiveness, as some of them were only generically identified (e.g. 
promote gender equality in education and training, explore options to improve the 
transparency of pay, etc) and in most of the cases they did not indicate specific 
outputs or expected results. 

Progress has been uneven across the priority areas, largely reflecting the dif-
ferent standing and salience of each priority in the European policy debate. Achieve-
ments also appear to have been greater in priority areas, like gender equality in 
decision-making and violence against women, with a clear focus which were 
not  systematically  tackled  in  previous  years.  The  first  priority  area  (equal  eco-
nomic independence) and the horizontal issues suffer from a lack of focus and 
prioritisation of the envisaged actions, which makes it difficult to assess progress of 
the many important actions that have been implemented. 

Besides the usual context indicators, useful indications on gender equality outcomes 
across policy areas may be derived from the EIGE Gender Equality Index. Even if 
the latest GEI release7 is only for 2012 and not all the Strategy’s priority areas are 
addressed (e.g. violence against women and external actions), the index shows that 

6   European Commission (2015b), Special Eurobarometer 428 Gender equality, 2015.

7   EIGE (2015), Gender Equality Index 2015 − Measuring gender equality in the European Union 2005-
2012, http://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/mh0415169enn.pdf.

18

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesbetween 2010 and 2012 some progress was achieved in the majority of domains 
and sub-domains addressed by the Strategy. The greatest improvements occurred 
in the domain of “power” (measuring improvements in gender equality in decision 
making), even if the GEI remains at a very low level (39.7 in 2012 relative to 37,9 
in 2010 and to 52.9 for the overall GEI Index). A slight increase has also been regis-
tered in the domain of “money”, measuring gender gaps in earnings and income and 
in poverty risks (going from 67 in 2010 to 67.8 in 2012). On the contrary, the index 
declined in the work domain (from 62.2 in 2010 to 61.9 in 2012), showing that the 
austerity measures are making employment conditions relatively worse for women 
than for men. The index remains stable for the other domains (knowledge, time and 
health),  but  showing  very  low  levels  of  gender  equality  for  the  “time”  dimension 
(with a GE index reaching only 37.6) given the still uneven division of care work and 
social activities between women and men, and a relatively low level (49.1) also in 
the domain of knowledge (measuring gender segregation in education and access 
to lifelong learning). 

While  there  are  still  some  areas  for  improvement,  overall  the  Strategy  appears 
to  have  produced  positive  value  added  effects  in  relation  to  all  the  three 
dimensions  described  in  section  2.1.  and  especially  in  relation  to  the  learning 
dimension.

In particular, the Strategy heightened attention to the gender pay gap, to innovation 
and gender in ICT and research.

Besides supporting the implementation of a large number of new actions at 
the EU level (volume effects), the Strategy has further strengthened the priority 
policy areas addressed in the Road Map 2006-20108, both in the labour mar-
ket domain (non-standard employment, pay gaps, working time, work-life balance) 
and in other domains: health, violence against women, segregation in education and 
training, economic and political decision making. In particular, the Strategy heighte-
ned attention to the gender pay gap, to innovation and gender in ICT and research.

The Strategy also shows an extension of the types of actions and measures 
implemented, with increasing attention to awareness-raising measures with the 
involvement  of  men  and  of  operators  of  the  judiciary,  health  care,  educational 
and socio-economic systems, as well as data-gathering, monitoring and evaluation 
tools. 

The  agenda  setting,  innovation  and  learning  effects  represent  probably  the 
most important value added of the Strategy. 

In particular, the Strategy has served as a coherent reference framework on pri-
ority policy areas and actions for gender equality strategies and action plans 
in a large majority of countries. In addition, important learning effects may derive 
from the implementation gender sensitive monitoring and evaluation systems 
and tools and the development of indicators and data-gathering tools of 
importance in enhancing knowledge and awareness of the many dimension of gen-
der inequality. The support given to the exchange  of  practices for institutional 
learning in policy-making on the basis of an evidence based approach is another 
important value added of the Strategy. Knowledge building, information exchange 
and networking among stakeholders have been supported especially through the 

8     Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the  European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - A Roadmap for equality between 
women and men 2006-2010 [COM(2006) 92 final.

19

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesPROGRESS Programme9 and EIGE activities. These activities have supported the im-
plementation of gender mainstreaming strategies in the EU Member States10. The 
Strategy  has  also  contributed  to  the  implementation  of  a  gender  mainstreaming 
approach  in  nearly  all  Commission  policy  areas  and  supported  a  greater  gender 
balance in the Commission services management positions and committees. 

2.3 Achievements, relevance and value added by priority area

Table 2.2 presents for each priority area the Strategy’s key actions and some con-
text  indicators  that  are  not  part  of  the  Strategy,  but  provide  an  overview  of  the 
changes brought about in the policy areas covered by the Strategy during its imple-
mentation, and are useful to assess its relevance to current needs.

The final three columns provide a qualitative synthetic assessment of the relevance, 
effectiveness and value added of each priority area according to the criteria descri-
bed in section 2.1. 

More detailed table describing the main achievements for each key actions is pro-
viding in annex 1.

9     See  chapter  4  for  a  description  of  the  gender  equality  measures  supported  by  the  PROGRESS 
Programme.

10   Besides the organisation of conferences and workshops, among the major examples of exchange 
of  good  practices,  we  can  include  the  EIGE  good  practice  programme;  the  support  provided  to  the 
website European Platform for Investing in Children – EPIC (formerly referred to as European Alliance 
for Families) containing good practices in the area of parenting and child support measures to help 
the MSs with implementation of the Recommendation Investing in Children; the setting of the good 
practices  section  on  Antidiscrimination  and  Equality  of  the  EWSI  website  -  European  Web  Site  on 
Integration. 

20

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesTable 2.2 - Main achievements of the Strategy: context indicators and over-
all assessment

Priority areas

Context indicators

Relevance Potential  

1. EQUAL ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE

Effectiveness

Value 
added

High 

Medium –
high 

Medium 
- High 

Women’s Empl. Rate (EU 28): 
63,5% (2014) Vs 62% (2010)
Women’s entrepreneurship: 
In 2012 women were 34.4% of EU 
self-employed and 30% of start-up 
entrepreneurs.
EU NEET Rate (15-29): 
women 17,7% (2013) Vs 17% 
(2010)
Men 14,1% (2013) Vs 13% (2010)
Percentage of Children cared for in 
formal structures:
Aged 3 years and over: 
83% (2012) Vs 81% (2007)
less than 3 years: 
28% (2012) Vs 26% (2007)
Population at risk of poverty or 
social exclusion: 
Women: 25,4% (2013) Vs 24.8% 
(2010); Men: 23.6% (2013) Vs 
22.6% (2010)

2. EQUAL PAY

Average unadjusted Gender Pay 
Gap in the EU28
 16.4 (2013) Vs 16.1 (2010) 

Average gender gap in pensions: 
38.5% (2012) Vs 37.6 % (2008)

High 

Medium - 
high 

High

1.1 - Support the promotion of gen-
der equality in the implementation 
of all aspects and flagship initia-
tives of the Europe 2020 strategy
1.2 - Promote female entrepreneur-
ship and self-employment (EMPL/
ENTR/REGIO)
1.3 - Assess remaining gaps in 
reconciliation work and family; 
social partners consultation; report 
on MSs performance on child care 
facilities (JUST/EMPL) 
1.4 - Promote Gender Equality in 
research and innovation (RTD)1

1.5 - Promote Gender Equality in all 
initiatives on Migration and inte-
gration of migrants 
(HOME/EMPL)

2.1 - Explore possible ways to 
improve the transparency of pay 
as well as the impact on equal pay 
of arrangements such as part-time 
work and fixed-term contracts 
(JUST/EMPL)
2.2 - Support equal pay initiatives 
at the workplace such as equality 
labels, ‘charters’, and awards, as 
well as the development of tools 
for employers to correct unjustified 
gender pay gaps. Institute a Euro-
pean Equal Pay Day to be held each 
year to increase awareness on how 
much longer women need to work 
than men to earn the same.
(JUST/EMPL)
2.3 - Encourage women to enter 
non traditional professions, for 
example in “green” and innovative 
sectors
(EAC/MOVE/RTD)
2.3.1 - Participation of women in 
ICT
(CNECT)
2.3.2 - Gender equality and re-
search

3.1. - Targeted initiatives to Im-
prove the gender balance in deci-
sion-making
(JUST/MARKT)
3.2 - Monitor the 25% target for 
women in top level decision-making 
positions in research
(RTD)
3.3 - Monitor progress towards the 
aim of 40% of members of one sex 
in committees and expert groups 
(ALL)
3.4 - Promote greater participation 
of women in European Parliament 
elections (COMM/JUST)

3. EQUALITY IN DECISION – MAKING
women members of national par‑
liaments:
28% (2014) Vs 24% (2010)

High 

High

High

Women members of the European 
Parliaments 35% (2009) Vs 37% 
(2014)

Women senior ministers:
28% (2014) Vs 26% (2010)

Board members of largest publicly 
listed companies:
20% (2014) Vs 12% (2010)

21

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectives 
4. DIGNITY, INTEGRITY AND AN END TO GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Percentage of women experiencing 
sexual and/physical violence since 
the age of 15 (2014):
- 33% victims of sexual and/or 
physical violence;

High

Medium 

High

4.1 Adopt an EU-wide strategy on 
combating violence against women 
(JUST/HOME)
4.2 Ensure that Asylum legislation 
takes into account Gender Equality; 
promote Gender specific training 
and BP within the EASO and via 
funding by the ERF (HOME)
4.3 - Gender issues in health poli-
cies
(SANCO/EMPL/JRC)
4.3.1 - Cyber stalking/harassment/
violence

5. PRIORITY GENDER EQUALITY IN EXTERNAL ACTIONS

na

5.1 - Monitor and support adher-
ence to the Copenhagen criteria for 
accession to the EU (ELARG/EMPL)
5.2 - External relations and devel-
opment policies (DEVCO/EEAS)
5.3 - Further integration of gender 
considerations into EU humanitar-
ian aid ECHO)

6. HORIZONTAL ISSUES

High rel-
evance 

Medium

Medium

na

na

high

medium

6.1 - Address the role of men in 
Gender Equality; promote good 
practices on gender roles in youth, 
education, culture and sports (EAC/
RTD)
6.2 - Monitor the implementation of 
EU equal treatment laws with focus 
on Dir. 2004/113/EC and 2006/54/
EC (JUST)
6.3 - Promote full implementation 
of the BPfA with support of EIGE 
(ALL/ESTAT/JUST
6.4 - Present an Annual report on 
progress on Gender Equality (JUST/
EMPL)
1  This action was not labeled as a key action, but being a stand alone action without reference to the 
other key actions we considered it as a key one.

high

na

na

Sources: Eurostat, 
European Commission, 2014 Report on Progress on equality between women and men,
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/annual_reports/150304_annual_report_2014_web_en.pdf; 
FRA (2013), Violence against women : an EU survey,
http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/violence-against-women-eu-wide-survey-main-results-report

The first priority area, “Equal Economic independence” is very wide in its contents 
and comprises a large number of actions to support women in the labour market. 

Overall, this priority area comprised 42 actions up to the end of 201211, with 38 
actions12 still ongoing. Given the focus of this priority area, the actions were mainly 
under the responsibility of DG EMPL and DG JUST. The other DGs participated in 
the actions to a lesser extent

11   See the Mid –Term Review 2013.

12   See the European Commission monitoring document “The Strategy for equality between women 
and men (2010-2015): Actions to be implemented between 2013 and 2015 - State of play November 
2014.

22

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectives 
As described in greater detail in Annex 1, the key actions implemented in this priori-
ty area focused on the root causes of women’s difficult access to the labour market 
and Economic independence, and combine regulatory measures (mainly related to 
supporting  initiatives  on  equal  economic  independence  within  structural  funds  or 
directives  on  the  equal  treatment  of  women  and  men),  with  monitoring  actions, 
studies and funding of projects/programmes. 

The envisaged actions address:

•	

•	

the low female participation and employment rates with particular attention to 
vulnerable  persons  and  multiple  discriminations  (older  women,  single  parents, 
migrant  women  and  women  from  ethnic  minorities,  who  face  higher  poverty 
risks); 
the higher barriers faced by women in entrepreneurship, employment and edu-
cational gender segregation;
•	 women’s heavy family burdens.
However,  some  emerging  challenges  that  might  impact  upon  this  priority  will 
have  to  be  considered  in  future  strategies,  such  as  the  effects  of  demographic 
change on caring roles and the issues related to access to social security and social 
protection, as well as multiple forms of discrimination faced by vulnerable groups 
of women. 

All the envisaged actions are highly relevant in addressing women’s difficult ac-
cess to economic independence, given that context indicators show a situation that 
has not improved much since 2010 largely due to the effects of the crisis and of 
the austerity measures, which are likely to further aggravate conditions for women 
in the labour market, shifting back on them the provision of unpaid welfare services 
in households.

Despite  the  numerous  achievements  of  the  2010-2015  Strategy  in  supporting 
women’s access to the labour market and the progress made in recent years, the 
2014 Report on Progress on equality between women and men13 underlines that 
while the target of 75% of persons in employment set by the EU 2020 Strategy 
is close to being achieved for men, it will take almost 30 years to reach it 
for women. 

More specifically, the women’s Employment Rate (EU 28) remains lower than men’s 
reaching 63.5% in 2014 (up from 62% in 2010). In addition, some of the bar-
riers to women’s participation are likely to remain or even get worse given the 
cuts in social spending occurring in many MSs to comply with austerity measures. 
For example, the percentage of children cared for in formal structures remains si-
gnificantly below the Barcelona objectives according to 2012 figures. Even if the 
gender gap in the risk of poverty or social exclusion showed some decline 
between 2010 and 2013, this occurred due to a worsening of men’s conditions, and 
in 2013 women’s rates were still at 25.4% compared to 23.6% for men.

The actions involved in these priority areas have a potential medium - high effec-
tiveness  in  contributing  to  achieving  the  Strategy  objectives  of  reducing  gender 
gaps in economic conditions.

All the envisaged actions could potentially contribute to ensuring equal economic 
independence (potential effectiveness). However, the fact that no specific tar-

13   2014 Report on Progress on equality between women and men 
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/annual_reports/150304_annual_report_2014_web_en.pdf.

23

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesgets  are  identified  and  that  in  some  cases  actions  are  only  generically 
defined,  risks  weakening  their  contribution  to  the  effective  achievement 
of  the  priority’s  objectives.  Hard  measures  such  as  the  revision  of  the  leave 
directives and legislative guidelines to MSs on paternity leave together with stricter 
enforcement of the parental leave directive in all MSs could be considered, as well 
as guidelines on the combination of flexible working time conditions with a flexible 
use of parental leave by both parents14. 

For some actions, the indication of specific targets could also help in better prio-
ritising the actions to be implemented. For example, the Strategy could stress the 
importance of increasing female employment rates in achieving the Europe 2020 
targets  (which  do  not  distinguish  between  men  and  women),  as  well  as  setting 
specific targets for long-term care (as in the case of the Barcelona targets for child 
care). Also greater attention could be paid to the labour market inclusion of disabled 
women and other women facing multiple discriminations.

As for value added, this priority area is likely to produce a medium-high value 
added, especially in relation to the broad spectrum of actions supporting conditions 
for women in the labour market (volume and learning value added effects).

The second priority of the Strategy, “Equal pay for equal work and work of equal 
value” builds on the first priority and aims to ensure on the one hand that employed 
women receive the same pay for equal work as men and, on the other, that they are 
employed in high pay sectors.

This priority area comprises a lower number of actions (18) than the previous priori-
ty and appears more focused on its specific objectives. The actions implemented 
mainly involved DG JUST and DG RTD. Some other DGs15 also participated in the 
actions, although to a much lesser extent.

Overall,  this  priority  has  great  relevance  to  current  and  future  needs.  These 
actions tackle serious barriers at the basis of the gender pay gap: women’s vertical 
and horizontal segregation in the labour market; their higher employment in part-
time and atypical jobs than men; their segregation in employment and in education 
and training; cultural stereotypes, etc. 

Context data show that after the decline from 17.3% in 2008, the gender pay gap 
remained stable at 16.2% in 2010 and 16.4% in 2013.16 The previously cited 
2014 Report on Progress on equality between women and men underlines that it 
will take more than 70 years to achieve equal pay, assuming a continuous 
decrease at the same rate. 

The gender pay gap and women’s interrupted employment careers are at the basis 
of the pension gender gap, amounting on average to 38.5% in 2012 (compa-
red to 37.6% in 2008). The recent pension reforms designed to increase the finan-
cial sustainability of pension systems risk aggravating the gender gap in pensions.

14     D.  Szelewa,  Maternity  leave,  paternity  leave,  parental  leave  and  unpaid  care  work,  in  A  new 
strategy fir gender equality post 2015. Workshop for the FEMM Committee, 3 September 2014.

15     More  detailed  information  on  the  Key  actions’  implementation  by  the  DGs  are  reported  in  the 
annex 1.

16   2013 Report on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, 
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/com_2014_224_en.pdf.

24

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesThe effectiveness of the envisaged actions in contributing to reduce the gender 
pay  and  pension  gaps  is  considered  medium  -  high.  Overall,  the  actions  could 
potentially provide a significant contribution to achieving this Strategy priority. Ho-
wever, the actual contribution of the actions to the Strategy objectives lar-
gely depends on the measures that are promoted – measures that are not in 
the Strategy. In addition, the role of the social partners and equality bodies 
in reducing the gender pay gap and supporting the enforcement of anti-
discrimination provisions is not sufficiently addressed. 

The value added is considered high, given the scope of the priority and the atten-
tion to awareness-raising activities. 

The third Strategy priority, “equality in decision making”, tackles a relevant issue 
for gender equality, re-confirmed by the 2013 Report on the Application of the EU 
Charter of Fundamental Rights17. Overall this priority action currently comprises 9 
actions, mainly implemented by DG JUST followed by DG Just also DG RTD18.

This priority area is considered among the better performing ones and its 
effectiveness may be considered high. The relatively low number of actions allows 
for stronger focus on implementation and the priority features a relatively new po-
licy area, and consequently improvements are more visible. 

According  to  the  2014  report  Progress  on  equality  between  women  and  men  in 
2014 (cit.), the intense debate and regulatory pressure has resulted in an increase 
in women’s presence in political and economic decision-making.

In  November 2014, 28% of the elected members of National Parliaments in the 
Member States were women (as compared with 24% in 2010), even if with wide 
country differences. As for the current European Parliament, the proportion of wo-
men (37 %) has reached an all-time high.

With regard to gender equality in economic decision making, since the Commission 
placed the issue on Europe’s political agenda (in 2010) and put forward a proposal 
for a Directive on improving the gender balance among directors of listed compa‑
nies (in November 2012), the proportion of women on boards has risen by 8.3 pp, 
over four times as fast as in 2003-1019, reaching 20.2% in October 2014 from 12% 
in 2010. Most of the top-ranked countries have adopted legal measures to promote 
a better gender balance on company boards. 

This priority has great relevance to current and future needs given that, 
despite progress, men still outnumber women in senior positions in both 
politics and business. 

All the  actions  are  important  for  achieving  this  Strategy  priority,  even  if 
they  could  be  further  strengthened  for example through: a sharper focus on 
legislative initiatives and positive actions to support the extension and application 
of gender quotas in economic and political decision making institutions; more at-
tention to addressing the leaky executive pipeline in companies; the diffusion and 
promotion of good practices for supporting women’s presence in top economic and 
political decision-making. In addition, the proposal for a directive with the aim of 
attaining  a  40%  objective  of  the  under-represented  sex  in  non-executive  board-
member positions in publicly listed companies is still to be approved.

17   http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/com_2014_224_en.pdf.

18  More detailed information on the Key actions’ implementation by the DGs are reported in the annex 1.

19   http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/annual_reports/150324_annual_report_2014_web_en.pdf

25

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesThe value added is high because it considerably extends the scope of EU actions, 
as well as improving knowledge of these issues. 

The fourth Strategy priority “dignity, integrity and an end to gender-based vio-
lence” aims to fight gender-based violence and female genital mutilation. 

Overall, this priority action comprised 20 actions by June 201420, involving a larger 
number of DGs than the other actions and primarily DG SANCO and DG JUST21.

The magnitude of these phenomena is confirmed by the first EU Survey on Gender 
based  violence  conducted  by  FRA  in  2013.  One  in  three  women  reported  having 
experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15; one in 20 women 
had been raped since the age of 15; 22% had experienced physical and/or sexual 
violence by a partner22. The survey also showed that 55% of the women in the EU 
have been confronted with some form of sexual harassment since the age of 15. 
The survey also documents the extent, nature and consequences of stalking and 
sexual  harassment,  indicating  in  particular  that  cyber  stalking  and  cyber  (sexual) 
harassment disproportionately affect young women.

Trafficking in human beings is another serious problem, as shown by the data repor-
ted in the 2014 report on Progress on equality between women and men in 2014: 
women  are  80%  of  the  registered  victims  of  trafficking  during  2010-2012,  and 
69% were trafficked for sexual exploitation. 

The Strategy’s actions focus mainly on the prevention of all forms of violence and 
on supporting victims, also through awareness-raising measures and improvement 
of the available data on gender-based violence. Particularly relevant have been the 
measures  establishing  minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and  protection 
of victims of crime and improving asylum procedures and reception provisions for 
vulnerable  persons,  including  women  victims  of  gender-based  violence  and  FGM 
(legislative  measures),  as  well  as  preventing  and  combating  trafficking  in  human 
beings, fighting gender-based violence and female genital mutilation and introdu-
cing a gender perspective in health policies. 

The  potential  effectiveness  of  the  envisaged  actions  in  achieving  the  priority 
objectives can be considered Medium. The three key actions foreseen and imple-
mented  within  this  priority  could  bring  a  major  contribution  to  the  fight  against 
gender-based  violence,  as  they  appropriately  combine  legislative  measures,  with 
awareness-raising  measures  and  knowledge  production.  However,  actions  in  this 
area  could  have  a  stronger  impact  if  they  were  envisaged  to  specific  categories 
of women that are usually more difficult to reach (i.e. minority women; trafficked 
women, etc). Involvement of NGOs and women’s associations could also be more 
vigorously addressed, as well as involvement of men. In addition, appropriate and 
earmarked  financial  resources  are  needed  for  the  prevention  of  violence  and  to 
support victims, given the high social costs resulting from violence against women. 
Operational support to MSs could also be envisaged as well as support in improving 
data collection. 

20   See the European Commission document “Actions to be implemented between 2013 and 2015 
–State of Play 2014.

21  More detailed information on the Key actions’ implementation by the DGs are reported in the annex 
1.

22   EU survey on violence against women, European Agency on Fundamental Rights, 2014,
http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-vaw-survey-main-results-apr14_en.pdf. 

26

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesThe Value added is considered High due to the new actions envisaged and the 
extended scope of interventions, as well the innovation in legislative measures and 
the pilot projects supported by the Daphne programme.

The  fifth  priority  of  the  Strategy,  “gender  equality  in  external  relations”,  aims  to 
ensure that EU principles and objectives on gender equality in the labour market, 
in education and training, in fighting violence against women and in healthcare and 
long term care are ensured also beyond the EU. 

In particular, the actions promoted within this priority (enlargement process; 
external  relations  and  development  policies;  EU  humanitarian  aid)  consider  and 
seek to respond to the EU engagements at international level: i.e. the Millen-
nium Development Goals, the Beijing Platform for Action, etc. 

Overall,  this  priority  comprises  17  on-going  actions.  The  actions  implemented 
have mainly involved DG DEVCO followed by DG EEAS, while some others DGs 
have only participated in 1 or at the most 2 actions. 

This priority has High relevance both in relation to current and future needs. Parti-
cularly relevant appear the attention to gender discrimination in employment in the 
2014-15 enlargement strategy as well as the funding of many projects aiming pri-
marily at protecting the rights of women and eliminating sexual and gender-based 
violence in various countries.

Its effectiveness can be considered as medium, in relation to the implementation 
of the EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Deve-
lopment (GAP)23 which has led to progress since 2010. 

Overall, the actions in this area seem to address the strategy objectives 
appropriately. According to the 2014 report Progress on equality between women 
and men in 2014, gender mainstreaming has been systematically integrated into 
the main humanitarian aid policy areas (e.g. protection, shelter, food assistance, he-
alth, water, sanitation and hygiene) and the gender-age marker introduced in 2014 
will further ensure gender- and age-sensitive programming in these areas. Among 
the main achievements, there is also the promotion of gender equality through poli-
tical dialogue, which has involved women in democratic and peace-building proces-
ses and supported the empowerment of women activists/organizations. However, 
in order to further strengthen their contribution to the Strategy priority in this field, 
specific targets should be designed for each EU institution and European Commis-
sion DGs dealing with external policy as well as a single monitoring system. 

The  value  added  is  considered  medium  given  the  not  particularly  innovative 
type of actions implemented.

The last priority area relates to Horizontal issues, declined in very different cross 
cutting key actions. 

Overall  29  actions  are  implemented,  most  of  which  by  DG  Justice.  The  actions 
envisaged are intended to reinforce the overall strategy through the deve-
lopment and implementation of gender tools (e.g. development and diffusion 
of  gender  relevant  and  gender-sensitive  indicators,  exchange  of  good  practices, 
GIA, GB, etc.) and European Commission institutional mechanisms to support 
gender mainstreaming in EU policy making, including training initiatives to support 
the internalisation of Gender Mainstreaming in all European Commission services.

23   2014 Report on the implementation of the EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s 
Empowerment in Development (2010–15) (SWD(2015) 11 final).

27

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectivesThe Strategy considers education as one of the horizontal issues to be consi-
dered, with specific reference to the dissemination of good practices on redefining 
gender roles in youth, education, culture. It intends to promote the mainstreaming 
of gender issues also through sport.24 

The Strategy also supports and monitors the correct implementation of EU 
equal treatment laws with a particular focus on Directives 2004/113/EC 
and 2006/54/EC. Important contributions to the implementation of the Strategy 
are also the actions monitoring the implementation of the Strategy achie-
vements through the Annual Reports on Progress on Equality between women and 
men25 and the development and analysis of sex disaggregated statistics and 
studies  on  gender  relevant  issues.  Particularly  important  in  this  respect  are 
the activities performed by EIGE in the context of the EU follow-up of the Beijing 
Platform for Action and the construction of a Gender Equality Index to monitor the 
evolution of gender equality across different policy dimensions and Member States . 

Overall, these actions are highly relevant to current and future needs and their 
potential effectiveness in supporting the Strategy’s objectives is conside-
red high. 

The actual adoption of the tools for gender mainstreaming still appears weak, ho-
wever, and should be further reinforced, especially in relation to those policy fields 
that are not directly involving women, but that may have important effects on gen-
der equality. The lack of resources (human and financial) is one of the main 
barriers for effective implementation of these horizontal actions. 

For these reasons, these actions are likely to have medium effectiveness, while 
the value added could be high, especially in relation to the new indicators deve-
loped and the focus on institutional mechanisms.

24   This in compliance with the Council positions calling for the Erasmus+ Programme to include a 
focus on decision-making in sports’ governing bodies, on coaching, and the fight against gender-based 
violence and negative stereotypes in sport. Council Conclusions of 21 May 2014 on Gender Equality 
in Sport, 2014/C 183/09.

25   Reports on Progress on Equality between women and men in 2010 (SEC (2011)193), in 2011 
(SWD (2012) 85 final), in 2012 (SWD(2013)171final, in 2013 (SWD(2014)142final) and in 2014.

28

2. Strategy achievements and the progress made towards the objectives3. Analysis of the EU 
added-valued of the 
Strategy based on the 
reactions, inputs or 
follow-up shown by key 
stakeholders in relation to 
the Strategy’s key actions

The Strategy for Equality between women and men 2010-2015 has been monito-
red and assessed from several perspectives since its launch and implementation. 
The advancement in each of the strategy priorities is periodically assessed through 
annual reports issued by the European Commission26 and has been evaluated in 
the Mid‑term review of the Strategy for equality between women and men27; at the 
same time it has also been assessed by different stakeholders both in terms of the 
role played in the EU policy–making as a whole, and in terms of the relevance, ef-
fectiveness and coherence of each strategy priority within the wider context of the 
Beijing Strategy and of the European policy-making.

The Strategy is generally referred to as an important reference document for natio-
nal gender equality action plans and strategies, and in this chapter its added value 
as perceived by selected key stakeholders at EU level is analysed. 

26     See  the  yearly  European  Commission  Report  on  equality  between  women  and  men  for  years 
2010-2011-2012-2013-2014.

27   See European Commission (2013a), Commission Staff Working Document (SWD(2013)339 final) 
Mid‑term review of the Strategy for equality between women and men (2010–15), 16.9.2013, Brussels.

29

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsThe main stakeholders considered in the analysis are:

Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men1 

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

The Council of Europe (CoE )

The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE),

High level group members2 (documents and survey)

Member States’ Ministers with competencies on gender equality

European Parliament – FEMM Committee

Women against violence Europe – Wave 

European Women’s Lobby (EWL)

European Network of Equality Bodies (EQUINET)

European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) - Women’s Committee

Employment and Social Affairs Ministers in the Employment and Social Affairs Council (EPSCO),

Forum on the future of gender equality

BUSINESSEUROPE

European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public services (CEEP)

European Association of Craft, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (UEAPME)

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), 

1 The  Advisory  Committee  on  Equal  Opportunities  for  Women  and  Men  assists  the  Commission  in 
formulating  and  implementing  the  European  Union  activities  aimed  at  promoting  equality  between 
women and men. The Committee was created in 1981 and it is composed of Association (Employment 
and social affairs), Trade Union (Employment and social affairs), National administrations. See: 
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=1238.
2 The High Level Group on gender mainstreaming is an informal group created in 2001 and comprises 
high-level representatives responsible for gender mainstreaming at national level. The HLG plays a key 
role for the EU gender equality agenda, including in the formulation, programming and implementa-
tion of the EU Gender Equality Pact and the Trio-Presidencies Programme. It is composed of National 
administrations. See:
http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=memberDetail.memberDetail&memberID=1
788&orig=group.

The most relevant documents on the reactions, inputs or follow-ups made by key 
stakeholders in relation with some of the Strategies’ key actions were gathered. The 
analysis  was  carried  out  mainly  through  desk  research  literature,  documentation 
review and the analysis of the answers of HLG members and replies of Ministers.

30

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actions3.1 Reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in 
relation to the Strategy’s key priorities and actions

The role of the socio‑economic context in the advancement of the Strategy

Most stakeholders28 evidence that no assessment on the impact of the Strategy for 
Equality 2010-2015 can fail to consider the role played by the economic crisis in 
the four year period since the European Commission published the Strategy: “The 
impact of the downturn on economic growth, on employment and on State budgets 
has led many MS to reduce levels of public services to meet the cost of rising unem-
ployment. Strong evidence has been presented showing the benefits of maintaining 
a focus on gender equality issues in these circumstances, including the importance 
of dual-earner households to avoid poverty at times of unemployment. However, 
diminishing resources have  raised  challenges for some national  equality 
bodies  in  meeting  the  mandate  given  to  them  under  the  EU  Directive  to 
promote gender equality and combat discrimination.”29 

EPSCO (2015)30 points out that progress in this area has been less evident than 
in other domains. “Apparently, the crisis seems to have reduced the political atten-
tion for a more gender-balanced labour market, as was also regrettably evident in 
this year’s Annual Growth Survey. The new Employment Guidelines, that this EPSCO 
Council recently agreed upon, call for renewed vigour to increase women’s partici-
pation rates, including by improving reconciliation between work and family life”.

The negative impact of the economic and financial crisis and of austerity policies on 
the work of progressing gender equality is also noted by most equality bodies, as 
emerged in the EQUINET (2015) survey: various barriers to gender equality due to 
the economic crisis and austerity policies have been described by equality bodies. 
Among others emerges the consideration that “the crisis and the economy are the 
dominant focus. New ideas on gender equality are seen as unimportant and irrele-
vant; Gender equality is being de-prioritised as a policy concern… There is a loss of 
interest among employers in gender equality initiatives, in particular in relation to 
work-life balance.” In addition, “diminishing resources are being provided to equality 
bodies and made available for gender equality initiatives”. 

Thus the Strategy is being implemented in a context which seriously influences its 
potentialities and added value at the national and EU level. 

In this context, despite progress and many actions taken, gender equality remains 
very  much  an  “unfinished  business”.  Several  stakeholders  share  the  opinion  that 
“The  status  and  profile  of  gender  equality  currently  shows  signs  of  decreased 
importance in the EU” (Forum on Gender Equality and EIGE31 among others). The 
position  emerged  within  the  Forum  on  Gender  Equality:  “Over  the  last  years,  we 
have seen a growing focus on judicial aspects of equal treatment, while developing 

28   Among others: Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (2014); EPSCO; 
EQUINET (2015).

29   Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (2014).

30     EPSCO  (2015),  Speaking  note  informal  EPSCO  Luxembourg  on  labour  market  challenges  for 
women and men.

31   EIGE (2014), Effectiveness of Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Gender Equality, 
Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States. 

31

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsand promoting active gender equality policies receives less attention. The 
current trend of merging gender equality policies with other grounds of discrimi-
nation tends to reduce gender equality to a pure human rights issue. It is 
thereby risking that gender equality policy loses even more of its power, budgets 
and strength to address structural inequalities and discrimination at societal level. 
(...) We believe that gender equality policy deserves its own field of strategy and 
framework”  Consequently,  as  reflected  in  the  Council  Conclusions  adopted  in 
December 2014, there is unanimity among Member States on the need for a new 
Strategy  with  a  call  on  the  Commission  to  develop  a  new  Strategy  for  equality 
between women and men.

The state of play of gender equality in the European Union in the view of key sta‑
keholders

According to the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (2015), while gender 
equality is a fundamental right enshrined in the Treaties, it is far from being achie-
ved in the EU.

The Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (2014) reports 
that according to the European Commission’s annual report on Progress on Equality 
between Women and Men32 gender gaps persist; they have been narrowing in 
recent years but positive developments tend to vary among the individual 
MSs as described by EIGE’s Gender Equality Index. 

Several Ministers with competence on gender equality and the Advisory Committee 
consider that persisting gender gaps impact on the economic output and growth 
potential of the Union and/or on the poverty levels and well-being of its population:

•	 Women continue to participate less than men in the labour market while men 
still take a less active role than women in the division of care and domestic roles; 
•	 Women  experience  a  significant  gender  pay  gap  and  a  resultant  pension  gap; 
they  remain  under-represented  in  all  key  decision-making  roles;  while  women 
disproportionately experience gender-based violence. 

The  European  Commission  Eurobarometer  2015  recently  evidenced  that  around 
two  thirds  of  Europeans  (68%)  believe  that  gender  inequalities  in  their 
country are less widespread now than a decade ago: Europeans citizens’ views 
remain similar to those reported in 2009. Moreover, “three quarters of Europeans 
(76%)  think  that  tackling  inequality  between  men  and  women  should  be  an  EU 
priority”. 

According to EWL (2014) “Women and girls in Europe are now present in all spheres 
of society, from education to employment, reaching political and business decision-
making,  expressing  their  views  as  artists,  journalists,  researchers,  or  community 
leaders. They are more able than ever to bring their voice to the political debates 
and  raise  their  concerns.  Events,  campaigns  and  conferences  are  taking  place  in 
different countries, giving life to a renewed women’s social movement. However, de-
spite this optimistic picture of a renewed feminism in Europe, women’s rights are 
facing  a  stronger  backlash  than  ever….  Gender  mainstreaming  has  been 
adopted as a central strategy for all EU policies, but the reality shows that 
it is not implemented in many areas, and not considered as a priority. The 

32   Report on Progress on Equality between Women and Men: April 2014: Accompanying the 2013 
Report on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (COM(2014) 224 final).

32

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsmyth of “equality being already there” in Europe is still strong and prevents gender 
equality from becoming a standalone goal for the EU.”

The European Commission (2014a) Report on equality between women and men 
presents the overall picture in a critical perspective despite EU widespread efforts 
to advance gender equality over the past year: “Although gender gaps have narro-
wed in recent decades, inequalities within and between Member States have 
grown overall and challenges remain in critical areas. At this rate of change, 
it would take another 70 years to achieve gender equality. Women’s indispensable 
contribution to family incomes is growing but the trend towards equal economic 
independence has come to a grinding halt or, in some cases, been reversed”. 
Therefore it concludes that active policy initiatives are needed to accelerate pro-
gress and meet the expectations of citizens.

The Council of the European Union (2014) shares the same concern, even if not spe-
cifically referring to the Strategy: “Despite progress made in the pursuit of the Mil-
lennium Development Goals (...) and although Goal 3 identifies gender equality and 
women’s empowerment as a global priority, overall progress for women and girls 
(...) remains slow and uneven, both within and between countries. Indeed, lack of 
progress on gender equality has hindered progress towards all of the Mil-
lennium Development Goals”, in particular in poor regions and for marginalised, 
vulnerable and disadvantaged women and girls or subject to multiple forms of discri-
mination. The document acknowledges that across Member States, governments 
have taken increasing responsibility for the promotion of gender equality. 
“Over the last years, in a number of Member States, the governmental structures 
and equality bodies dealing exclusively with gender have been merged with entities 
that work to combat discrimination on several different grounds”. 

3.2 The added value of the Strategy for Equality between women 
and men in Europe

According  to  the  European  Commission  (2013a),  the  Strategy,  together  with  the 
Women’s Charter, continues to provide an ambitious policy framework for pro-
moting gender equality in the EU. “This midterm review of the Strategy clearly 
shows that the priorities of the Strategy are being addressed by the Commission 
and the European External Action Service and that progress has been made alre-
ady with almost all the key actions.”

In  its  2014  report  Opinion  on  gender  equality  in  the  EU  in  the  21st  century  the 
Advisory  Committee  is  very  praiseworthy  of  the  work  of  the  European  Commis-
sion in developing and implementing its 2010 – 2015 Strategy on Gender Equali-
ty. The Committee finds the work of the European Commission in developing and 
implementing its 2010 – 2015 Strategy on Gender Equality very praiseworthy. The 
Committee reports that MSs recognise the Strategy as a blueprint or reference fra-
mework for action on gender equality for both the MS and the EU Institutions: its 
main added value resides in its support to setting and maintaining the national 
agenda for gender equality and to increase its visibility, and in the dissemi-
nation of data and good practices to support local actions. 

According to the Advisory Committee, all of the priorities included in the Strategy 
are still valid, while new ones have been identified for future activities to be incor-
porated or strengthened in future work. This same position is shared by most of the 

33

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsMinisters with competence on gender equality.

The European Women’s lobby (2015) has clearly conceptualised why an EU Strategy 
for Equality between women and men in Europe is key:

•	 “Because equality between women and men is a fundamental value of 
the EU: The EU and its Member States have the responsibility to promote equal-
ity between women and men, according to the Treaties and the Charter of Fun-
damental Rights. The adoption of an EU Strategy on equality between women 
and men is a matter of credibility and accountability for the European 
Union”. 

•	 “Because there should be consistency between EU internal and exter-
nal policies on equality between women and men”. In the last few years 
EU  Member  States  and  EU  as  a  whole  adopted  international  tools  supporting 
equality and reaffirmed their commitment to political declarations in support of 
gender equality: the Beijing Platform for Action first and foremost, and the EU 
Gender Action Plan for External Action 2016-2020.

•	 “Because the Council has already committed to the realisation of the 
human rights of women and girls”: December 2014 Council’s conclusions on 
a transformative post-2015 agenda reiterate the commitment towards the em-
powerment of women and girls and the ending of discrimination in all its forms, 
as well as violence against women and girls.

According to the EDUC position paper (2015), the trade unions are positive about 
the added value of the Strategy and stress the need for a new framework on gen-
der equality at the European level: “The positive influence of the Strategy was seen 
more in terms of awareness raising and guidance on national governments 
than really influencing policy developments at national level.” 

The  role  of  the  strategy  in  supporting  Member  States’  progress  towards  gender 
equality

The first significant impact the strategy has shown is its role in supporting Member 
States’ progress towards gender equality. 

As emerged in the Opinion on Gender Equality in the EU in the 21st century, drafted 
by EIGE and the Advisory Committee, “the work carried out by the European Com-
mission to implement the objectives of the Strategy (...) had been praised and the 
Member States considered the document as the blue print for the actions on gender 
equality as it helped to set and maintain the national agenda on gender equality 
and increase its visibility”.

This role clearly emerged in the position expressed by the Ministers with compe-
tence in gender equality. In some cases (such as Estonia, Cyprus, Portugal, Greece 
and Spain), the Ministers stated that the strategy fed the national policy-making or 
was seriously taken into account during the preparation of national documents and 
action Plans. The Strategy and its key actions served as reference and blueprint for 
the national public policies on Gender Equality; the European strategy served as a 
roadmap when drafting the National Action Plans on gender equality and to combat 
and prevent violence against women. Other ministers, e.g. from Finland, affirm that 
the Strategy and its measures stimulated and strengthened gender equality poli-
cies in Member States. Croatia has recognised the European Commission Strategy 
for equality between women and men 2010 -2015 as an important framework for 
action at the national level. Ireland, while stating that that its national strategies 

34

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionspredated the Commission Strategy, at the same time considers that it has provi-
ded useful guidance for implementation of the national strategy in the overlapping 
areas. 

According to the high-level group experts, the Strategy served as useful guidance 
for gender equality activities at the national level and facilitated developments in 
national gender equality policies:

D1. In general terms, do you think that the Strategy has served as a useful guidance for gender 

equality activities at national level? Were developments in national gender equality policies 

for example facilitated through the existence and implementation of the Strategy for equality 

between women and men? 

yes: 17

no: 0

partially: 6

don’t know: 0

FI, LT, EL, MT, CZ, DE, IE, 

SI, IT, BE, SE, LV, RO, ES, 

AT, BG, HR

DK, EE, PL, NL, FR, LU

According to several HLG members, the Strategy and its measures have provided a 
coherent framework with clear priorities and measures: it has proved a concrete 
tool in supporting national activities. The Strategy served as one of the main 
inspirations during the preparation of National Strategies in several Member States. 
The  Strategy  also  provided  guidance  to  the  gender  equality  units  (insti-
tutional mechanisms) at the national level by defining key priority areas and 
actions. 

In some countries, all the national gender equality policies have been planned, ela-
borated and approved in correspondence with the EU strategic documents in this 
field. In countries such as Greece the majority of actions in favour of gender equali-
ty are co-financed by the European Union and have been initiated in the framework 
of the Strategy. It is equally true that in some countries national policies in the 
gender equality area would probably have been the same as now even wi-
thout the strategies: this is particularly true in the Netherlands and Denmark, but 
here this is considered as a positive factor adding synergy to Danish progress in the 
different areas. In countries like Ireland and France the national strategies or gender 
policies predated the Commission Strategy.

A shortcoming pointed out is that the 24 key actions indicated in the Strategy were 
mostly directed to the European Commission as they imply taking action at the EU 
level.

Promoting cooperation between key stakeholders

The Strategy states that to ensure progress in the intended directions it is crucial 
to strengthen cooperation with the various institutions and stakeholders active in 
the  field  of  gender  equality  —  Member  State  Governments,  the  European  Parlia-
ment,  social  partner  organisations,  civil  society,  equality  bodies,  international  or-
ganisations and EU agencies. The European Parliament motion (2015) calls on the 
Commission to involve civil society and the social partners structurally in the deve-
lopment and continuous evaluation of the strategy.

According to some positions, the cooperation between some of the actors has been 
fruitful. According to the Advisory Committee (2014) the involvement of social 
partners, and in particular in the area of Reconciliation between work and private 

35

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionslife, was crucial in fostering gender equality, as evidenced by the successful nego-
tiations  that  led  to  the  revision  of  parental  leave  and  more  recently  through  the 
joint launch by European employers and the trade union organisations of a toolkit 
of initiatives to promote gender equality.

As described by EIGE (2015), the European Union has established several inter-rela-
ted structures within both the European Commission and the European Parliament 
to ensure the advancement of gender equality. Several other EU institutions and 
agencies, such as the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Eu-
ropean Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the Committee of the Regions (CoR), 
the European Court of Justice, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the 
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Foundation 
for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) play a signifi-
cant role in promoting gender equality within their specific competencies. 

The European social partners (BUSINESSEUROPE, CEEP, UEAPME and ETUC (and 
the liaison committee Eurocadres/CEC) report in their 2015‑2017 Work Program‑
me33 that they have already been engaged actively in the debate on reconciliation 
and gender equality to reduce the gender pay gap, inter alia in the context 
of their joint agreement on parental leave, their framework of actions on gender 
equality, including the launch in 2014 of a web-based gender toolkit and their joint 
letter on childcare. 

EQUINET emphasises that Equality bodies are contributing to the implementation 
and impact of the Strategy for Equality 2010-2015, but with few equality bodies 
reporting direct engagement: in many cases the equality bodies’ work contributed to 
the Strategy, while at the same time their work is informed by the Strategy. 

3.3 Assessment of the strategy priorities 

The Strategy for Gender Equality structured six Strategy priorities over the period 
2010  –  2015:  equal  economic  independence;  equal  pay  for  work  of  equal  value; 
equality in decision-making; dignity, integrity and ending gender violence; and pro-
moting  gender  equality  beyond  the  EU,  and  a  sixth  transversal  strategic  priority 
area. The key stakeholders show different attitudes in assessing the different stra-
tegic priorities considered.

Together with documents expressing the position of the major organisations and 
institutions involved in the matter across Europe, the following analysis also takes 
into consideration the survey carried out in July and August 2015 on the High Level 
Group’s members.

The  first  issue  considered  regards  the  relevance  of  the  six  priority  areas  of  the 
Strategy 2010-2015. According to the vast majority of HLG members, they were 
the right ones: 

D2. Do you think that the six priority areas of the Strategy 2010-2015 were the right ones?

yes: 18

no: 0

partially: 5

don’t know: 0

CZ, IE, BE, AT, LU

FI,  LT,  EL,  MT,  DE,  DK, 

SI, EE, IT, PL, SE, NL, FR, 

LV, RO, ES, BG, HR

33   AA.VV. (2015).

36

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsThe main positions expressed can be summarised as follows:

•	 The six priority areas of the Strategy have been and remain important 
fields for action and should be incorporated in the new Strategy. In par-
ticular,  the  focus  on  gender  equality  in  working  life,  equal  pay  and  economic 
decision-making  has  been  well  justified,  based  on  the  treaties  and  the 
mandate of the EU.

•	 There is no need for a change in priorities but  a  sharper  focus  on  specific 
issues and new tools to address them. It should be borne in mind that 
gender equality also concerns men.

Some proposals for improvement also emerge from the answers:

•	 As far as the specific actions are concerned, they are considered in some cases 
generically  identified,  thus  failing  in  some  cases  to  establish  specific 
outputs or results to be achieved, timing and responsibilities; some as-
pects  regarding  the  fight  against  gender  stereotypes  or  the  concrete 
implementation of the gender mainstreaming strategy are missing while 
violence against women is addressed through specific actions instead of taking 
a global approach. It is suggested to work more with the justice and human 
rights argumentation, not just the economic argumentation.

Asked whether the objectives of the Strategy’s priority areas were sufficien-
tly clear and well-defined, the answer of most of the HLG experts interviewed 
was only partially. 

D3. In general terms, do you think that the objectives of the Strategy’s priority areas were suf-

ficiently clear and well defined?

yes: 9

no: 2

partially: 12

don’t know: 0

FI,  LT,  EL,  MT,  DE,  DK, 

IE, LU

LV, RO, BG

SI, EE, IT, PL, BE, SE, NL, 

FR, ES, AT, HR, CZ

The  positions  on  this  issue  are  split,  with  half  of  the  respondents  only  partially 
agreeing. The answers appear contradictory according to the different national and 
cultural perspectives of each HLG member:

•	 The text of the Strategy and the communication approach is considered quite 
clear and concise but concrete terminology and examples should be in-
tegrated.

•	 Priority areas are well defined and backed by relevant statistical data 
and reference to relevant legislation, guidelines and other related documenta-
tion. The annual Strategy reports provide further insight into the actions 
taken  to  achieve  these  priorities,  as  well  as  the  progress  and  remaining 
challenges; 

while the more negative aspects are the following:

•	 The objectives identified in Strategy are often defined too broadly; the need is 
for  more  specific  indicators  for  each  of  the  objectives,  with  specific  “gender-
sensitive” indicators, including terms of their fulfilment in the next Strategy. More 
specific, measurable, achievable and realistic objectives are needed.

•	 Targets and indicators need to be in connection with both the EU 2020 Strategy 

37

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsand its monitoring and control mechanism and with the post 2015 development 
agenda.

•	 Area 1 (Equal economic independence) and area 2 (Equal pay for equal work) are 

similar and could be merged in a future Strategy.

•	 Gender mainstreaming is not sufficiently addressed: it should be a specific 
priority, as it was in earlier European Commission gender equality Strategies.

Focusing  on  the  objectives  of  each  priority  area,  the  experts  have  different 
views, also as to whether they are all sufficiently clear and well defined:

D4. More specifically, do you think that the objectives of each priority area were sufficiently 

clear and well defined?

Equal economic independence 

Yes

11

FI, LT, EL, 

MT, DE, DK, 

IT, LV, RO, 

BG, HR

Equal pay for work of equal value

10

FI, LT, EL, 

MT, DE, IT, 

PL, SE, LV, 

RO

14

Equality in decision-making

No

1

IE 

1

IE 

1

FI, LT, EL, CZ, 

IE 

DE, DK, SI, 

IT, PL, SE, LV, 

RO, LU, HR

Partly

10

CZ, SI, EE, 

PL, BE, SE, 

NL, FR, ES, 

LU

11

CZ, DK, SI, 

EE, BE, NL, 

FR, ES, LU, 

BG, HR

6

EE, BE, NL, 

FR, ES, BG

Dignity, integrity and ending gender 

11

2

8

violence

FI, EL, MT, 

IE, PL

CZ, DE, DK, 

SI, LV, RO, 

BG, HR

EE, IT, BE, 

SE, NL, FR, 

ES, LU

Promoting gender equality beyond 

11

2

7

Don’t know

0

0

0

1

LT

2

the EU

FI, LT, EL, 

IE, LU

CZ, DK, BE, 

EE, IT 

Horizontal issues

MT, DE, SI, 

PL, SE, LV, 

RO, BG

11

3

NL, FR, ES, 

HR

8

LT, EL, MT, 

IE, SE, FR

FI, CZ, EE, 

DE, DK, SI, 

IT, PL, LV, 

RO, BG

BE, NL, ES, 

LU, HR

In most of the priority areas, the objectives are considered clear and well defined 
through specific key actions. The objectives are wide-ranging since they incorporate 

38

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsvarious issues related to every priority area, thus enabling policy-makers and other 
stakeholders to develop and implement various initiatives that are in line with such 
objectives. However:

•	 The objectives of gender mainstreaming in different policy areas could 
have been clearer. More focus is needed on multiple discrimination and 
the situation of vulnerable groups of women.

•	 The  objectives  under  the  equality  in  decision-making  and  dignity,  in-
tegrity and ending gender violence were clear. However, the objectives in 
the remaining areas were often defined too broadly and without specific 
indicators or date set for their fulfilment. Promoting GE beyond the EU 
is a new area and leaves room for improvement. 

•	 The Strategy refers only to objectives under other measures, e.g. the Eu-
rope2020 objective of reaching 75% employment rate for women and men; the 
‘She’ goal set in 2005 of having 25% of leading positions in the public research 
sector filled by women; and the Commission goal set in 2000 to have at least 
40% of each sex in the membership of its committees and expert groups.

•	 The  role  of  education,  a  vital  area  that  can  help  fight  gender  stereo-

types, has been left out of the strategy.

•	 The  first  three  priority  areas  should  be  interrelated  as  equal  pay  and 
equality in decision-making would be considered a prerequisite for Equal eco-
nomic independence.

Among the experts interviewed, there is little consensus as to whether implemen-
tation of the 24 key actions of the Strategy brought about sufficient progress in 
gender equality across the EU:

D5. In general terms, do you think that implementation of the 24 key actions of the Strategy 

brought about sufficient progress in gender equality across the EU?

Yes: 5

No: 4

Partly: 12

Don’t know; 1

LT, EL, IT, RO, BG

IE, SE, AT, LU

FI,  MT,  CZ,  DE,  DK,  SI, 

NL, HR

EE, PL, BE, FR, LV, ES

The  period  covered  presented  particular  challenges  due  to  the  economic 
downturn: the female employment rate made no progress during the period while 
the gender pay gap narrowed slightly. Nevertheless, under the Europe 2020 Stra-
tegy, the Commission, in accordance with the Employment Guidelines, has closely 
monitored the national policies adopted to improve gender equality in the labour 
market. According to several HLG members, gender equality in the EU is still a work 
in progress, where a lot of energy and political will are still needed; however, gender 
equality is far from being achieved in several policy fields, and gender gaps 
are still significant in many Member States. Studies in the field at the national and 
international level, also carried out by EIGE, show that in recent years significant 
progress has been made, but the action should continue firmly and systematical-
ly. Progress per Member States and per priority areas is uneven. According 
to some HLG members, not all of the 24 key actions have been or could be (fully) 
implemented,  but  some  of  them  have  (nevertheless)  generated  a  trend  towards 
gender  equality  in  the  European  Union,  especially  in  the  fields  of  equal  pay  for 
equal work and equality in decision making. Adoption of an EU-wide strategy on 

39

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionscombating violence against women was not achieved, but adoption of the victims’ 
directive during the timeframe of the Strategy is considered an important result. 

Summarising  some  of  the  positions,  it  emerges  that  significant  inequalities  still 
need to be addressed: occupational segregation is a persistent challenge; the em-
ployment rate of women is slightly declining and therefore increasing the gender 
gap;  women  continue  to  be  employed  mostly  in  some  of  the  worst  remunerated 
sectors, are more likely than men to work part-time; are underrepresented in posi-
tions of responsibility and are still paid on average around 16% less than men per 
hour of work across the EU; while, from another perspective, motherhood affects 
female  employment  rates  and  persisting  stereotypes  on  traditional  gender  roles 
remain in relation to care-giving and domestic choices, which makes it more diffi-
cult for women to reconcile personal, work and family life. This places women at a 
disadvantage when it comes to choosing their professional career. Additionally, and 
of great concern is the fact that violence against women remains an issue throu-
ghout the EU. 

According to the majority of the HLG members, only partial progress was achieved 
in the six priority areas:

D6. More specifically, do you think that sufficient progress in the six priority areas was achieved?

Equal economic inde-

pendence 

Yes

2

LT, EL

No

2

Partly

15

Don’t know

3

CZ, LU 

FI, MT, DE, SI, EE, IT, 

IE, DK, NL

Equal pay for work of 

3

2

14

3

equal value

LT, EL, SE

CZ, LU

FI, MT, DE, SI, EE, IT, 

IE, DK, NL

PL, BE, SE, FR, LV, 

RO, ES, BG, HR

Equality in decision-

4

making

LT, EL, IT, HR

Dignity, integrity and 

ending gender violence

1

EL

Promoting gender 

4

equality beyond the EU

LT, EL, SE, HR

Horizontal issues

2

EL, IT

PL, BE, FR, LV, RO, 

ES, BG, HR

13

3

FI, MT, CZ, DE, SI, 

IE, DK, NL

EE, PL, BE, FR, LV, 

RO, ES, BG

14

3

1

LU

3

CZ, PL, LU

FI, MT, DE, IE, SI, EE, 

LT, DK, NL

IT, BE, FR, LV, RO, 

ES, BG, HR

13

4

FI, MT, CZ, DE, IE, SI, 

DK, EE, IT, NL

PL, BE, FR, LV, RO, 

ES, BG

15

2

1

LU

3

CZ, SE, FR

FI, LT, MT, DE, IE, SI, 

DK, NL 

EE, PL, BE, LV, RO, 

ES, LU, BG, HR

For each priority area, the positions expressed by relevant stakeholders have been 
gathered and analysed. They are presented in Annex 3. 

40

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actions3.4 Internal coherence of strategy and coherence within the EU 
policy framework 

Analysis of the stakeholders’ positions was carried out to assess whether they con-
sider the Strategy a coherent framework for gender equality (internal coherence) 
and if it can be considered as being coherent with the general EU policy framework. 

EIGE  (2015)  claims  the  inherent  coherence  of  the  Strategy  by  recalling  that  “to 
reaffirm and support the close link between the European Commission’s Strategy 
for  Equality  between  Women  and  Men  2010–15  and  the  Europe  2020  Strategy, 
the Council of the European Union adopted the European Pact for Gender Equality 
(2011–20) in March 2011.” In this document, the Council highlighted the need to 
strengthen gender equality further in the context of the current economic crisis, as 
well as reaffirming its commitment to implementing the BPfA.

Admittedly, Europe 2020 does not specifically refer to gender equality, but under 
both the smart and inclusive growth agendas, the EU targets look at employment 
(making specific reference to gender inequality and other grounds of inequality) and 
education. 

According to the Advisory Committee (2012), despite the concept of gender main-
streaming,  “the  equality  between  women  and  men  has  not  been  included  in  the 
Europe 2020 Strategy as a goal per se. It is not an explicit objective of the Strategy, 
nor is it of the European Semester.” It was the European Pact for Gender Equality 
2011-2020,  adopted  by  the  EPSCO  council  in  2011,  which  encouraged  Member 
States to apply a gender equality perspective and to promote gender equality poli-
cies when developing and implementing their national reform programmes (NRPs). 
The European Pact invited the Commission and the Council to incorporate a gender 
equality  perspective  in  the  Annual  Growth  Survey  (AGS)  and  the  Country  Specific 
Recommendations (CSRs); at the same time, the EU2020 targets played their role 
as policy anchors (Advisory Committee 2012). 

According to almost all the members of the High-level group, the strategy constitu-
tes a coherent framework for gender equality: 

D7. Do you perceive the Strategy as a coherent framework for gender equality?

yes: 21

no: 0

partially; 2

don’t know: 0

FI,  LT,  EL,  MT,  CZ,  DE, 

IE, DK, SI, EE, IT, PL, BE, 

SE,  NL,  FR,  LV,  RO,  AT, 

BG, HR

ES, LU

In particular, the HLG members stress the following elements:

•	 The Strategy ensures a systematic and comprehensive approach and stra-
tegic  vision;  it  represents  a  coherent  policy  framework  to  create,  de-
velop, implement and enforce gender equality policies in the EU.

•	 The framework maintain gender equality as a value and a goal as enshrined in 
the Treaty (Article 2 and 3), as well as a commitment to gender mainstreaming 
(TFEU  Article  8).  It  links  other  strategic  European  documents.  Its  priorities  are 
complementary and reflect the principles set out in the 2010 Women’s Charter, a 
subset of the areas of concern addressed by the Beijing Platform for Action; the 

41

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionskey actions envisaged for each priority area are closely linked to the strategic 
objectives of the BPfA.

•	 It  is  an  important  strategic  tool  for  accountability  on  a  fundamental 

value of the Union enshrined in the Treaty.

On the other hand, some critical aspects have also been pointed out:

•	 The  EU  2020  has  set  ambitious  targets  for  progress  in  some  key  ar-
eas, forgetting to include a gender equality focus on them and on their 
implementation  and  monitoring  mechanisms.  A  coherent  framework  will 
necessarily directly link the new Gender Equality Strategy with all the EU Strate-
gies, funding programmes, policy areas and governance instruments, including 
the EU 2020 and its implementation and monitoring mechanism.

In considering whether “more progress could have been achieved through the Stra-
tegy?” the HLG members interviewed answered that much has been done but much 
still remains for future action. In particular, the following aspects were stressed: 

•	 Progress in the Member States is the result of strategic work and political com-
mitment, but much work remains to be done. Political will and keeping gender 
equality prominent on the political agenda are crucial for more rapid progress 
to de facto gender equality. Systematic involvement of top-level national and 
EU political actors in the discussions and monitoring of the Strategy could bring 
about more even progress across the EU. 

•	 A future Strategy should have more ambitious goals if it is to achieve genuine 

progress, as well as more concrete and binding measures. 

•	 More efficient gender mainstreaming is needed in implementation of the Europe 

2020 strategy.

•	 More progress could have been achieved if a set of key actions had been tar-
geted at national stakeholders besides those set for the Commission. Including 
national stakeholders in the Strategy can encourage the development and im-
plementation of additional initiatives at the national level. Such coordinated ef-
fort can address the needs of the Member States and strengthen action towards 
specific objectives related to gender equality, thus achieving further progress. 
•	 The Strategy could have achieved more progress by improving cooperation with 
EIGE and other EU agencies, with a view to enhancing the quantity and quality 
of sex-disaggregated data. EIGE’s achievements should be better promoted and 
the Strategy should invite, encourage and facilitate MSs to make active use of 
its researches and instruments.

•	 The  Commission’s  Annual  Reports  on  progress  in  gender  equality  constitute  a 
valuable contribution to monitoring but it is regrettable that the Annual Reports 
have  not  been  published  as  stand-alone  Commission  Communications  since 
2011. This has reduced their visibility and perception of them considerably. In 
addition, the long-term impact of the Strategy and its measures is difficult to 
evaluate. More attention should be paid to evaluating and tackling the gendered 
effects of the economic crisis and integration of gender perspective in the design 
and the implementation of the responses to the crisis.

42

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actions3.5 Main strengths and weaknesses of the strategy according to 
HLG members and Ministers 

The main strengths and weaknesses of the Strategy evidenced by the HLG mem-
bers and Ministers have been summed up together with suggestions for the impro-
vement of the most critical issues emerged.

The Ministers delegated to gender equality share with HLG members the opinion 
that  the  strategy  was  useful:  it  is  considered  an  important  reference  framework 
for action even though progress remains slow and uneven in different EU countries. 
“The Commission has been and still is a major driving force for gender equality in 
Europe” the German Minister states, while the French Minister points out that “The 
Strategy 2010-2015 enabled us to focus our national activities and it is important 
that the Commission continues to provide direction and impetus.”. The Finnish Mini-
ster considers that “Without such a framework it would be very difficult to fulfil and 
live up to gender equality as a value and goal as enshrined in the Treaty as well as 
a commitment to gender mainstreaming.”

High-level group members in particular consider that one of the strategy’s main 
strengths is that it was a stand-alone strategy: this has increased the cohe-
rence  and  visibility  of  gender  equality  policies  at  the  EU  level.  Priority  areas  are 
coherent and relevant, serving as a common reference framework and relating di-
rectly to the EU treaties and policy documents. More specifically:

•	 The Strategy and its measures have provided important support  for  gender 
equality policies in Member States. Member States considered the text of 
the Strategy as a useful tool for the promotion of gender equality at the national 
level, as emerges also from the Ministers positions. 

•	 Some HLG members appreciated the dual strategy, consisting of specific mea-
sures  to  promote  both  gender  equality  and  gender  mainstreaming  in  all  poli-
cy areas as both approaches are needed in the effective promotion of gender 
equality.

•	 The strategy is considered by some of the HLG members as a concrete 
commitment delineating effective actions addressing the main areas that 
have an impact on the participation of women and men in the economic, political 
and social spheres, as well as on their dignity and integrity.

•	 The  document  is  clear  and  accessible  and  not  too  lengthy  thanks  to  a 
down-to-earth approach, with pragmatic, ambitious and highly visible ob-
jectives, built on the long run.

•	 The  strategy  includes  a  systematisation  of  information  related  to  gen-
der equality (directives, UN Conventions, information on institutions, statistical 
data...) and important opportunities for an exchange of good practices; it also in-
cludes clarification of possibilities and scope of work of the various DGs, 
including the range of possibilities within the Structural and Investment Funds.
•	 Only  a  few  agree  that  the  Strategy  defined  concrete  and  measurable  key 
actions  and  sub-actions  for  each  priority  area,  has  strengthened  the  cross-
sectoral  coordination,  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  gender  equality 
policies and is complemented with regular evaluation and reporting.

43

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actionsSome suggestions for response to the most critical issues have been provided:

•	 Gender mainstreaming is not sufficiently prioritised in the Strategy: con-
crete tools to integrate gender perspective in policy processes and the imple-
mentation of gender mainstreaming in different policy areas are needed.

•	 To  enhance  formal  follow-up  and  monitoring  of  the  implementation 
of  the  Strategy,  its  effectiveness  and  efficiency  more  measurable  ob-
jectives concrete goals and targets are necessary. Provision has been 
made to enhance formal follow-up. The Strategy should also include an ef-
fective timetable for implementation of the actions planned.

•	 The  report  should  have  a  stronger  formal  status  than  that  of  a  staff 
working document, so that it can serve as a basis for dedicated debate 
on gender equality at the EPSCO-Council and as input for Council con-
clusions.

•	 The Strategy for equality between women and men should introduce coherent 
synergies with the EU 2020 and its governance framework addressing gender 
mainstreaming also in other areas of the Europa2020 (i.e. innovation and 
research).

•	 Further publicity and promotional material could support the visibility of the 
Strategy across the EU and beyond. The outcomes such as reports on gender 
equality, studies, conclusions coming from databases and researches should be 
presented and promoted as widely as possible in EU and MS forums not neces-
sary strictly connected to gender equality.

•	 The  question  of  multiple  discrimination  could  become  an  integral  part  of  the 
Strategy while the needs of different groups of women and men could be taken 
into account in relation to every objective.

•	 The Strategy seems to address gender equality more specifically with regard to 
women, while it is important to promote gender equality as an issue concerning 
both women and men.

The Strategy should include links to funding programmes and lines allocated by the 
European Commission for the implementation of activities in the field of equality 
between women and men, in connection with the objectives of the European Stra-
tegy.

44

3. Analysis of the EU added-valued of the Strategy based on the reactions, inputs or follow-up shown by key stakeholders in relation to the Strategy’s key actions4. The Role of funding for 
gender equality

The role of European funding programmes supporting gender equality is paramount.

The aim of this chapter is to assess the role of funding for gender equality through 
dedicated budget support in the 2007-2013 EU programmes and provide an outlook 
for the 2014-2020 period mainly on the basis of desk research and documentation 
review. Given their financial importance, the aim is in particular to verify the way EU 
Structural Funds have contributed or may contribute to the European Commission 
Strategy for equality between women and men (2010-2015). 

In  fact,  the  Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (cohesion  policy)  2014-2020  will  be 
the main investment instruments for supporting the key priorities of the Union as 
enshrined in the Europe 2020 Strategy. They will also constitute the most important 
financial support available for the implementation of gender equality policy in the EU. 

4.1 Gender equality in the 2007-2013 EU programmes

4.1.1 European Structural Funds and the evolution of the communitarian 
approach to gender issues

As pointed out above, European Structural Funds represent an important resource 
in  promoting  gender  equality  and  supporting  Member  States  in  achieving  steady 
progress towards genuine equality.

Community legislation has worked on the assumption that the European Structural 
Funds should contribute to gender equality since 1988, when a specific measure 
on the promotion of equal opportunities for women and men in the labour market 
was proposed in the Council Regulation of 1988 under Objective 3 of the European 
Social Fund. Since 1977 the European Social Fund has financed vocational training 
and employment schemes for women as part of its general policy. In the program-
ming period 1994-1999, gender equality was a priority objective of the four Euro-
pean Structural Funds34 and was reinforced in the programming period 2000-2006, 
through a dual approach strategy which encompasses both pro-active interventions 
(gender  mainstreaming  or  indirect  policies)  and  reactive  interventions  (dedicated 
measures or direct policies such as policies tackling gender gap, reconciling poli-
cies, etc). This integrated approach marked an important change from the previous 
Community  actions,  mainly  based  on  compartmental  activities  and  programmes 
funded under different specific budget headings. This scenario is representative of 
the evolution of the Community approach to gender issues in the last programming 
periods:

34   European Social Fund, European Regional Development Fund, European Agricultural Guidance and 
Guarantee Fund, Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance.

45

4. The Role of funding for gender equality•	 The  1994-1999  programming  period  saw  the  importance  of  focussing  at-
tention on the implementation of measures and programmes (for example, the 
programme NOW) specifically targeting women. 

•	 The  2000-2006  programming  period  saw  the  introduction  of  the  dual  ap‑
proach as a fundamental element: this approach consists in differentiating and 
between equal opportunities (direct policies) and gender mainstreaming policies 
(indirect policies). In particular, taking the mainstreaming approach has implied 
the adoption of vertical priorities (positive actions to permit women to overcome 
access  barriers  to  services,  training,  labour  market)  and  horizontal  priorities. 
These latter priorities aim to integrate gender equality objectives in all policies 
and planning measures. 

•	 The 2007-2013 programming period further developed the principle of main-
streaming at all stages of planning, implementation and evaluation of activities, 
also through Progress, the financial programme created with the aim of support-
ing on the one hand, effective application of the principle of equality between 
men and women and, on the other, bringing about better integration of the gen-
der  dimension  in  EU  policies  (employment,  inclusion,  working  conditions,  anti-
discrimination, etc.). The 2007-2013 regulations formally included a number of 
references to the promotion of gender equality both in the General Regulation35 
and specifically in ESF36.

Structural  Fund  regulations  were  particularly  considered  within  the  implemen-
tation  of  the  2007-2013  programming  period  with  specific  regard  to  the  incre-

35    Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the 
European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing 
Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999.
The General Regulation (Article 16) states that the Member States and the Commission ‘should ensure 
that  equality  between  men  and  women  and  the  integration  of  the  gender  perspective  is  promoted 
during  the  various  stages  of  implementation  of  the  Funds’  and  that  ‘the  Member  States  and  the 
Commission shall take appropriate steps to prevent any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic 
origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation during the various stages of implementation 
of the Funds and, in particular, in the access to them’. In addition, Article 11 stresses the importance of 
the presence of bodies responsible for promoting equality between men and women with reference to 
the framework of close cooperation, (partnership) between the Commission and each Member State. 

36     The  ESF  Regulation  deals  with  these  issues  extensively;  in  particular:  Article  2  refers  to  the 
promotion of gender equality; Article 3 (Scope of assistance), in defining priorities and actions that 
can be undertaken, underlines the importance of ‘mainstreaming and specific action to improve access 
to  employment,  increase  the  sustainable  participation  and  progress  of  women  in  employment  and 
reduce gender-based segregation in the labour market, including by addressing the root causes, direct 
and  indirect,  of  gender  pay  gaps’;  Article  4  (Consistency  and  concentration  of  support)  defines  the 
obligation for all the evaluations undertaken in relation to ESF actions to ‘assess the contribution of the 
actions supported by the ESF to the implementation of the European Employment Strategy and to the 
Community objectives in the fields of social inclusion, non-discrimination and equality between women 
and men, and education and training in the Member State concerned; Article 6 (Gender equality and 
equal opportunities) calls on er States to promote in their Operational Programmes gender equality 
and equal opportunities, declaring that ‘the Member States shall ensure that operational programmes 
include a description of how gender equality and equal opportunities are promoted in the preparation, 
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of operational programmes. Member States shall promote 
a balanced participation of women and men in the management and implementation of operational 
programmes at local, regional and national level, as appropriate’. In addition, Article 10 contains an 
obligation for Member States to report on the implementation of gender mainstreaming and of any 
gender specific action.

46

4. The Role of funding for gender equalityase  of  childcare  facilities  as  a  key  tool  to  support  female  employment.  Indeed, 
the Structural Fund’s budget support offers an important contribution to enhancing 
Member  States’  development  of  childcare  facilities  and  the  promotion  of  female 
employment. Significant steps towards increasing childcare availability and afforda-
bility and towards diversifying the care offered have been taken in several Member 
States. It was estimated that around 3.2 billion euro from the structural funds were 
dedicated to investing in childcare facilities and to promoting women’s participation 
in the labour market, with positive results, including an increase (+4% for children 
under 3 years and +5% for children between 3 years and compulsory school age) in 
the number of children cared for in formal childcare facilities.37 

However, the level of targeted EU financial support for promoting equality between 
women  and  men  was  considered  to  have  being  subject  to  a  decrease38,  with  an 
uneven distribution between the different funds (mainly ESF) and Member States. 

Moreover, the availability of evaluations and studies assessing the achievement of 
equality between women and men through the use of Structural Funds in the 2007-
2013 programming period at European level is not yet widespread: in fact, it is still 
difficult to have detailed and structured evidence highlighting the results obtained 
or  problems  occurring  with  regard  to  the  Funds’  contribution  to  the  Strategy  for 
equality between women and men and few of the available evaluations are carried 
out at the European level. 

Nevertheless, the sections below present the main issues arising from the available 
evaluations.

4.1.2 Overall assessment of ESF (2007-2013) support for gender-equal-
ity policy

The  only  available  evaluation  of  the  European  Social  Fund’s  support  for  Gender 
Equality carried out at EU level39 shows that most Member States have incorporated 
gender mainstreaming into their operational programmes. 

Because of the mainstreaming of the issue in programmes, however, it is difficult to 
estimate the funding that has gone into supporting equality between women and 
men. Nevertheless, the 2011 evaluation presents an overview of the findings from 
a country-level analysis carried out in each of the 27 EU Member States and on six 
specific aspects of gender-equality policy40, advancing recommendations.

The evaluation shows that an appreciable number of Member States pushed gen-
der equality onto the policy agenda thanks to the contribution of ESF. The gender 

37   EC, Commission Staff Working Document 2013 Report on the Application of the EU Charter of 
Fundamental Rights.

38   Advisory committee on equal opportunities for women and men opinion  on  gender  equality in 
the  cohesion  policy  2014-2020.  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/genderequality/files/opinions_advisory_
committee/opinion_on_gender_equality_in_the_cohesion_policy_2014-2020_en.pdf

39     European  Commission,  Directorate-General  Employment,  Social  Affairs  and  Equal  Opportunities, 
Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender Equality, GHK and Fondazione G. Brodolini, 
2011.

40   Enhancing women’s access to employment’, ‘Vertical segregation (under- or over-representation 
of women in certain levels of the professional hierarchy)’, ‘Horizontal segregation (concentration of 
women  in  certain  sectors  of  the  economy)’,  ‘Work  and  private  life  reconciliation’,  ‘Participation  of 
women in enterprise creation and growth’, ‘Education and training’.

47

4. The Role of funding for gender equalityequality  measures  supported  by  the  ESF  were,  in  fact,  targeted  to  a  number  of 
objectives, namely:

•	 enhancing the capacity of women to compete in the labour market by improving 

•	

their skills;
training women and men in occupations traditionally dominated by the opposite 
sex, thereby enhancing their career prospects;

•	 assisting women in the endeavour to become entrepreneurs as well as providing 

•	

them with care facilities to enable them to reconcile work with family life;
improving the quality of care services to encourage their take-up and extending 
their opening hours, as well as training the unemployed for care jobs;

•	 combating gender stereotyping and, to a lesser extent, educational gender seg-
regation through support for public awareness campaigns, seminars with trade 
unions, training teachers and parents and changes to school curricula;

•	 aiding  poverty-stricken,  vulnerable  women,  often  suffering  from  multiple  dis-
crimination as well as victims of violence, to help them acquire skills and confi-
dence, and thus economic independence.

However,  the  evaluation  also  shows  that  the  implementation  of  gender  equality 
measures in the everyday ESF procedure still needs to be enhanced. For example, 
the available information suggests that the adoption of the ‘dual approach’ for gen-
der equality has led to less support for gender-specific actions, and greater weight 
assigned to gender mainstreaming. However, the contribution of the ESF to gender 
equality is directly related to the extent to which the gender mainstreaming princi-
ple is widely understood and successfully applied. The country reports, on which the 
above-mentioned evaluation is based, pointed out that genuine efforts have been 
undertaken in almost all Member States, but that in many cases these efforts tend 
to  be  directed  in  rather  general  ways.  Consequently,  the  gender  sensitiveness  of 
project promoters and applicants, along with the logic of project-selection criteria 
and the screening ability of project-selection assessors, was not always effective.

As for specific actions, the main objective pursued by most Member States in the 
2007 -2013 programming period with the contribution of the ESF was to increase 
women’s active and productive participation in the labour market, which represents 
the core interest of the ESF. However, it is also important to consider the way in 
which jobs (which types and where) are created and work organization is shaped. 
In the last programming period, the ESF funded actions to foster female entrepre-
neurship and reconciliation between work and family life, even if in many cases this 
is, in fact, considered an additional instrument to foster labour market participation. 
On the other hand, there seems to be considerably less pursuit of objectives ad-
dressing educational segregation, cultural and social stereotypes, easing of caring 
duties, domestic and criminal violence, women’s empowerment and female poverty. 

In implementing actions with ESF contributions due importance should be attached 
to the underlying causes of gender inequality, which can be mainly related to so-
cial and  cultural rules governing not only individual opportunities, but also group 
interactions  and  collective  actions  that  still  affect  gender  roles  unequally  within 
the EU. Nevertheless, there are signs of change: although a supply-side approach, 
addressing women’s capacities to compete in the labour market, still prevails, some 
Member States have devised strategies that combine actions working on women’s 
capacities with some actions (i.e. counselling and training or networking activities) 
aiming at reinforcing sensitivity towards gender equality in the social, economic and 
institutional environment with a proactive approach.

48

4. The Role of funding for gender equality4.1.3 The integration of the gender perspective in Cohesion policy pro-
grammes co-financed by ERDF and the Cohesion Fund

As in the case of the ESF, also for ERDF ex post evaluation has addressed the pro-
motion of gender equality41.

This  evaluation  found  good  overall  awareness  of  the  Article  16  requirements  in 
programmes supported by the ERDF, with explicit reference to them found in 64% 
of the programmes analysed. The other main findings of the study concern the col-
location of equal opportunities between horizontal priorities, without devoting spe-
cific attention to this issue in separate strategies or statements of priorities. Most 
attention is devoted to gender equality (70%), followed by non-discrimination. The 
ERDF and the Cohesion Fund promote equal opportunities in: SME support, public 
transport infrastructure, social infrastructure (child-care facilities). However, other 
policies  that  could  potentially  promote  equal  opportunities  through  these  funds 
were also identified.

The main critical aspect lies in the risk of a formal approach, stating the problems 
without including a clear vision of how to resolve them adequately.

With regard to the evaluation of the 2007-2013 Cohesion Programmes implemen-
tation, it is also worth considering the Staff Working Document “Report from the 
Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Cohesion policy: Strategic 
report 2013 on programme implementation 2007-2013”42. The report provides a 
strategic overview of the implementation of the 2007-2013 cohesion policy pro-
grammes which are due to end in 201543. 

The reports provide an overview of the socio-economic challenges Member States 
are facing and the implementation of the EU-funded programmes. The accompa-
nying Staff Working Document explains how the Commission set about assessing 
progress, presenting 13 thematic fact sheets drawing together material on imple-
mentation.

In particular, in “Factsheet 11: Social Inclusion and Social Infrastructure”, it is point-
ed out that two main groups of investments took place under this heading: social 
inclusion activities, supported mainly by the ESF, and social infrastructure, includ-
ing childcare supported mainly by the ERDF. However, the areas of social inclusion 
and education are mainly national competences, and member states build different 
models of social services. In general, focused social infrastructure investment is not 
common, which leads to some difficulties in understanding the added value of the 
investments, and also to the sharing of good practices amongst the countries.

Almost all the Member States allocated resources to childcare services. How-
ever, the total expenditure has varied greatly from one Member State to another 
depending on the budget available under the Structural Funds and the current 
state of provision of services. The Mid-term review of the Strategy for equality 

41   Expost evaluation of the ERDF and CF - Study on the translation of Article 16 of Regulation EC 
1083/2006  on  the  promotion  of  gender  equality,  non-discrimination  and  accessibility  for  disabled 
into Cohesion policy programmes 2007-2013 co-financed by the ERDF and the Cohesion Fund, Public 
Policy Institute, Net Effect, Racine, for the European Commission – Info Regio, 2009.

42   SWD(2013) 129 final and the related Factsheets.

43   The first report was presented in March 2010. This report summarises the 27 strategic reports 
presented by the Member States at the end of 2012.

49

4. The Role of funding for gender equalitybetween women and men (2010-2015) contains a commitment for 2013-2015 
to gathering and exchanging good practices on childcare in the framework of 
the HLG on gender mainstreaming in the Structural Funds and through the ERDF 
the commitment to support the Member States to implement Operational Pro-
grammes containing measures for childcare infrastructures.

4.1.4 Integration of the gender perspective in the PROGRESS Programme 
(2007-2013)

Gender equality was also one of the aspects monitored with respect to participation 
in PROGRESS44 funded activities. Many project teams reported paying attention to 
gender equality in their projects and in the delivery of activities. The other transver-
sal topics were less frequently mentioned as objects of specific attention.

An ex-post evaluation of Progress was finalised in June 201445. In particular, the 
evaluation  also  looked  at  how  has  the  mainstreaming  of  cross-cutting  issues  on 
gender equality and non-discrimination was operationalised.

In terms of thematic coverage of transversal issues, the evaluation found that:

•	 The gender equality dimension was relatively present in PROGRESS-funded ac-

tions, even outside the activities directly focused on this theme. 

•	 49 analytical activities representing 36% of the budget allocated to analytical 
activities made explicit reference in the title to at least one of the transversal 
issues. 

•	 Gender  quality  is  tackled  more  vigorously  than  the  other  transversal  themes, 
with  20  analytical  activities  explicitly  tackling  this  topic.  Gender  equality  was 
paid relatively great attention – 11% of all studies representing 13% of the total 
budget explicitly made explicit reference to gender equality in their titles.

•	 Funding was extended to a number of expert networks focusing on gender equal-

ity and antidiscrimination as well as exchange of good practices.

Some analytical activities funded under PROGRESS have a wide scope and signifi-
cant potential for mainstreaming transversal issues like gender equality in policies 
throughout  Europe.  In  particular,  the  following  analytical  resources  supported  by 
PROGRESS play a key role in mainstreaming transversal issues in EU policies beyond 
the scope of specific policy areas:

•	 Database on Men and Women in Decision-making,46 which contains data on men 
and  women  in  key  decision-making  positions  in  politics,  public  administration, 
the judiciary and various other key areas of the economy in 34 European coun-
tries.  The  on-going  support  for  the  database  and  its  wide  scope  ensure  that 
policy-makers have access to up-to date and extensive data. Organisations and 
individuals engaging in public policy debate regarding gender equality measures 
(e.g. quotas) can also use the data for reference.

44   PROGRESS, the EU employment and social solidarity programme was directly managed by the 
Commission  to  provide  financial  support  for  the  attainment  of  the  European  Union’s  objectives  in 
employment, social affairs and equal opportunities for the period 2007-2013.

45   ICF-GHK, Ex-post evaluation of the Programme for employment and social solidarity – PROGRESS 
2007-2013 and recommendations for the successor programmes to PROGRESS 2014-2020.

46   http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-decision-making/database/index_en.htm

50

4. The Role of funding for gender equality•	

In 2012, due to special emphasis in the field of gender equality, PROGRESS ad-
ditionally funded several new series of publications reporting evidence on this 
topic, including ‘Women in economic decision-making in the EU: progress report’, 
and  Special  Eurobarometer  376  ‘Women  in  decision-making  positions’.47  This 
publication has been used in policy discussions at Commission level, e.g. when 
presenting the proposal to introduce a 40% quota for women in non-executive 
board member positions in public listed companies.48 PROGRESS also funds the 
work  of  two  expert  networks  on  gender  equality,  one  specifically  focusing  on 
legal aspects and the other more policy oriented. 

PROGRESS funds the activities of both national and EU-level networks and NGOs, 
with  the  goals  of  promoting  gender  equality,  fighting  discrimination,  poverty  and 
social exclusion, and promoting active inclusion. Among the funded networks, with 
regard to gender equality, worthy of mention are the:

•	 Network of legal experts in the field of gender equality;
•	 network of gender equality experts on EU policies; and
•	 network on women in decision-making.

Another important funded activity concerns the “Exchange of good practices semi-
nars on Gender Equality”49. The programme of Exchange of good practice seminars 
on gender equality aims to reinforce mutual learning among EU countries and other 
participating countries (EEA countries, candidate and pre-candidate countries). 

From the outset, the seminars were intended to focus on the key priority areas of 
the  Women’s  Charter  and  of  the  Strategy  for  equality  between  women  and  men 
2010-2015.

Six gender equality seminars were organised in 2011 and 2012 (three each year; in 
Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway and Portugal), and 
two more in 2013 (in Spain and Estonia ).

Overall, participants in the Gender Equality seminars found them to be worth the 
time and effort spent on them: between 86% and 99% of respondents to the eva-
luation questionnaire in 2011 and 2012 found the programme of the seminars to 
be good or very good, approximately the same percentage believed the discussions 
were also good, and between 84% and 100% judge the ratio between time invested 
in the seminars and their outcomes as at least ‘good’.50

47   PROGRESS Performance Monitoring Report 2012, 
http://ec.europa.eu/social/keyDocuments.jsp?type=0&policyArea=86&subCategory=987&country=0&
year=0&advSearchKey=PerformanceMonitoringReports&mode=advancedSubmit&langId=en

48   http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-decision-making/

49   http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/other-institutions/good-practices/index_en.htm

50     ÖSB  Consulting    IRS  (2012)  Organisation  of  exchange  of  good  practices  on  gender  equality. 
Evaluation report, pp. 26, 42.

51

4. The Role of funding for gender equality4.2 The 2014-2020 period and gender issues

The renewed political framework reflects the EU’s commitment to promoting equali-
ty between women and men, an issue that is clearly inferred by the EU’s new Multi-
Annual Financial Framework (MFF) covering 2014-20, which was adopted in 2013. 

The EU also promotes gender equality through its numerous funding schemes. In 
particular:

a)  2014‑2020 European structural and investment funds.

The new 2014-2020 structural and investment funds finance numerous initiatives 
to  promote  gender  equality  within  social  and  economic  sustainable  development 
policies, even though with less emphasis than in the past. The ESIF will provide fun-
ding for enhancing gender equality in all areas, including access to employment, 
career  progression,  reconciliation  of  work  and  private  life  and  promotion  of 
equal pay for equal work, and indeed through projects that are not under the 
specific gender investment priority but contribute to gender equality in a more 
transversal way. 

	the 2014-2020 ESF finances initiatives to fight all forms of discrimination 
and promote equal opportunities, as well as promoting equality between men 
and women in all areas, including access to employment, career progression, 
reconciliation of work and private life and equal pay for equal work. Moreover, 
the ESF also provides funding for education and training initiatives. Gender 
equality  objectives  and  a  dual  gender  equality  approach,  both  in  terms  of 
mainstreaming and with specific actions, are then mandatory requirements in 
the ESF for the funding period 2014-2020. The promotion of gender equality 
and equal opportunities for all without discrimination is an integral part of 
all the action and will also be supported with specific initiatives. It is clearly 
pointed out that the social dimension is significantly enhanced, with a specific 
budget allocation (as indicated before, 20% of the contribution of the ESF is 
devoted to social inclusion actions), intensification of the fight against youth 
unemployment  and  integration  of  and  specific  support  for  gender  equality 
and non-discrimination.  The  new ESF Regulations identify specific strategic 
fields to tackle gender equality and non-discrimination issues effectively, in 
particular: Priority of investment 8.iv) Equality between men and women in all 
areas, including access to employment and career development, reconciliation 
of work and family life and promotion of equal pay for equal work or work 
of equal value; Priority of investment 9.iii) fighting all forms of discrimination 
and  promoting  equal  opportunities.  Priority  of  investment  9.iv)  improving 
access to affordable, sustainable and quality services, including health care 
and social services of general interest.

	The  2014-2020  ERDF  supports  gender  equality  through  financing 

interventions in the area of childcare facilities. 

	The 2014-2020 EARDF states that women in rural areas should represent 
a  priority  in  the  national  programmes  financed  by  EARDF.  EARDF  funding 
should also support entrepreneurship for women in rural areas through the 
diversification  of  farms  into  non-agricultural  activities  and  setting  up  and 
developing  non-agricultural  SMEs  in  rural  areas.  In  detail,  EARDF  finances 
the following actions targeting women in rural areas: knowledge transfer and 

52

4. The Role of funding for gender equalityinformation  actions,  advisory  services,  farm  management  and  farm  relief 
services,  investments  in  physical  assets,  farm  and  business  development, 
basic services and village renewal in rural areas and cooperation. 

	The  2014-2020  EMFF  finances  initiatives  to  promote  the  role  of  women 
in  fishing  communities  and  networking  and  exchanging  experiences  and 
best practices among aquaculture enterprises or professional organisations 
and  other  stakeholders,  including  scientific  and  technical  bodies  or  those 
promoting equal opportunities between men and women. 

b)  EASI  finances  gender  equality  through  its  Progress  axis,  which  supports 
initiatives promoting gender equality in employment and on the labour market, 
as  well  as  the  axis  regarding  the  Microfinance  Facility  for  employment  and 
social inclusion, which supports entrepreneurship for women by ensuring their 
access to credit and other financial mechanisms.

c)  European  Integration  Fund  which  mainly  promotes  initiatives  favouring 
the integration of women migrants in the labour market and their access to 
education and training.

d)  Horizon  2020  which  supports  gender  equality  in  scientific  and  ICT  careers 
as  well  as  research.  In  Horizon  2020  -  the  new  European  Framework 
Programmes (FP) for Research and Innovation gender will be addressed as 
a cross-cutting issue in correcting deficiencies and promoting gender equality 
along three lines:

Improving female scientists´ career;

•	
•	 Ensuring gender balance in decision-making, and
•	

integrating gender analysis in research content and programme98.

Gender  equality  should  also  be  taken  into  account  in  the  management  of  all  EU 
financial instruments. In a Joint Declaration, the European Parliament, the Council 
and the Commission agreed that the annual budgetary procedures applied for the 
2014-20 MFF will, where appropriate, integrate gender-responsive elements, and 
take into account the ways in which the EU’s overall financial framework contributes 
to greater gender equality (and ensures gender mainstreaming).’

Moreover, a part of the new Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme will 
be dedicated to equality between women and men. This Programme can be consid-
ered the successor of three 2007-2013 programmes: the PROGRESS Programme 
(Gender Equality and Anti-discrimination strands), the Daphne Programme and the 
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme. 

The objectives of the REC Programme include the promotion of equality between 
women and men and advance in gender mainstreaming; preventing and fighting all 
forms of violence against children, young people and women, as well as violence 
against other groups at risk, in particular groups at risk of violence in close relation-
ships, as well as protecting the victims of such violence51.

51   Commission Staff Working Document - Report on Progress on equality between women and men 
in 2013 - Accompanying the document - Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the 
Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 2013 Report 
on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

53

4. The Role of funding for gender equality4.3 Conclusions

The policy change, from “equal opportunities for men and women” as an aspect me-
rely to be promoted by European funding to the double-pronged strategy of specific 
actions and “mainstreaming of gender equality “, was relatively rapid. 

However, whether these “requirements” are fully respected in programme proposals 
by the regions and Member States remains to be seen. Moreover, one of the general 
risks of a mainstreaming approach is that, in the absence of precise objectives in re-
ducing gender inequalities, the treatment of gender can be too easily located within, 
and thus subject to, other policy goals, such as employment creation, economic growth 
or poverty reduction. The “transversal” treatment of gender is too easily translated as 
merely “horizontal” — a principle at operational levels or results levels - and thus be-
comes a means to achieving other objectives, rather than a goal in its own right. The 
risk is further increased by the tendency, evident in some Member States (such as the 
UK) and among some policy-makers in the Commission, to treat gender inequality as 
just one form of disadvantage, along with others like disability, ethnicity, etc.

On the whole, the gender mainstreaming approach is leading to wider attention to 
equality between women and men in programme proposals, i.e. it is mentioned in 
a wider range of priorities and measures, and is encouraging improved efforts to 
ensure sex-disaggregated monitoring and evaluation indicators as well as involving 
equal opportunities organisations in programme management (at least in a consul-
tative capacity). However, many important areas of possible interventions in terms 
of  gender  equality  are  left  out.  Gender  issues  are  more  easily  accepted  in  “soft” 
areas of development, such as human resources development, than in “hard” areas 
— which receive the most financial support. The relevance of gender to measures 
in the fields of infrastructure (transport, etc.) or agricultural support, for example, 
still needs due recognition. A similar difference in acceptance of the issue can be 
observed between “small-scale” and “large-scale”, for example concerning enterpri-
se development or tourism.

With specific regard to Structural Funds, the policy framework and regulations on 
gender  mainstreaming  are  relatively  robust.  However,  it  is  worth  noting  that  the 
main objective in terms of the Structural Funds and gender equality is still limited 
to increase female participation in the labour market. While gender mainstreaming 
may  have  a  relatively  high  policy  profile  at  the  European  level,  there  is  a  much 
stronger policy imperative concerning employment. Moreover, “equity” per se is gi-
ven rather less consideration. This can be seen, for example, in the case of the tre-
atment of “reconciliation of home and professional life”, which is rightly identified 
as an important issue. This is, more implicitly than explicitly, treated as a means to 
facilitating  women’s  “more  active”  participation  in  the  labour  market,  than  as  an 
equality objective in its own right, i.e. to achieve more equal sharing of domestic and 
family work between men and women. 

Efforts on gender mainstreaming in the Structural Funds have focused very much on 
“policy statements” and on “procedures and instruments” — reflected in the form of 
technical guidelines. There have been major efforts to influence and inform Member 
States and the EU regions, but considerably less effort has been put into changing 
mentalities and understanding. In many institutions, there is strong male bias in the 
culture; in gender balance in staffing; social and human goals and policy areas do 
not have high status in the institutions, and the resources – technical, human and 
financial – allocated to supporting gender mainstreaming are usually very limited. 

Nevertheless, the few undertaken evaluations showed that many activities and in-
terventions have been funded, albeit still unevenly.

54

4. The Role of funding for gender equality5. Conclusions

5.1  The  Strategy’s  achievements,  value  added,  strengths  and 
weaknesses 

The  Strategy  for  Equality  between  women  and  men  2010-2015  has  been  moni-
tored and assessed from several perspectives since its launch and implementation. 
Progress in each of the strategy priorities is periodically assessed with annual re-
ports issued by the European Commission52 and a mid-term review was carried out 
in 201353; at the same time it has also been assessed by different stakeholders in 
terms of its relevance, effectiveness and value added and its role within the wider 
context of the Beijng Strategy and European policy-making.

In assessing the Strategy’s achievements and value added it is important to bear in 
mind two main aspects. The first is that the Strategy addresses European Com-
mission actions in the first place, and thus it must be assessed firstly in this 
respect. The second is that it is not possible to assess the contribution of the 
Strategy  to  reaching  the  ultimate  expected  outcomes,  given  the  nature  of 
the assessment carried out in this study (largely based on review of existing docu-
ments) and the need to take into account all the other intervening factors that have 
shaped the situation of women and men in Europe in the five years of implementa-
tion of the Strategy, in primis the dramatic financial and economic crisis and the 
austerity measures that have negatively affected gender equality developments. 

Notwithstanding these caveats, the assessment conducted in this report shows that 
the Strategy has produced several outputs and important immediate out-
comes. The outputs mainly consist of the actions implemented, comprising aware-
ness-raising measures, new data-gathering tools, studies and indicators, as well as 
important soft and hard legislative measures addressing women’s economic condi-
tions and access to the labour market, women’s presence in top management posi-
tions and political life and the fight against gender-based violence. Notable among 
the  main  immediate  outcomes  are  a  better  knowledge  of  the  many  dimensions 
of gender inequalities; greater awareness on the part of both the overall popula-
tion and the policy-makers of the importance of addressing gender inequalities in 
policymaking54; the development of models and indicators to support gender main-
streaming. 

As  illustrated  in  chapter  2,  progress  has,  however,  been  uneven  across  the 
priority areas, reflecting the different standing and salience of each priority in the 
European policy debate and some drawbacks to the Strategy. 

52   See the yearly European Commission Report on equality between women and men for years 2010-
2011-2012-2013-2014.

53   See European Commission (2013a), Commission Staff Working Document (SWD(2013)339 final) 
Mid‑term review of the Strategy for equality between women and men (2010–15), 16.9.2013, Brussels.

54   European Commission (2015b), Special Eurobarometer 428 Gender equality, 2015.

55

5. Conclusions 
The achievements appear to have been greater in the better focused priority areas, 
like gender equality in decision-making and violence against women, which 
were  not  systematically  tackled  in  previous  years.  The  first  priority  area  (equal 
economic independence), while the horizontal issues suffer from a lack of focus 
and prioritization of the envisaged actions, which makes it difficult to assess pro-
gress among the many important actions that have been implemented. 

In greater detail, the following main strengths of the Strategy emerge from the 
analysis carried out in the report and the perceptions of key stakeholders:

•	 The provision of a reference framework on priority policy areas and actions to 
be implemented for national gender equality strategies and action plans 
and  of  coherent  guidance  for  multi-annual  priorities.  This  reference  role 
is recognised as particularly important for those Member States where gender 
equality still receives relatively little attention. 

•	 The  adoption  of  the  dual  approach  based  on  the  combination  of  targeted 

measures and gender mainstreaming.

•	 Stakeholders  see  the  strategy  as  a  concrete  commitment  delineating 
effective actions in a clear and accessible way. The identification of pri-
ority areas of intervention is considered important by most of the strategy 
stakeholders and experts. The strategy has also shown a good capacity to adjust 
to changing socio-economic contexts.

•	 The capacity to combine both legislative and practical measures in a coher-
ent and consistent way and the attention to awareness-raising measures. 
In this respect, important developments comprise increasing attention to the role 
of men in gender equality policies (addressed now among the “horizontal issues” 
priority  area),  as  well  as  awareness-raising  and  training  measures  targeting 
workers in the judiciary, health care, educational and socio-economic systems to 
heighten attention to gender differences in access to and use of services. 

•	 The  support  given  to  the  development  of  monitoring  and  evaluation 
systems  and  of  indicators  and  data-gathering  tools  (like  the  2013  FRA 
survey on violence against women,) as well as the exchange of practices for 
institutional learning in policy making to support more effective policies on the 
basis of an evidence based approach. 

•	 The  capacity  to  involve  the  European  Commission  DGs  increasingly  in 
the programming and implementation of gender mainstreaming many EU policy 
areas and the establishment of an interdepartmental coordination mecha-
nisms. As illustrated in chapter 2, most of the Commission DGs have been pro-
gressively involved in the implementation of the Strategy’s actions. 

•	 The provision of a reference framework for the mainstreaming of gender 
equality in EU funding programmes, as illustrated in chapter 4. In particular, 
the 2007-2013 programming period further developed the principle of gender 
mainstreaming in the planning, implementation and evaluation of activities, es-
pecially through PROGRESS55. However, according to the Advisory Committee on 

55   In the Progress Programme Gender quality is tackled more vigorously than  the other transversal 
themes and the gender equality dimension was relatively present in PROGRESS funded actions, even 
outside the activities directly focused on this theme. Some analytical activities funded under PROGRESS 
have a wide scope and significant potential for mainstreaming transversal issues like gender equality in 
policies across Europe (e.g. Database on Men and Women in Decision-making; Special Eurobarometer 
376 ‘Women in decision-making positions and several expert networks focusing on gender equality 
and antidiscrimination as well as exchange of good practices were funded.

56

5. Conclusionsequal opportunities, 56 EU financial support for gender equality was lower than in 
the previous programming period. 

Among the main areas for improvement, the following are pointed out by most 
of the Strategy stakeholders and experts:

•	 The need to better target and focus the envisaged priorities and key ac-
tions. According to many members of the HLG, in order to improve the moni-
toring of the Strategy’s effectiveness and efficiency provision should be 
made for more measurable objectives concrete goals and targets, along 
with an effective timetable for the implementation of the actions planned. The 
Strategy is not built on the basis of a clear logic of intervention linking needs, 
objectives, actions and indicators. For example, some actions belonging to the 
same policy field are scattered across different priorities (such as the case of 
education and R&D), making it difficult to monitor implementation. Greater fo-
cus is needed especially in the first priority issue and in the horizontal 
issues which include very different actions, difficult to monitor in their achieve-
ments. In addition, greater attention to the heterogeneity of women and 
men needs and conditions is necessary in the definition of the actions to be 
implemented to improve their effectiveness. 

•	 The link with the EU 2020 strategy is too weak: the EU2020 strategy does 
not explicitly address gender equality. Stronger connection could reinforce both 
strategies. 

•	 Gender  mainstreaming  and  institutional  mechanism  promoted  to  sup-
port it within the horizontal pillar are far from being achieved in those policy 
domains  that  are  not  seen  as  directly  related  to  women  and  gender  equality: 
e.g. environmental policies, transportation and competition policies, regional de-
velopment, macroeconomic policies, and the media and communication policies 
that may affect women and men differently, as shown by recent developments 
in socio-economic research. Looking at the ownership of the actions envisaged 
in the Strategy, the majority are still promoted and implemented by DG JUST 
and EMPL. In addition, some important tools for decision making, like Gender 
Impact  Assessment  (GIA)  and  Gender  Budgeting  (GB),  are  still  rarely 
adopted in policy design and implementation in both the EU and national 
institutions.  This  implies  that  the  EU  and  national  institutions  are  still  lacking 
gender  expertise,  knowledge  and  experience,  as  well  as  resources  in  adopting 
these tools. 

•	 The visibility of the Strategy should be supported by vigorously promoting 
the outputs and outcomes as widely as possible in EU and MS forums not neces-
sary strictly connected to gender equality. To this end, according to some of the 
members of the HLG the report should have a formal status to serve as a 
stronger basis for dedicated debate on gender equality.

There are in addition some bottlenecks that restrain strategy implementation and 
effectiveness, and in particular:

56   Advisory committee on equal opportunities for women and men opinion on gender equality in the 
cohesion policy 2014-2020.
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/genderequality/files/opinions_advisory_committee/opinion_on_gender_
equality_in_the_cohesion_policy_2014-2020_en.pdf

57

5. Conclusions1.  The  lack  of  adequate  resources  (both  human  and  financial)  for  effective 
implementation of the strategy. The strategy has no budget earmarked to it; 
in fact, for the majority of funding programmes it is not possible to earmark 
resources to gender equality measures. In addition, the European Commission 
unit in charge of Gender Equality appears to be insufficiently resourced to sup-
port gender mainstreaming in all the EC DGs. Finally, the austerity measures 
imposed by the crisis are likely to further reduce the scant resources available 
for gender equality strategies. 

2.  The  fact  that  gender  mainstreaming,  even  if  greatly  improved,  still  re-
mains weakly institutionalised in the EU decision-making process is another 
drawback. Gender equality units in the EC have limited power to interact on the 
same level with other decision-making bodies. In addition, the recent tendency 
to merge all grounds of discrimination, including discrimination based on 
sex, within the promotion of civil rights and equal treatment for all risk 
to downgrade the profile of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in the 
policy agenda.

Notwithstanding these bottleneck and areas for improvement, overall the Strategy 
appears to have produced positive value added effects, especially in relation to 
the agenda setting, innovation and learning dimensions.

Besides supporting the implementation of a large number of new actions at both 
the EU and national level (volume effects), the Strategy is further strengthe-
ning  the  priority  policy  areas  already  partly  addressed  in  the  Road  Map 
2006-2010, and providing an extension of the types of actions and measu-
res implemented, with increasing attention to awareness-raising measures, data-
gathering, monitoring and evaluation tools. 

It has also provided a coherent reference framework on priority policy areas and 
actions to be implemented for national gender equality strategies and action 
plans. This reference role is recognised as particularly important for those Member 
States where gender equality continues to receive little attention.

In addition important learning effects may derive from the implementation of gen-
der sensitive monitoring and evaluation systems, indicators, data-gathering 
tools and the exchange of practices for institutional learning in policy making.

5.2 Relevance of the Strategy and emerging Challenges 

The  actions  and  outputs  of  the  Strategy  appear  to  address  the  needs  identified 
when the strategy was launched. These needs continue to be significant and the 
crisis and the austerity measures adopted by most MSs to contain budget imbalan-
ces have aggravated most of them, as shown by the context indicators presented 
in table 2.2.

In addition, emerging demographic and socio-economic challenges have important 
gender effects that should be considered in the design of a new policy framework. 
The following are considered particularly important in the current debate.

The ageing of the population is having and will continue to have significant gen-
der  effects.  The  gender  gap  in  life  expectancy  will  increase  the  share  of  elderly 
women living alone in the total population. Population projections show that in the 
EU-27 this ratio will rise from the 19.7% of 2010 to over 30% of the total popula-

58

5. Conclusionstion by 2060. There is also a secondary ageing process underway: the ageing of the 
aged. This will result in a significant increase in the numbers of people aged 75 and 
over, with the share of elderly women aged 75 and over expected to reach 20% by 
2060 (as compared with the 10% of 2010).

This demographic trend has important policy implications that need to be conside-
red in the future strategy: while on the one hand it may be a strong push factor in 
favour of greater participation in the labour market on the part of women, on the 
other hand it calls for increased attention to the adequacy of pension benefits and 
the provision of elderly care and long-term care (with women acting both as pro-
viders and users of care). In a gender perspective, this issue needs to be tackled in 
terms of: employment continuity, income levels, work-life balance and elderly care 
services. 

A related issue is migration, with the specific risks faced by migrant women. For 
example, one issue in this respect is the increasing role of migrant women in the 
provision of family care and their employment conditions. Others risks to be tackled 
when addressing women migrants concern their vulnerability to trafficking and vio-
lence and traditional harmful practices (like FGM, forced marriages, etc.). The reco-
gnition of migrant women’s skills and education levels and their specific work-life 
balance needs (both when their children are with them in the destination country, 
and when they are in the country of origin) are other aspects to be considered. 

Socio economic trends related to the increasing fragmentation of household 
models and employment patterns introduce new forms of fragility for women 
and men that need addressing. Changes in demographic trends, societal structures, 
household composition and life styles have led to an increase in one-person hou-
seholds in all the EU Member states, especially among women and the elder popu-
lation, calling for closer attention to single households in welfare policies and to the 
associated increase in the demand for social and care services. 

In  contemporary  labour  markets  the  decline  of  lifelong  open-ended  employment 
contracts and the growing diffusion of various forms of employment characterised 
by limited duration, short and/or flexible working hours and new forms of autonomy 
call for attention in the design of social protection systems, in order to avoid increa-
sing poverty risks, especially for workers (largely women) with caring responsibilities 
and those more vulnerable in the labour market.

Modern welfare systems only partially respond to these new needs, while the fiscal 
consolidation measures and reforms in social protection systems adopted 
in recent years by EU countries are likely to further aggravate gender inequalities, 
penalising  women’s  economic  and  social  conditions  given  their  interrupted  em-
ployment  careers  and  lower  labour  income,  their  greater  dependence  on  welfare 
transfers and services, and their overrepresentation in public sector employment. 

The gender effects of the crisis and austerity measures are in fact another 
aspect  to  be  considered.  As  underlined  by  many  experts57  and  stakeholders58 the 
economic  crisis  risks  “obscuring”  gender  equality  issues  and  could  cause  a  move 
backwards from achieved gender equality targets. In the period since the European 
Commission published the Strategy, demographic trends and the crisis have driven 
European countries to revise their welfare policies drastically. Budget cuts, closer 

57   Bettio (2013); Hirschmann (2015).

58   Among others: Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (2014); EPSCO; 
EQUINET (2015).

59

5. Conclusionstargeting in welfare policies and acceleration in pension reforms to improve their 
financial sustainability have characterised recent years in all countries with little at-
tention to their effects in terms of increased poverty risks and gender inequalities. 
Women are particularly affected by the austerity measures, being over represented 
among both the workers and users of public sector services. The austerity measures 
are also threatening the survival of Equal Opportunity bodies.

To contain these risks, it is necessary to assess the (potential) gender impact of 
proposed changes and cuts in welfare provisions and public services, and 
indeed of the measures proposed to support recovery. This requires greater 
attention to evaluation of the potential differentiated effects of both dedicated and 
general policies (such as pensions, employment and assistance policies, fiscal po-
licies) on women and men and on women living alone, as well as the development 
of  more  disaggregated  statistics  and  research.  Improvement  in  EU  and  national 
statistics  on  pensions  and  welfare  policies,  streamlining  sex-disaggregated  data 
and indicators, could also help monitoring and evaluation of the gender effects of 
pension and welfare reforms, as well as affording more realistic simulations of the 
potential effects of proposed reforms.

The persistence of gender stereotypes is another aspect to keep under atten-
tion with regard to effectiveness. Despite the several initiatives implemented both 
at the policy and legislative levels, there is still a deeply entrenched gender inequali-
ty that persists as a result of discriminatory norms and practices, as well as cultural 
frameworks and gender stereotypes often reinforced by the media and social net-
works, resulting in violence against women and gender differences in employment 
and  education,  poverty  risks,  and  in  economic  and  political  decision-making.  It  is 
thus necessary to address gender stereotypes more directly. This means tar-
geting men as well as women and developing new, more effective measures to fight 
gender stereotypes in schools and the media, starting from an in-depth assessment 
of what has worked in past experiences.

5.3 Suggestions for a post-2015 strategy 

The Strategy provided a valuable framework for gender mainstreaming in the Eu-
ropean Commission and for the implementation of coherent gender equality mea-
sures. Emerging from the assessment of the current strategy and the stakeholders’ 
positions  described  in  chapter  3  is  the  need  to  continue  the  strategic  approach 
adopted in 2010 and to further strengthen it with attention to: 

1.  The heterogeneity of women’s and men’s conditions, adopting an inter-
sectional perspective and recognising the different needs and the multiple di-
scrimination  faced  by  some  groups  of  women.  Demographic  and  socio-eco-
nomic  structural  changes  and  the  crisis  have  created  new  forms  of  fragility 
and aggravated gender inequalities among population groups facing multiple 
forms of economic and social exclusion, such as immigrants, ethnic minorities, 
individuals with low educational attainment, the elderly and the disabled, single 
parents and women living alone. These groups call for differentiated policy re-
sponses depending on the stage of the life cycle and the manifold dimensions 
of discrimination and exclusion they face. 

2.  Men as well as women. Men can play a significant role for gender equality. For 
example, work-balance policies should start targeting men as well as women 
and challenge the division of labour within the household between the sexes. 

60

5. ConclusionsIn the last decade, men and stereotypes on masculinity have increasingly come 
under study, and gender policies in the EU and gender mainstreaming strategies 
have  promoted  an  initial  awareness  of  the  role  of  men  in  promoting  gender 
equality. 

3.  The mobilisation of women’s organisations to support gender equali-
ty strategies at both the EU and national level. This is important for the 
design  and  implementation  of  effective  gender  equality  strategies.  Women’s 
organizations are necessary to bring pressure to bear on policymakers to keep 
gender equality issues high in the policy agenda and to maintain an effective 
women’s policy machinery, to support gender policy innovation and to identify 
the existing gender bias in institutional arrangements, policies and politics. 

4.  Maintaining gender equality in the public debate in order to increase at-
tention to and awareness of the importance of a gender perspective in all policy 
fields and to keep gender equality high in the policy agenda. This means that, 
besides legislative and non-legislative measures, it is important to adopt ef-
fective communication measures targeting public opinion and adopting the 
“right” language. The importance attached to an issue by public opinion and/or 
by political actors influences the feasibility of a certain policy transformation/
innovation. This is particularly true in the case of gender policies, which crucially 
depend on cultural changes and public concern to be implemented. 

5.  Supporting gender mainstreaming in the use of the 2014-2020 Europe-
an structural and investment funds, which will constitute the most impor-
tant financial support available for the implementation of gender equality policy 
in the EU, by providing support to Managing Authorities and closely monitoring 
the use of these funds.

6.  Continuing to support the development of gender relevant and gender 
sensitive data, indicators and research in all policy fields as well as accu-
rate evaluations of the effectiveness gender equality policies and good practice 
exchange  on  gender  equality  issues.  This  would  increase  the  level  of  gender 
awareness and a better understanding of the dimensions of gender (in)equality 
and its evolution in the member states, as well as institutional learning on what 
policies are more effective according to the objective. In order to support gender 
research it is necessary to continue to: 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

iv. 

improve the quantity and quality of sex-disaggregated data and support 
further research on gender-relevant issues and indicators;

support research exploring the cultural dimensions that influence women’s 
and men’s perceptions of their role in the economy and in society, as well 
as  their  perceptions  of  working  conditions  and  factors  that  limit  their 
opportunities;

support gender impact assessment of policy reforms, in order to avoid the 
introduction of disincentives to gender equality, and gender budgeting;

 consider governance aspects in evaluation studies in order to understand 
how outputs and results are produced and which mechanisms (especially 
at  the  institutional  and  organizational  level)  need  to  be  reinforced  to 
enhance the effectiveness of the Strategy. 

As for the policy domains to be considered, the main indications emerging from 
the literature and debate are: 

61

5. Conclusions•	 Within employment and social inclusion policies the priority areas and key 
actions  already  identified  in  the  current  priority  themes  are  to  be  maintained. 
Within these areas, some policy fields usually given scant consideration in gen-
der  equality  strategies  are  becoming  increasingly  relevant  due  to  fiscal  con-
solidation measures impacting disproportionately on women: pension reforms; 
cuts and restrictions in care-related benefits/allowances/facilities; the 
tightening of eligibility criteria and cuts in housing benefits and welfare 
provisions; increases in fees for publicly subsidised services.

•	 Outside  the  employment  and  social  inclusion  domain,  policy  fields  of 
importance  for  their  effects  on  gender  equality,  even  if  not  directly  related  to 
women, are: communication policies and the role of media to fight gender 
stereotyping, development and competition policies, fiscal policies, trans-
portation and environmental policies, territorial development, research 
and innovation policies. 

62

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European  Parliament  (2012a),  Data  for  the  evaluation  of  the  European  semes‑
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Brussels

European  Parliament  (2012f),  European  Parliament  resolution  (2011/2244(INI)) 
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European Women’s Lobby (EWL) (2014), European Semester: More social and gen‑
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(http://www.womenlobby.  org/news/european-international-news/article/  europe-

an-semester-more-social-and?lang=en).

European  Women’s  Lobby  (EWL)  (2013b),  Women’s  Watch  2012–13,  European 

Women’s Lobby, Brussels, available at 

http:// www.womenlobby.org/publications/rapports/article/

European Women’s Lobby (2014), “1995-2015: From Words to Action”, EWL’s re-

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http://www.womenlobby.org/spip.php?rubrique432&lang=en

Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), Violence against Women; An EU‑wide Survey: 

March 2014 

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Affairs, December 2013. 

67

ReferencesSzelewa  D.  (2014),  “Maternity  leave,  paternity  leave,  parental  leave  and  unpaid 
care  work”  in  A  new  strategy  for  gendere  equality  post  2015.  Workshop  for  the 
FEMM Committee, 3 Settembre 2014.

Informal documents

ETUC (2015) ETUC position on equality between women and men after 2015, July 

17, 2015

EIGE (2015) Considerations from the European Institute for Gender Equality: Re‑
sponse to the European Commission’s request for suggestions on the New Strategy 
for Equality between Women and Men

EPSCO (2015), Speaking note informal EPSCO Luxembourg on labour market chal‑

lenges for women and men

European  Women’s  Lobby  (EWL)  (2015),Women’s  organisations  demand  a  con‑
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68

ReferencesEVALUATION OF THE 
STRENGTHS AND 
WEAKNESSES OF THE 
STRATEGY FOR EQUALITY 
BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN 
2010 – 2015

ANNEXES

Annex I

Assessment of EU strategy on 
equality between women and men 
2010-2015: main achievements in 
the six priority areas59 

59   The tables are largely based on information derived from the European Commission Staff Working 
document (2010), Actions to implement the Strategy for equality between Women and Men 2010‑
2015 (European Commission SEC(2010) 1079/2); the Strategy Mid-term Review (SWD (2013) 339, 
and  the  European  Commission  review  of  actions  implemented  up  to  June  2014  See  the  European 
Commission monitoring document “The Strategy for equality between women and men (2010-2015): 
Actions to be implemented between 2013 and 2015 - State of play November 2014

70

AnnexesTable 1: Priority 1- Equal economic independence: actions and main achievements

Strategy 
key actions

Strategy’ 
actions 2010

1.1- Support the 
promotion of gender 
equality in the 
implementation of all 
aspects and flagship 
initiatives of the Europe 
2020 strategy

Tot. actions: 
40

DG EMPL:27
DG REGIO: 4
DG HOME: 3
DG EAC: 3
DG MARE: 3
DG ESTAT: 1
DG AGRI: 1 
DG RTD: 1
DG ENTR: 1
DG COMP:1

1.1.1-Employment and 
labour market
(EMPL/JUST)

Total actions: 
6

Number of 
actions
Referent of 
the actions up 
to mid-term 
review
New actions
Total actions: 
19

Number of 
actions
Referent of 
the actions - 
Monitoring 01-
2013/ 06-2014
New actions
Total actions: 
17

DG EMPL: 10
DG JUST: 8
DG EAC: 2
DG MARE:2
DG ESTAT: 1
DG MPL: 1
DG RTD: 0
DG HOME: 2

DG EMPL: 12
DG JUST: 7
DG EAC: 2
DG MARE: 2
DG AGRI: 1
DG REGIO: 1
Repealed actions: 
0

Repealed actions: 
2

Total actions: 6

Total actions: 4

DG EMPL: 4
DG JUST: 3
DG EAC: 1, 

DG EMPL:5
DG EAC: 1
DG MARE: 1

DG EMPL: 4
DG JUST: 4
DG EAC: 1
DG MARE:1 

Repealed actions: 
2 (MARE, JUST)

Main Achievements (outputs/outcomes)

This action foresaw the implementation of EU 2020 policies (Gender Equality is part of the EU 2020 main policies on this issue) 
combined with soft legislations regarding women labour participation and employment, family responsibilities and childcare (for instance 
CSRs on the take up of the gender equality perspective within the EU 2020 initiatives at MS level.). It also combined on funding programmess 
to increase the participation of female researchers and for initiatives in this area with knowledge production (thematic reports on female 
labour market conditions) and reporting/monitoring activity on the application of the Directive 2006/54/ European Commission on equal 
treatment of men and women in employment and occupation.

Among main actions/outputs:
- the EU 2020 main policies on this issue (the EU agenda for new skills and jobs; Employment Package 2020 and Employment guidelines; 
Staff Working paper on Flexicurity; Digital Agenda; Youth on the move); 
- policies promoting Gender Equality in the labour market and in family responsibilities: European Quality Framework in ECEC (2014); Early 
Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Programme in the MS – DG EMPL and DG EAC (2013);
- other policies particularly significant in GM perspective: the Social Investment Package (2013); Commission Communication “An open and 
secure Europe: making it happen” (2014); Annual Growth Survey Package (AGS) -2011;
- Founding programmes: Marie Curie Action including specific measures to increase the participation of female researchers (2010 -2015);
- Council Decision 2014/51/EU authorising MS to ratify the OIL 2011 Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers (No. 189)1; 
- since 2011 CSRs during European semesters on the take up of the gender equality perspective within the EU 2020 initiatives at MS level. 
For instance, the CSRs (2013) to promote the participation of women in the labour market and gender equality; recommendations (2014) 
tackling issues related to Gender Equality in employment (i.e. improvement of childcare facilities; increase in women’s employment levels; 
promotion of flexible work arrangements; eradicate labour gender segregation) and pension adequacy. 

Studies and reporting activity: 
- thematic review reports on female labour market conditions (2011-2013); chapter on gender impact of the crisis in ESDE 2013; 
- Report on ‘Using EU Indicators of Immigrant Integration’ on the situation in the labour market of migrant women (2013);
- Report on the application of the Directive 2006/54/ European Commission on equal treatment of men and women in employment and 
occupation (2013); 

1.1.2 - Poverty, social 
exclusion and pension
(EMPL/JUST/ESTAT)

Total actions: 
5

DG EMPL: 5
DG ESTAT:1

Total actions: 7

Total actions: 5

DG EMPL: 5
DG JUST: 4, 
DG ESTAT: 1, 

New actions: 2

DG EMPL: 4
DG JUST: 4, 

New actions: 3 

1.1.3 - Promote gender 
equality in youth and 
education and training
(EAC)

Total actions: 
1

DG EAC: 1

Total actions: 1

Total actions: 1

DG EAC: 1

DG EAC: 1 

Gender Equality is part of specific policies on this issue, with reference to specific vulnerable targets (ROMA, the elderly), and Gender Equality 
is considered in the legislation/soft law as well. In this field awareness raising measures, studies and tools (e.g.methodology to calculate 
Gender gap, guidelines for unisex pricing in the insurance) have also been realized to focus the attention on the gender dimension of the 
poverty, social exclusion situations as well as pension topic.

Among main actions/outputs:
- GM in the Platform against Poverty (2010) and its initiatives:

	 COM (2012) 226 National Roma Integration Strategies: a first step in the implementation of in the EU Framework; 
	COM (2012) 55 final -White Paper an Agenda for Adequate, Safe and Sustainable Pensions;
	 Commission Recommendation 2013 “Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage”

- GM within the Social Investment Package (2013)
- European Commission Communication “Towards Social Investment for Growth and Cohesion- including implementing the ESF 2014-2020” 
(2014); 
- Council Declaration on the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between generations (2012); 
- Opinion of the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men on the gender dimension of active ageing (2011);

Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchanging of good practices: 
- workshops during the Annual Convention of the EU Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion on the gender dimension of poverty 
(2012) and on gender gaps in employment, activity rates, and in pension entitlements (2014); seminars for local and regional officials in MS 
about the CSRs on investing in children (2013-2015);
- campaign in the framework of European Year 2012 for Active Ageing and Solidarity between generations;
- European Commission’s legal proceedings against Italy and Greece for discriminatory pensionable ages (2010);
-  Gender  Equality  institutional  mechanism  and  tools: Guidelines  to  help  the  insurance  industry  implement  unisex  pricing  (2011); 
European Commission methodology to calculate Gender gap (2013);

Studies and reporting activity: European Commission’s Report on the Gender Gap in Pensions in the EU (ENEGE), 2013; EU SILC ad 
hoc module (2013); Report on the impact of the economic crisis on Gender Equality (2011); Report on “Active ageing and gender equality 
policies: the employment and social inclusion of women and men of late working and early retirement age” (2010); Report on “The socio-
economic impact of pension systems on the respective situations of women and men and the effects of recent trends in pension reforms” 
(2011); Social Protection Committee’s Annual Social Report and the Joint Assessment Framework emphasizing on monitoring the risk of 
poverty and social exclusion faced by women (2012); European Commission Annual Growth survey (AGS 2013) emphasized the need to 
address poverty and social exclusion risks among women; 
Gender equality is being mainstreamed in all policies and funding programmes on education and training also addressed to specific people 
(e.g ROMED II European Commission/COE joint Programme for mediation in school, culture and health emphasizing the value of education 
for ROMA young girls). In this framework several projects, from 2010 till present, have been addressing the gender issue in education and 
training. Many studies on gender equality in education and training have been carried out to improve the knowledge on this issue and various 
actions have been implemented to make gender balance within high institutions one of the assessment criteria of these institutions .

Among main actions/outputs:
- GM in LLP - Grundtvig Leonardo Da Vinci, Erasmus+, Lifelong Learning programmes to “Transfer the Innovation” (2010-2015), ROMED II;
- GM in EU Agenda for modernising higher education systems (COM(2011) 567 final) ;
- GM in European Commission Communication “Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes” (2010);
- GM in E-Skills For The 21st Century: Fostering Competitiveness, Growth And Jobs;
- GM in EU Digital Agenda; 
- Bruges Communiqué that mainstreams the gender dimensions in the EU long-term targets for VET in Europe; 

Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchange of good practices: European Researchers Night (ERN) on importance of 
the research to young people, especially girls (2011-2015)

Gender Equality Institutional mechanism and tools: 
The European Tertiary Education Register (ETER) http://eter.joanneum.at/imdas-eter/ funded by DG EAC that gathers the European Higher 
Education Institutions (HEI) and collects a comparable set of data for HEIs in Europe.

Studies and reporting activity: DG EAC’s study on the risks of drop out based on gender (2013); 2 reports on Early School Leaving and 
on Tackling Low Achievement in Basic Skills with analysis of gender patterns (2013); Report on Gender equality in the workforce: Reconciling 
work, private and family life in Europe, (2014); European Commission Commission’s analysis (2013) of OECD’s PISA survey (2012) with 
gender statistics; the 2012 Education and Training Monitor includes a cross-country analysis of the main trends in education and training, 
including gender-related performances and benefits; The Education and Training Monitor 2013 with some cross-country comparison and the 
latest trends in gender patterns in European education systems.

1.1.4 - Promote gender 
equality in European 
Funds
(EMPL/REGIO/AGRI/
MARE)

Total actions: 
5

DG EMPL: 2
DG MARE: 2
DG AGRI:1

Total actions: 5

Total actions: 7

DG MARE: 2
DG EMPL: 2 
DG AGRI:1

DG EMPL: 4 
DG MARE: 2
DG REGIO: 1
DG AGRI: 1

New actions: 2 

Gender Equality is promoted during the implementation of the EU programmes in the framework of EU Funds and the funding of specifically 
identified issues is envisaged. In order to facilitate the implementation of GM in the programmess/projects, specific tools and institutional 
mechanisms have been set (e.g. a joint COCOF - ESF Technical Working Group with DG REGIO on gender mainstreaming in the structural 
funds). 
Many studies in order to promote gender issues and assess the impact of the funding programmes on promotion of equality have been 
realized combined with awareness raising measures and exchange of good practices activities to improve the knowledge on these issues 
(e.g. discussion forum on the issue of women and the sustainable development of the fisheries area; networking on rural development and 
gender; European Community of Practice on Gender Mainstreaming (Gender-CoP).

Among main actions/outputs:
- mainstreaming of the Gender Equality dimension in the 2014-2020 EU Structural and investments and other funds: ESF, EARDF, EFF, 
ERDF, EGF; 
- GM in the new European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI);

Gender Equality institutional mechanism/tools: 
- a specific tool “the European standard on Gender Mainstreaming in the ESF” in order to integrate Gender Equality into the ESF 
programmes (2014-2020) in relation to the EU-2020 targets; 
- EAFRD guidelines for 2007-2013 incorporating the principle of non-discrimination and equality (2010);
- a joint COCOF (comité de coordination des fonds)  ESF Technical Working Group with DG REGIO on gender mainstreaming in the structural 
funds;

Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchange of good practices: 
- workshop on women in fishing communities organized by DG MARE in Brussels (2011); 
-  meetings  and  interactions  (a  discussion  forum)  between  women  active  in  fisheries  and  aquaculture  in  Europe  under  the  FEMMES 
Programme funded by the European Commission (2013)
- “European Community of Practice on Gender Mainstreaming (Gender-CoP)”
- European Network on Rural Development promoting Gender Equality in rural areas;
- EU Rural Review Magazine and RPD project database, including projects focusing on women ;

Studies and reporting activity: Study on employment, growth and innovation in rural areas (SEGIRA) of DG AGRI in order to promote 
gender issues (2010); mid-term and ex-post evaluations in accordance with the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework of the 
impact of the rural development programmes on promotion of equality (2010-2015); DG AGRI’s publication on Women in EU Agriculture 
and rural areas: hard work, low profile (2012); SWD (2012) 44 final Commission Staff Working Document “A view on employment, growth 
and innovation in rural areas”, analyzing partly the situation of women and youth in rural areas;

Outcomes:
- 2012: the mid-term evaluation of the EFF showed that it has played a limited role in promoting Gender Equality. This has resulted in 
reinforcing the Gender Equality in the proposal for EMFF post 2013; 2014: 2% of all projects implemented by and for women. More than 
344 female workers in the fishing sector have received support to improve safety training, to upgrade professional skills, to help diversify 
their professional activities;
- 2013: ex post evaluation of PROGRESS (2007-2013) concluded that the issue of gender mainstreaming was well implemented;

1.2 - Promote female 
entrepreneurship and 
self-employment
(EMPL/ENTR/REGIO)

Total actions: 
7

DG EMPL: 4
DG REGIO:2
DG ENTR: 1
DG COMP: 1

Total actions: 7

Total actions: 6

DG EMPL:2
DG REGIO: 2
DG ENTR: 1 
DG JUST: 1
DG COPM:1, 
repealed

DG EMPL: 2
DG REGIO: 2
DG ENTR: 1 
DG JUST:1

The action appropriately combines funding schemes for initiatives in this area with legislative measures, monitoring of already set targets, 
exchanges of good practices between EU MS and knowledge production. Specific tools and awareness raising actions in order to promote the 
women entrepreneurship have been set (e.g. WES Network and European Network of Mentors for Women Entrepreneurs, conferences etc.)

Among main actions/outputs:
- COM (2013) 83 European Commission Communication “Towards Social Investment for Growth and Cohesion - including implementing the 
European Social Fund 2014-2020” with a focus on women throughout the document and statistics broken down by gender; 
- COM (2011) 78 final Review of the “Small Business Act “ for Europe reviewing the importance of the Network of Female Entrepreneurship 
Ambassadors (WES) as role models for young women; 
- COM (2012) 795 Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan established a Europe- wide on-line mentoring, advisory, educational and business 
networking platform for women entrepreneurs; 
- Directive 2010/41/EU on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity in a self-
employed capacity and repealing Council Directive 86/613/EEC and follow up of its transposition (2012 workshop on its transposition); 
-ESF Regulation (art. 7) introducing the obligation for Member States to support specific action addressed to women (2013); 
- Decision No 283/2010/EU “establishing a European Progress Microfinance Facility for employment and social inclusion” that promotes 
equal opportunities and access to funds for vulnerable persons, including women; 
- Council Conclusions on Women and the Economy: economic independence from the perspective of part time work and self-employment 
(2014);

Gender Equality institutional mechanism and tools: 
 - exchanging (2010-2015) on GM in the Structural funds within the COCOF - Coordination Committee of the Funds (replaced by COESIF in 
2014) that brings together Managing Authorities both from ERDF and ESF; 
- joint meeting COCOF – ESF Technical Working Group to support measures aiming at promoting women entrepreneurship (2012);
- the WES Network functioning (2009-2013) and became part of the Annual SME Assembly to facilitate policy level exchange (2013); 
- Creation of the European Network of Mentors for Women Entrepreneurs in 17 CIP countries; 
- institution of a representative of European Commission (as of 2011) who participates in the work of the monitoring committee for each 
Operational Programme containing measures for women entrepreneurship; 

Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchange of good practices:
 - conference on Women Entrepreneurs under EU Polish and Cypriot Presidency (2011); 
- the European SME Week Summit 2012 on “Women’s Entrepreneurship Makes Business Sense” in Brussels; 
Studies and reporting activity: DG Enterprise study on statistical data on women entrepreneurs in Europe and on the creation of an 
e-platform for women entrepreneurs (2013);

1.3 - Assess remaining 
gaps in reconciliation 
work and family; social 
partners consultation; 
report on MSs 
performance on child 
care facilities
(JUST/EMPL)

Total actions: 
12

Total actions: 
12

Total actions:10

DG EMPL: 4
DG REGIO: 2
DG RTD: 2
DG EAC: 1

DG JUST: 4
DG REGIO: 2
DG RTD: 2, 
DG EMPL: 1 
DG EAC: 1

DG JUST: 6
DG EMPL:3
DG REGIO: 2

New actions: 1 

Repealed actions: 
1 (RTD)

The action appropriately combines funding schemes (integrated approach among ESF and ERDF) for initiatives in this area with legislative 
measures, monitoring of Directive 2010/18/EU and already set targets and reporting on the performance obtained, also regard to childcare 
facilities. 
Studies on reconciliation issue and exchanges of good practices between EU MS along with awareness raising actions have been realized 
as well. .
GM institutional mechanism to integrate gender perspective in the policies (COCOF/ COESIF and EGESIF, joint meeting COCOF – ESF Technical 
Working Group) and ESF and ERF support to MS in implementing the operational programmes containing measures for childcare policy have 
been envisaged. 
Among main actions/outputs:
- Legislative proposal on maternity protection and leave
- Com(2013) 778 final CSRs “Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage”;
- 2011 Communication “Early childhood education and care: providing all our children with the best start for the world of tomorrow”; 
- the work of DG EAC on developing a European Quality Framework in ECEC
- promotion of the reconciliation between work and private life within EU structural and investment funds (ESF and ERDF, Social Investment 
Package and the EU 7th Programme for Research);
- ESF and ERF support to MS in implementing the operational programmes containing measures for childcare policy 
- the EU 7th Programme for Research financed numerous projects supporting the setting up and the implementation of Gender Equality 
plans in research institutions. 
- Directive 2010/18/EU implementing the revised Framework Agreement on parental leave concluded by BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP 
and ETUC and repealing Directive 96/34/ European Commission and follow-up of its transposition; 
Studies and reporting activity:
 - monitoring of directive 2010/18 on parental leave
- the issue of reconciliation between work and private life and monitoring of targets in this field within the EU 2020 framework: 
- Gender Equality in the workforce: Reconciling work, private and family life in Europe, and related annexes (2014); 
- DG Justice statistical reports on reconciliation between women and men2
-  European  Commission  study  on  the  Role  of  men  in  gender  equality  and  the  involvement  of  men/fathers  in  domestic  and  family 
responsibilities (2014)
- Childcare services for school age children - a comparative review of 33 countries (2013); 
- Barcelona Objectives: the development of childcare facilities for young children in Europe (2013)
 - Men and Gender Equality - tackling gender segregated family roles and social care jobs (analysis note) (2010); 
- Opinion on flexible and part-time working arrangements and the gender dimension of the labour market (2010);
- Individual assessments by Commission Services of the situation in each of the Member States on the implementation of the Directive.
- country reports of European Network of Legal Experts in the Field of Gender Equality (2014)
Gender Equality institutional mechanism and tools: 
- GM in the context of COCOF replaced by COESIF and EGESIF - Group of experts in ESIF (2014); joint meeting COCOF – ESF Technical 
Working Group to support measures aiming at promoting women entrepreneurship (2012); Develop of the methodology to better measure 
obstacles in access to childcare (2014);
Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchange of good practices:
- REGIO on European Regional Policy WebPages
- an Open Days workshop organized by DG EMPL and REGIO on removing barriers to women’s labour market participation through accessible, 
high quality childcare infrastructure (2014)
- support to the website European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC) - formerly referred to as European Alliance for Families - to help 
the MSs with the implementation of the Recommendation (containing good practices in the area of parenting and child support measures).
- meeting of High Level Group on Gender Mainstreaming in Structural Funds (2011)
- 38 practices supporting family friendly workshops are casted on the European Alliances for families website

1.4 - Promote GE in 
research and innovation
(RTD)3

Not 
considered 
among the 
key actions

Not considered 
among the key 
actions

Total actions: 2

DG RTD:2

1.5 - Promote GE in all 
initiatives on Migration 
and integration of 
migrants 
(HOME/EMPL)

Total actions: 
4

DG HOME: 3
DG EMPL: 2

Total actions: 4

Total actions: 3

DG HOME: 3, 
DG EMPL: 1 

DG HOME: 2
DG EMPL: 1 

Attention to gender dimension in research under this specific priority (see new actions as of 2013) before included in priority 2. The key 
action envisages funding for integrating Gender Equality in EU-funded research (Gender Equality is integrated in Horizon 2020 and 7th 
Framework  Programme)  and  for  incentivising  research  institutions  to  modernize  working  culture  and  institutions,  also  assuring  gender 
balanced participation at all levels of management and in research team. Funding is combined with awareness raising and knowledge 
production activities (monitoring and reporting on the situation of women in science and research (annual monitoring reports of FP7, She 
Figures 2015 publication of statistics).
Among main actions/outputs:
- GM mainstreamed in: Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation for the period 2014-2020 under the 
part “Science with and for Society” and the Marie Curie actions; 7th Framework Programme for Research & technological development 
(2007-2013);
Studies and reporting activities on the situation of women in science and research:
- a first Progress Report which provided a baseline on issues of women in science and research.(2013)
-  annual  monitoring  reports  of  FP7  (7th  Framework  Programme  for  Research  &  technological  development)  with  a  chapter  on  Gender 
Equality (2013-2015)
- She Figures 2015 publication of statistics and indicators on gender in research and innovation (2015)
Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchange of good practices: communication campaign “Science it’s a girl thing”
Gender Equality is systematically promoted in initiatives on immigration and integration. This action appropriately identifies key issues to be 
promoted within the policies and EU funds dedicated to migration policies (European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Immigrants) 
or including provision related to the integration of migrants (ESF). Attention to gender dimension was integrated in migrant entrepreneurship 
policies and recently in integration measures with reference to family reunification issue. The exchange of good practices and awareness 
raising actions are considered very important to support all initiatives on migration and integration of migrants.
Among main actions/outputs:
- Mainstreaming of equality between women and men and anti-discrimination principles in the main legislations and the main EU policies 
and programmes on immigration or including provision related to the integration of migrants:
- MS commitment to Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration Policy in the EU with a view to promoting the main dimensions of 
integration, including Gender Equality (2014)
- European Commission Communication on guidance for application of Directive 2003/86/ European Commission on the right to family 
reunification, in which it is stated that integration measures should be gender sensitive (2014).
- European Agenda for the Integration of Third Country Nationals (European Agenda COM(2011) 455 final)
- European Integration Fund; 
- ESF (with reference to increasing the participation migrant women in the labour market)
- Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan (with reference to the promotion of migrant women’s entrepreneurship)
Studies and reporting activity:
- DG Home report on the EU indicators of immigrant integration with gender indicators (2013)
Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchange of good practices:
- Setting of thenew section of good practices on Antidiscrimination and Equality of the EWSI website - European Web Site on Integration 
(2011).

minimum = ♠; maximum=♠ ♠ ♠

Note

1Domestic  Workers  Convention  no.  189,  2011  (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:2551460)  and  Domestic  Workers  Recommendation  No. 
201,  2011 (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:R201)
2 http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/document/index_en.htm#h2-4
3 This action was not labeled as a key action, but being a stand alone action without reference to the other key actions we considered it as a key one

Table 2 - Priority 2 - Equal pay for equal work and work of equal value: actions and main achievements

Strategy actions

Strategy’ ac-
tions 2010

Tot actions: 3

DG EMPL: 3

2.1 - Explore possible 
ways to improve the 
transparency of pay as 
well as the impact on 
equal pay of arrange-
ments such as part-time 
work and fixed-term 
contracts
(JUST/EMPL)

Number of ac-
tions
Referent of the 
actions up to 
mid-term re-
view
New actions
Total actions: 3

Number of actions
Referent of the 
actions - Moni-
toring 01-2013/ 
06-2014
New actions

Total actions: 4

DG JUST: 3
DG EMPL: 1

DG JUST: 3,
DG EMPL: 1, 

New actions: 1 

Main Achievements (outputs/outcomes) 

This key action contributed to increase the knowledge and the transparency about this topic through the adop-
tion of the Recommendation on strengthening the principle of equal pay between men and women through 
transparency (2014) aiming at facilitating the application of the Equal Pay principle and supporting the MS in reducing 
it. In addition, various studies have been carried out to evaluate the impact of part-time and fixed - term 
contracts  and  the  effectiveness  of  the  Directives  97/81/EEC,  99/70/ European  Commission  and  2006/54/ 
European Commission on equal treatment of men and women in employment and occupation, with focus on the ap-
plication of the provisions on equal pay in practice. The specific insights have been accompanied by consultation of the 
social partners. Practical documents are also provided with the aim of helping stakeholders to more effectively 
apply the national law on equal pay.

Among main actions/outputs:
- Recommendation on strengthening the principle of equal pay between men and women through transparency (2014). 
- COM (2013) 512 final Report on the application of the Directive 2006/54/European Commission of the European Parlia-
ment and the Council of 5 July 2006 (recast) 2013 

Gender Equality Institutional mechanism and tools:
- Guidelines on the application of Council Directive 2004/113/European Commission to insurance, in the light of the judg-
ment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-236/09 (Test-Achats) (Text with EEA relevance) (2012/C 
11/01)
- Practical Guidance on job evaluation and classification system 

Study and reporting activity:
- (2013) study used to prepare an impact assessment which accompanied Commission Recommendation on strengthen-
ing of the principle of equal pay between men and women through transparency adopted in 2014
- An external expert study (2014) to evaluate the impact of part-time and fixed-term contracts, and to assess the ef-
fectiveness of directives 97/81/EEC and 99/70/European Commission.

Tot actions: 5

Total actions: 5

Total actions: 4

DG EMPL: 4
DG ESTAT: 1

DG JUST: 4
DG ESTAT: 1 
DG EMPL: 1

DG JUST: 4
DG EMPL: 1

2.2 - Support equal 
pay initiatives at the 
workplace such as 
equality labels, ‘char-
ters’, and awards, as 
well as the develop-
ment of tools for 
employers to correct 
unjustified gender pay 
gaps. Institute a Eu-
ropean Equal Pay Day 
to be held each year 
to increase awareness 
on how much longer 
women need to work 
than men to earn the 
same.
(JUST/EMPL)

2.3 - Encourage women 
to enter non traditional 
professions, for example 
in “green” and innovative 
sectors
(EAC/MOVE/RTD)

Tot actions: 2

Total actions: 2

Total actions: 4

DG EAC: 2

DG EAC: 2, 

DG EAC: 2 
DG MOVE: 1
DG RTD: 1

The action appropriately identifies and combines operation support to MS in this field with awareness rais-
ing activities (as for instance, European Equal Pay Day” to be organized every year) and initiatives (also training) or 
tools aimed to analyse the reasons for the existence of unjustified gender pay gaps and support companies 
in ensuring equal pay for women and men for equal work; 

Among main actions/outputs:
- 2014 European Commission Recommendation on strengthening the principle of equal pay between women and men 
through transparency (above mentioned)
 - Financed projects on the gender pay gap in the framework of ESF and the Social Investment Package 

Awareness raising, dissemination actions and exchange of good practices:
- Gender pay gap website (http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-pay-gap/index_en.htm
- annual Business Forum in Brussels to exchange experience between companies in gender equality actions (2011-2014) 
- “Equality Pays Off” initiatives (training and tools for companies to raise awareness in companies about gender pay gap)
- EU Equal Pay day 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Reporting:
-  European  Commission  assessments  of  the  impact  of  the  gender  pay  gap  and  European  Commission  CSR  to  close 
gender pay;
- introduction of the gender pay gap indicator in the Structural Earning Survey
- (2014) report Tackling the gender pay gap in the European Union

The actions combine initiatives oriented at strengthening gender equality in training and education with 
studies on this topic (with particular reference to gender stereotypes and male role in Gender Equality and analyses 
on the situation of women in education and training), monitoring of set targets in the scientific and technological 
careers and awareness raising activities/campaigns.

Among main actions/outputs:
- the Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020)
- the 2012 Commission Communication “Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes” 
underlines the need to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics more attractive to women; 
- Horizon 2020 Programme, including measures for the promotion of women’s participation in science education (call for 
proposals GERI “Innovative approach to communication encouraging girls to study science”)
- 2012 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the Strategic Framework for European 
cooperation in education and training (ET 2020), including analyses on the situation of women in education and training; 
- Draft 2015 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the Strategic framework for 
European cooperation in education and training (ET2020)

Study and reporting activity:
-2012/2116(INI) European Parliament Resolution on eliminating gender stereotypes in the EU (2013) 
- study on “The role of men in gender equality” published by the European Commission (2013)

Awareness raising, dissemination actions and exchange of good practices:
- the campaign “Science: it’s a girl thing!” in collaboration with Scientix, the science teachers’ online community (2013-
2015) and dynamic website in the 24 EU languages (http://science-girl-thing.eu/en/splash).

2.3.1 - Participation of 
women in ICT
(CNECT)

Tot actions: 1

Total actions: 1

Total actions: 1

DG INFSO: 1

DG CNECT: 1 

DG CNECT: 1 

Many EU policies encourages the participation of women in the ICT workforce in order to achieve equal pay. 
This  strategy  action  is  focused  more  on  awareness  raising  activities  (also  awards),  networking  and  ex-
change of good practices to facilitate stakeholder dialogue on women’s careers in digital. 

2.3.2 - Gender equality 
and research

Tot actions: 7

Total actions: 7

Key action not pres-
ent in the document

DG RTD: 7

DG RTD: 7, 

Among main actions/outputs:
- COM (2007) 496 - E-Skills for the 21st Century – improvement of women’s ICT skills and their participation in ICT jobs;
- Horizon 2020 – promotion of women in ICT and scientific careers 
- Digital Agenda Action 60 – promotion of women in ICT (2011)
- Davos Declaration on the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs (2014); 
Awareness raising, dissemination activities and exchange of good practices:
- Code of best practices for Women in ICT; 
-multi-stakeholder platform on Corporate Social Responsibility in the ICT sector providing an opportunity to exchange 
good practices on gender equality and facilitate sector-wide cooperation (2013)
- International Girls in ICT Day awareness raising campaign (2013 -2015) organized by DG Connect; 
- Commission’s patronage of Digital Woman/Digital Girl/ Digital Organization of the Year Award in Vilnius (2013)
- (2013) Study on Women in the ICT sector 
The Strategy sustains women’s presence in research under this action only over 2010-2013. It combined activities for 
modernizing working culture and working conditions in research institutions (many projects were founded), studies in 
depth, training activities to scientific community and European Commission staff for integrating the gender dimension in 
EU-funded research and awareness activities through conferences and national events. Methods, terminology and case 
studies have also been developed to better integrate gender in the future European research activities (for instance by 
the Gendered Innovations expert group)
Among main actions/outputs:
- Financed projects on modernizing the working culture and working conditions in research institutes and Universities: 
FESTA, STAGES, GENOVATE and Gender Time; 
- Gender toolkit and training sessions held in 15 MS; 
- creation of the Gender Innovation expert group (2011) to identify specific modalities to better integrate gender in future 
European research (it has developed methods, terminology and case studies.
Awareness raising, dissemination actions and exchange of good practices:
-conferences and seminars such as the 2010 conference for the presentation of the results of the study “Meta – analysis 
of gender and science research”; 
- National events in Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Milan and Warsaw (2011)
- website in all EU languages on women scientists 
- the campaign “Science it’s a girl thing” (2011) 
Study and reporting activity:
- Structural change in research institutions: enhancing excellence, gender equality and efficiency in research and innova-
tion1 (2012); 
-report on Genderace2 (2011); 
-FEMCIT reports3 launched under FP6 (2011)
- FEMAGE reports launched under FP6

minimum = ♠; medium=♠ ♠; maximum=♠ ♠ ♠
Note:
1 http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/structural-changes-final-report_en.pdf.
2 http://genderace.ulb.ac.be/.
3 http://www.femcit.org/.

Table 3 - Priority 3 - Equality in decision making: actions and main achievements 

Strategy actions

Strategy’ actions 
2010

Number of actions
Referent of the actions 
up to mid-term review
New actions

Number of actions
Referent of the actions 
- Monitoring 01-2013/ 
06-2014
New actions
Total actions: 4

3.1. - Targeted 
initiatives to 
Improve the gender 
balance in decision 
making
(JUST/MARKT)

Tot actions: 3

Total actions: 5

DG EMPL: 2
DG MARKT: 1

DG MARKT: 1
DG JUST: 4, 
 New actions:1

DG MARKT: 1, 
DG JUST: 3
New actions: 1 

Tot actions: 2

Total actions: 2

Total actions: 1

DG RTD: 2

DG RTD: 2, 

DG RTD: 1

Tot actions: 1

SG: 1

SG: 1 repealed 

Total actions: 2

DG ALL: 1 
DG RTD: 1

3.2 - Monitor the 
25% target for 
women in top level 
decision-making 
positions in research
(RTD)
3.3 - Monitor 
progress towards 
the aim of 40% of 
members of one 
sex in committees 
and expert groups 
(ALL)

Main Achievements (outputs/outcomes) 

The action appropriately combines soft legislation, knowledge production and exchange of good practices collection, 
analysis  and  dissemination  of  comparable  data  on  gender  balance  in  decision  making  at  EU  level  with  regular 
reporting on women’s participation in decision making in the EU. The Commission has also supported the adoption of 
the proposal for a Directive on improving the gender balance among non‑executive directors of companies listed on 
stock exchanges

Among main actions/outputs:
- COM/2013/0207, a proposal to enhance business transparency on social and environmental matters 
-COM (2012) 615 A proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the European Council on improving the 
gender balance among non executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges 
-COM (2012) 740 2012 Action Plan on European company law and corporate governance
-COM (2011) 164 Green paper on EU corporate governance framework
-European Pact for gender equality 2011-2020, including provisions on this issue
- calls for projects under Progress to implement actions to increase gender balance in decision-making positions
- Women on the Board Pledge for Europe initiative (call for MS actions)
- 2012 European Commission Consultation on gender imbalance in company boards

Study and reporting activity:
-SEC (2011) 246 Commission Staff Working Document The gender balance in business leadership
- (2012) progress report on Women in economic decision-making
- (2013) report on “Women and men in leadership positions in the EU, 2013” 
- (2014) two factsheets on the topic of gender balance on corporate boards
Monitoring of set targets is relevant for assessing the state of art in this field. Under this action improvement of data 
collection, development of new indicators and data updating
Main actions/outputs:

Study and reporting activity: 
- Continuous updating of the She figures
The  action  focuses  on  the  importance  of  monitoring  the  women’s  participation  in  committees  and  expert  groups 
established by the Commission and under the ORIZON 2020. Significant improvements in gender balance have 
been achieved

Among main actions/outputs:
2010:  C  (2010)  7649  framework  for  expert  groups  establishing  as  an  objective  the  need  to  provide  a  balance 
representation between men and women in the appointment of the individual experts
2013: EU regulation no. 1291/2013 of the EU Parliament and the Council establishing Horizon 2020 - the Framework 
Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) and repealing Decision No 1982/2006/European Commission 
setting a 40% target of the under-represented sex in panels, groups and committees

Gender Equality Institutional mechanisms and tools: 2014: setting of a monitoring mechanism (ORIZON)

Tot actions: 1

Total actions: 1

Total actions: 1

DG COMM: 1
DG JUST: 1

DG COMM: 1
DG JUST: 1

DG COMM: 1, 
DG JUST: 1,

Tot action: 1

Total actions: 1

Total actions: 1

DG HR: 1

DG HR: 1 
DG ALL: 1

DG HR: 1 
DG ALL: 1

3.4 - Promote 
greater 
participation by 
women in European 
Parliament 
elections (COMM/
JUST)

3.4.1. Monitor 
progress of 
representation 
targets for women in 
management posts 
and AD category in 
the Commission (HR/
ALL)

The action identifies EU funding programmes that can be used for enhancing women’s participation in EU elections. 
Many projects have been implemented to reach this aim (mainly awareness activities and networking) with particular 
reference to the EU Parliament elections in 2014.

Among main actions/outputs:
- Support to women’s participation in politics under the following EU programmes: Europe for Citizens Programme; the 
2007-2013: Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme; 2014-2020 Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme;

Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchanging of good practices:
- 2014: PROGRESS support to the campaign 50/50 (EWL)

Studies and reporting activity:
-  Monitoring  of  women’s  presence  in  top  management  positions  at  national  and  EU  level  (European  Commission 
database on women and men in decision-making)
Under the action (2011), each Commission department drew up its own plan of action for how to achieve the targets. 
A regular monitoring and reporting activity on achievement of set targets have being carried out by the Directorate-
General for Human Resources.
Significant improvements in gender balance in management positions at the Commission and DGs level have 
been achieved 

Among main actions/outputs:
- Action Plans for all the European Commission DGs including actions for reaching the EU targets on women’s presence 
in management positions in the European Commission. 
Awareness  raising,  dissemination  measures  and  exchanging  of  good  practices :- 2012 bilateral meetings 
with all the European Commission DGs.

Study and reporting activity:
 - (2012-2014) DG HR monitoring reports on implementation of the Plans
- a quarterly reporting system of the gender representation targets 

 
Table 4 - Priority 4 Dignity, integrity and an end to gender-based violence: actions and main achievements 

Strategy actions

Strategy’ actions 
2010

Number of 
actions
Referent of the 
actions up to 
mid-term review
New actions

Number of 
actions
Referent of 
the actions - 
Monitoring 01-
2013/ 06-2014
New actions
Total actions: 6

4.1 Adopt an EU-wide 
strategy on combating 
violence against women 
(JUST/HOME)

Tot actions: 6

Total actions: 8

DG JUST: 5
DG COMM: 1
DG EMPL: 1

DG JUST: 6, 1 
DG HOME: 2, 

DG JUST: 5, DG 
HOME: 1 

Repealed action: 1 
(JUST)

New actions: 3 

New actions: 2

4.2 Ensure that Asylum 
legislation takes into 
account GE; promote Gender 
specific training and BP 
within the EASO and via 
funding by the ERF (HOME)

Tot actions: 2

Total actions: 2

Total actions: 1

DG HOME: 1
DG JUST: 1

DG HOME: 2, 1 
repealed

DG HOME: 1 

Main Achievements (outputs/outcomes) 

The  action  appropriately  combines  legislative  measures,  monitoring  of  their  transposition  and  support  with  awareness 
raising campaigns, knowledge production (thematic insights on specific forms of violence against women, study on collection 
data methods and tools etc.), exchange of best practices and funding for initiatives in this area

Among main actions/outputs:
-  Directive  2012/29/EU  establishing  minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and  protection  of  victims  of  crime,  and 
replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA
- Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings
- Resolution on combating violence against women (2013/2004 (INL))
- COM(2012) 286 final EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012–2016
- COM(2013) 833 final Towards the elimination of female genital mutilation
- Daphne III programme (violence against women as priority) and financed projects

Study and reporting activity:
- many studies and reports (2012-2013) in the field of Violence against Women, data collection, tools and good practices 
on gender-based and domestic violence across the EU, situation and trends of FGM in EU - database on domestic violence

Awareness raising/dissemination activities and exchange of good practices:
- seminars on violence against the women across the EU MS
- 2013 Consultation on combating female genital mutilation in EU
-  EU  policy  package  on  the  elimination  of  female  genital  mutilation:  EU  campaign  on  zero  tolerance  to  female  genital 
mutilation, website on female genital mutilation and EIGE actions
- 2013 roundtable on FGM chaired by Vice-President Reding
The action appropriately combines gender mainstreaming in EU legislation with funding schemes and training to operators 
involved in this field;

Among main actions/outputs:
- Gender mainstreaming throughout the European Asylum Curriculum (EAC);
-  the  recast  Asylum  Procedures  Directive  (2013/32)  including  women  victims  of  gender-based  violence  and  victims  of 
female genital mutilation between applicants in need of special procedural guarantees)
- the recast Reception conditions directive (2013/33) (improvement of reception provisions for vulnerable persons)

Gender Equality Institutional mechanism and tools:
- EASO trainings curriculum for case officers and asylum practicioners

4.3 - Gender issues in 
health policies
(SANCO/EMPL/JRC)

Tot actions: 9

Total actions: 10

Total actions: 7

DG SANCO: 5
DG EMPL: 5
DG EMPL: 1

DG SANCO: 6
DG EMPL: 4, 

DGSANCO: 5
DG EMPL: 3, 
Deleted actions: 
1 (EMPL)

4.3.1 - Cyber stalking/
harassement/violence

Key action not 
present

Key action not 
present in the 
document

Total actions: 1

DG JRC: 1 
New actions: 1

The action appropriately combines gender mainstreaming in EU legislation and policies on healthcare, through the drafting 
of health and gender impact assessments, with awareness raising activities, knowledge production and exchange of good 
practices between MS/stakeholders up to the definition of specific action plans in this area.
Among main actions/outputs:
- Gender mainstreaming within the EU Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Strategic Framework 2014-2020 (women are 
a specific target of the actions foreseen by the Strategy)
- Gender mainstreaming within the EU Strategy Together for Health and the European Innovation Partnership
- Gender as an horizontal issue in policies such as tobacco control, HIV/AIDS, European partnership for action against cancer
-  Gender  mainstreaming  within  the  European  Year  for  Active  Ageing  and  Solidarity  between  Generations  (Active  Ageing 
Index; CSR to improve older women’s labour market participation in the MS);

Awareness raising/dissemination activities and exchange of good practices:
- seminars/conferences on Gender Mainstreaming in health policies 
This  new  action  introduced  in  2013  aims  to  develop  knowledge  about  gender-dimensions  of  cyber-stalking,  cyber-
harassments and all forms of cyber-violence. It foresaw proposals for actions and awareness-raising activities 

Table 5 Priority area 5 Gender equality in external actions: main actions and achievements

Strategy actions Strategy’ actions 

2010

Tot actions: 2

DG ELARG: 1
DG EMPL: 1

5.1 - Monitor 
and support 
adherence to 
the Copenhagen 
criteria for 
accession to the 
EU (ELARG/EMPL)

Number of actions
Referent of the 
actions up to mid-
term review
New actions
Tot actions: 2

DG EMPL: 2 
DG ELARG: 1

Number of actions
Referent of the actions 
- Monitoring 01-2013/ 
06-2014
New actions
Total actions: 3

DG EMPL: 2 
DG ELARG: 1

New actions: 1 

5.2 - External 
relations and 
development 
policies (DEVCO/
EEAS)

Tot actions: 9

Total actions: 11

Total actions: 11

DG AIDCO: 8
DG DEV: 7
DG RELEX: 4

DG DEVCO: 11 
DG EEAS: 5

DG DEVCO: 8 
DG EEAS: 7

New actions: 1 

New actions: 1 

Main Achievements (outputs/outcomes) 

The  action  appropriately  combines  monitoring  of  the  adherence  to  the  Copenhagen  criteria  in  the  field  of  equal 
treatment between women and men by acceding countries with support for their take up. It also monitor the GE in 
the European Commission financial assistance under the IPA. Policy dialogues for the development of Employment 
and Social Reform Programmes has been launched with all four EU candidate countries.

Among the main actions/outputs:
-  Gender  equality  as  a  horizontal  issue  within  the  Human  Resources  Development  Operational  Programme 
implemented within IPA

Awareness raising/dissemination activities and exchange of good practices:
- (2013-2014) Screening meetings and discussion with Montenegro and Serbia on GE issues
- Taiex regional workshops and technical meetings on implementation of EU criteria on GE/transposition of legislation 
in enlargement countries

Study and reporting activity:
- (2010-14) Yearly Progress Reports on candidate/potential countries that cover GE issues;
The  action  appropriately  combines  policy  dialogue  with  third  countries  and  specific  actions  on  gender  equality, 
initiatives/projects  addressed  to  support  civil  society  organizations  working  on  women’s  rights  with  capacity 
building of EU development staff working on gender (training, guidelines etc.), monitoring and reporting on gender 
equality performance, the advancement of the EU agenda on gender equality in third countries and contribution 
to  international  objectives  (i.e  Millenium  development  Goals).  Particular  attention  is  devoted  to  improvement  of 
indicators (the use of gender sensitive indicators is increasing in all EU delegations: they are now included in at least 
20 different sectors). Many initiatives have been devoted to promoting democracy and women’s participation to the 
election process and their role in external conflicts and crises (guidelines, training, seminars, thematic factsheet, 
literature review on Gender issue, women’s networks to interact in peace-building debates)

Among the main actions/outputs:
- 2010-15 EU Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s empowerment in Development (GAP) and setting of 
task force the GAP’s successor (2016 -2020)
- The EU Comprehensive Approach to external conflicts and crises (UNSCR 1325 and 1820 on women, peace and 
security) and the first (2013) and second report (2014) on EU indicators for the Comprehensive approach
- (2012-2014) EU Strategic Framework and Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy
- The 2013 European Neighborhood Policy Package 
-  Gender  mainstreaming  within  the  European  Neighbourhood  Instrument  (ENI)  and  other  financial  Instruments 
supporting the Neighbourhood: Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI); Partnership Instrument (PI); Instrument 
contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP); European Instrument for Democracy & Human Rights (EIDHR) and financed 
projects
- (2013) human rights country strategies (116 out of 146 have women rights as a priority);
Study and reporting activity:
- Gender country profiles of EAP countries

Gender Equality Institutional mechanisms and tools:
- (2014) EU EOM and revision of the Core Team Guidelines for election observation dedicated to Women participation.

Tot actions: 1

Total actions: 1

Total actions: 1

DG ECHO: 1

DG ECHO: 1

DG ECHO: 1

The  action  foresees  the  integration  of  the  gender  perspective  in  the  main  sectors  of  humanitarian  aid  through 
the implementation of specific gender target initiatives and strategies, the develop of capacity building initiatives 
addressed to humanitarian partners and staff, the use of gender analysis, the creation of a gender-age marker and 
the collection of gender disaggregated data, awareness raising activities.

5.3 - Further 
integration 
of gender 
considerations 
into EU 
humanitarian aid 
(ECHO)

5.3.1 - Other 
external actions 
and cooperation 
with international 
organizations (RTD/
JUST/EEAS)

Tot actions: 2

Total actions: 3

Total actions: 2

DG RTD: 2

DG RTD: 2 
DG JUST: 1
DG EEAS: 1

DG RTD: 1 
DG JUST: 1
DG EEAS: 1

New actions: 1 

New actions: 1 

Among main actions/outputs:
- DG ECHO Staff Working Document on Gender in Humanitarian Assistance: Different Needs, Adapted Assistance 
(SWD (2013)290 final)
- Humanitarian Wash Policy integrating the gender equality perspective

Gender Equality Institutional mechanisms and tools:
- creation of a gender-age marker and trainings on its use
-  2010/2014  European  Commission  support  to  the  project  that  increased  the  capacity  of  humanitarian  staff  to 
effectively manage and coordinate inter-agency, multi - sectorial GBV programmes
The action developed analysis of the situation of women in Science in the MED, international dialogue and cooperation 
with international organizations on the promotion of gender equality in research and innovation combined with the 
implementation of significant projects under the FP7 and Horizon 2020 programmes.

Among the main actions/outputs:
- 2.4 million euro project SHEMERA

Gender Equality Institutional mechanisms and tools:
- involvement of USA experts in the expert group on Structural change in research institutions and USA/ Canadian 
experts in the expert group on Gendered Innovations

Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchanging of good practices:
- EU participation and support to the preparation of CSW

Table 6 Horizontal issues: main Actions and achievements 

Strategy actions

Strategy’ actions 
2010

Number of 
actions
Referent of the 
actions up to 
mid-term review
New actions
Total actions: 4

Number of actions
Referent of the 
actions - Monitoring 
01-2013/ 06-2014
New actions

Total actions: 2

Tot actions: 4

6.1 - Address the role 
of men in GE; promote 
good practices on gender 
roles in youth, education, 
culture and sports (EAC/
RTD)

DG EMPL: 1
DG EAC: 3

DG EAC: 3, 
DG JUST: 1, 

DG EAC: 1 
DG RTD: 1

Tot actions: 7

Total actions: 6

Total actions: 6

DG EMPL: 7

DG JUST: 6, 

DG JUST: 6, 

6.2 - Monitor the 
implementation of 
EU equal treatment 
laws with focus on 
Dir. 2004/113/EC and 
2006/54/EC
(JUST)

Achievements: main outputs/outcomes

The action refers to policies in part already envisaged under the priority 1 as for youth and education (action - Promote gender 
equality in youth and education and training), but emphasizing the importance of studying and awareness raising on the 
existing gender roles in this fields as well in the sport.

Among main actions/outputs:
- Council Recommendation on Early School Leaving (2011)
- The Communication “Youth on the Move” (COM (2010) 477 final)
- Erasmus + 2014-2020 Programme for education, training, youth and sport (2013)

Gender Equality Institutional mechanism and tools:
- (2014) Training toolkit and courses for the scientific community and on responsible research & innovation, including the 
promotion of gender equality

Studies and reporting activity: 
- study the Role of men in gender equality (2012)
The action increases the knowledge on effective implementation of anti-discrimination and gender equality directives and 
trough monitoring reports and dissemination actions of implementation results. Specific attention is given to disability issue. 
Monitoring the directives’ implementation is important in order to plan new and effective policies in gender equality field.
Among main actions/outputs:

Studies and reporting activity: 
- report on implementation of Directive 2004/113/European Commission. 
- report on the application of the Directive 2006/54/European Commission
- (2014) joint implementation report on the implementation of Directive 2000/43/European Commission on equal treatment 
between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin and the application of Directive  2000/78/European Commission on 
equal treatment in employment and occupation
- annual reports of the Disability High Level Group

Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchanging of good practices: 
- A conference on the implementation of the directive 2004/113/European Commission
- Forum on the implementation of the Directive 2004/113/European Commission and the Test‑Achats judgement (2011)
- annual meetings and the annual conference on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities to exchange good practices;

6.3 - Promote full 
implementation of the 
BPfA with support of EIGE 
(ALL/ESTAT/JUST

Tot actions: 5

Total actions: 5

Total actions: 5

DG EMPL: 5
DG ESTAT: 2
DG INFSO: 1

DG JUST: 4
DG ESTAT: 2
DG CNECT:1
DG ENV:1
DG ALL: 1 

DG JUST: 4
DG ESTAT: 2
DG ALL: 2 

The action combines activities to support in the MS the implementation of GM with particular reference to the gender impact 
assessment  and  gender  budgeting  (awareness  raising  activities,  exchange  of  good  practices,  training  initiatives  within 
the public administration, GM tools) and an intense work to develop gender indicators mainly as the follow-up of the BPfa.
Among main actions/outputs:
- PROGRESS programme - call for proposals on improving gender mainstreaming in national policies and programmes (2010)

Gender Equality Institutional mechanism and tools:
- a dedicated section on gender indicators on the Eurostat website
- a memorandum of understanding between Eurostat and the EIGE on gender statistics (2011)
- EU indicators (DG Home) on immigrant integration
- indicators on women and the environment, on women and the media and recently on women and the economy (2014) in 
the framework of the EU follow-up of the BPfA
- a new indicator on the provision of sex disaggregated statistics
-  European  Commission  Pilot  project  for  the  development  of  indicators  to  measure  the  implementation  of  the  European 
Charter of women and men in local life” (2013)
Studies and reporting activity: 
- EUROSTAT Statistics Explained article on gender statistics
- EUROSTAT - Labour Force Survey (LFS) - the in-depth analysis of the ad-hoc module on reconciliation and ad hoc module 
on disability
-  Eurostat  and  DG  JUST  survey  to  collect  data  disaggregated  by  sex  on  disability  in  relation  to  employment  and  social 
participation
- European Commission report presenting analysis of the indicators (2013)
- EIGE study on women and the media (2013).
- EIGE study on institutional mechanisms, women and the economy (2014).
EIGE comprehensive review of progress in all areas of concern of the Platform (2014). 
- (as from 2015), yearly specific focus on the EU follow-up of the Platform (in 2015 on decision making).

6.4 - Present an Annual 
report on progress on GE, 
Gender Equality dialogue.
 (JUST/EMPL)

Tot actions: 4

Tot actions: 6

Tot actions: 6

DG EMPL: 4

DG JUST: 6
DG EMPL: 1 

DG JUST: 6 + 1 not 
carried out so far

DG EMPL: 1 

6.4.1 - Improve European 
Commission Institutional 
mechanisms for gender 
mainstreaming
(SG/ ALL)

Tot actions: 8

Total actions: 8

Total actions: 9

DG ALL: 3
DG HR: 2
DG BUDG: 1
DG EMPL: 1
DG ENV: 1
DG AIDCO: 1
 DG RTD: 1
SG: 1

DG ALL: 3
DG HR:2, 
 SG: 1
DG BUDG:1
DG RTD:1, 
DG AIDCO:1
DG ENV:1
DG JUST: 1

DG JUST: 2, 
SG: 1
DG BUDG:1
DG ALL: 1
DG HR:1
DG RTD:1
DG DEVCO:1
DG ENV:1
DG Taxud: 1

This action focused on reporting activity about progress on gender equality and on the UE cooperation with both the Equality 
Ministries to plan the gender equality activity and Social partners and civil society. At this end, the action mainly combined 
funding activity with awareness raising actions and exchange of good practices on gender equality

Among main actions/outputs:
European Pact for gender equality, 2011-2020 
- joint declaration, definition and implementation of gender equality policies by the Trio of presidencies;
- European Commission. DG EMPL funding for measures addressing equality between women and men under the industrial 
relations and social dialogue budget heading (15 grants for EUR 2,4 million) under the budget heading for information and 
training measures for workers’ organisations (5 grants for EUR 700 000), grants under the social dialogue budget heading 
(heading 04030108) as from 2014, involving as beneficiaries European and national social partner organizations.
Awareness raising, dissemination measures and exchanging of good practices: 
- bi-annual meetings of the HLG on gender mainstreaming
- EU Italian presidency conference (2014) “Gender equality in Europe: an unfinished business? Taking stock 20 years after the 
Beijing Platform for Action”;
 - EU Irish presidency conference (2013) “Women’s economic engagement and the Europe 2020 agenda” 
- (2011- 2012) 6 seminars of exchange of good practice on ‘Implementing gender mainstreaming’, ‘New forms of work’ 
and ‘Tackling the gender pay gap’, awareness-raising on violence against women’, ‘Economic decision-making’ and ‘Gender 
Training in education’. 
- (2013-2014) 4 seminars of exchange of good practice on ‘Measures to fight violence against women’; ‘Equal pay days’; 
‘Reconciliation of work and family life’, ‘Gender impact assessment’
Gender Equality Institutional mechanism and tools:
- Eurobarometer on gender equality (2015)
Studies and reporting activity: 
- Annual reports on Progress on Equality between women and men in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
The  action  focused  on  activities  to  improve  European  Commission’s  institutional  mechanisms  for  gender  mainstreaming 
(Gender in the impact assessment, trainings to European Commission staff, website)

Among main actions/outputs:

Gender Equality Institutional mechanism and tools:
- eight training sessions to project officers involved in research management (2010 -2011) – DG HR
- (2013) a specific training on gender equality in Horizon 2020
- 5 training course ‘Gender Mainstreaming for Policy Officers’ (2010 and 2014) – DG HR
- a dedicated internal website

6.4.2. - Adapting governance 
tools for Gender Equality in 
research and innovation

Key action Not 
present in the 
document

Key action Not 
present in the 
document

Tot actions: 1

DG RTD: 1

Through this action the EU promotes as horizontal issue the mainstreaming of gender issues in research content and the equal 
participation of male and female researchers. 

Among main actions/outputs:
- the Communication on the European Research Area of 2012
- Science with and for Society” Programme of Horizon 2020.
- Financial support to research organizations through the Science in Society Programme of FP7

Annex 2

Main results from the Survey to the High-
Level Group on gender mainstreaming on the 
strengths and weaknesses of the Strategy 
for Equality between women and men 2010-
2015

Out of the 28 contacted HLG members, 23 have answered to the questionnaire by 04 September 2015 
(missing: Cyprus, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, UK). 

1. Added-value of the Strategy for equality between women and men 2010-
2015

1. 1. Do you perceive the Strategy as a coherent framework for gender equality?

According to the majority of members of the High level group the strategy is perceived as a cohe-
rent framework for gender equality: 

yes: 21

no: 0

FI,  LT,  EL,  MT,  CZ,  DE, 

IE, DK, SI, EE, IT, PL, BE, 

SE,  NL,  FR,  LV,  RO,  AT, 

BG, HR

Partially:2

ES, LU

don’t know: 0

1.2 In general terms, do you think that the Strategy has served as a useful 
guidance for gender equality activities at national level? Were developments in 
national gender equality policies for example facilitated through the existence 
and implementation of the Strategy for equality between women and men? 

yes: 17

no: 0

partially: 6

don’t know: 0

FI, LT, EL, MT, CZ, DE, IE, 

SI, IT, BE, SE, LV, RO, ES, 

AT, BG, HR

DK, EE, PL, NL, FR, LU

According to the majority of the respondents, the Strategy has served as a useful guidance 
for gender equality activities at national level:

•	 The Strategy and its measures have provided important support for gender equality policies and the 
development of national legislation. The priorities established in the Strategy served as a useful guid-
ance for the preparation of National Strategies in several Member States. 

•	 The Strategy has helped to set and maintain gender equality on the national agenda and increased 

its visibility. 

•	 National  policy-making  has  benefited  also  from  both  the  practical  and  topical  exchanges  of  good 
practices and discussions held in the framework of the High-Level Group of gender mainstreaming 
and the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. 
In some countries all national gender equality policies have been planned, elaborated and approved 
in correspondence with the EU strategic documents in this field. 

•	

•	 The Strategy represents a clear message to member states on the Commission’s intentions and it 
paved the way for national documents. The Strategy gives a general direction of the most needed 
and desirable actions which should be taken by both the Commission and Member States on their 
way towards achieving gender equality. In this respect it has served as a useful instrument for the 
government facilitating the process of initiating actions and drafting the budget in the area of gender 
equality. 

However, some of the respondents underline that the Strategy is perceived as too much limiting the role 
of men to a supporting role of advancing women’s rights whilst leaving out the specific needs of men 
(specific needs and problems, victims of discrimination). Also, some respondents observe that the 24 key 
actions indicated in the Strategy were mostly directed to the European Commission only.

2. Objectives and results

2.1. Do you think that the six priority areas of the Strategy 2010-2015 
were the right ones?

no: 0

yes: 18
FI,  LT,  EL,  MT,  DE, 

DK,  SI,  EE,  IT,  PL, 

SE,  NL,  FR,  LV,  RO, 

ES, BG, HR

partially: 5
CZ, IE, BE, AT, LU

don’t know: 0

According to the large majority of respondents the six priority areas were 
the right ones:
•	 The priority areas are broad and incorporate matters that are most relevant to 
gender equality. They are still relevant and should be incorporated in the new 
Strategy. The focus on gender equality in working life, equal pay and economic 
decision-making has been well justified, based on the treaties and the mandate 
of  the  EU.  Gender  balance  in  political  decision-making  is  an  inherent  part  of 
the realisation of democracy in the EU. It is also important that the EU has put 
more emphasis on its work against gender based violence and promoting gender 
equality and human rights beyond EU. 

•	 The following priority areas are considered by some of particular relevance to 

the achievement of gender equality: 
•	

The priority area on ‘Horizontal issues’, particularly gender mainstreaming, 
can have an impact on other social, economic and political spheres, by en-
suring  that  gender  equality  is  safeguarded  in  the  respective  policies  and 
programmes. 

•	 Other ‘Horizontal issues’, such as gender stereotypes, may impact the achie-
vement of gender equality within the other priority areas. Traditional ste-
reotypes can influence the behaviour and attitudes of women and men in 
education, labour market, decision-making positions, media, the uptake of 
family friendly measures, the family and society, thus affecting the use of 
time, access to resources and participation in all these spheres. Therefore, 
combating gender stereotypes can have a spill over effect on the achieve-
ment of gender equality within other priority areas of the strategy. 

•	 Achieving  ‘Equal  economic  independence’  is  also  important,  and  impinges 
on other priority areas within the strategy, namely equal pay, having equal 
opportunities to participate in decision-making positions, as well as women’s 
empowerment to challenge and combat violence. Thus, combating structural 
discrimination in employment; raising awareness on the benefits of work-
life  balance  and  family  friendly  measures;  enhancing  the  availability  and 
affordability  of  care  structures,  and  combating  segregation  are  important 
objectives towards equal economic independence and the achievement of 
gender equality.

•	 Due to the dramatic impact of the crisis, especially in some EU countries, and 
despite all the efforts and achievements the situation has not substantially im-
proved in some Member States. Therefore, these priority areas should be main-

91

Annexestained in the future Strategy. Additionally, there are a number of related issues 
which might be incorporated and/or strengthened, such as: Promoting economic 
independence  of  women,  gender  equality  in  decision-making  in  particular  at 
the highest levels and removing gender pay gap; Promoting more equal shar-
ing of family and household responsibilities and encouraging Member States to 
strengthen reconciliation policies for both men and women; Eradication of the 
violence against women as a priority; Integration of the gender dimension in all 
EU Strategies, funding programmes and policy areas (including gender impact 
assessment pre and post, gender budgeting, monitoring and evaluation) 

Some proposals for improvement also emerge from the answers:
•	

In the future it could be considered whether the strategy should concentrate on a 
smaller number of actions; there is a need for a sharper focus on specific issues 
and new tools to address them.

•	 Many of the respondents underline the need to develop new mechanisms/tools 
for a greater engagement of men and boys in gender equality, for combating 
gender stereotypes including gender segregation in employment and education, 
for  better  work-life  balance  policies  focusing  more  on  men  as  caregivers,  for 
challenging the gender division of work inside the households and care of the 
elderly. Men should be considered also when talking about the use of leave en-
titlements and the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
In addition some suggest some new issues that deserve attention. These include 
the reconciliation of work and family life, a plan for thorough implementation of 
gender mainstreaming in the Commission. Future work must also make visible 
differences  not  only  between  women  and  men,  but  also  within  the  groups  of 
women and men, for example the situation of women from minorities including 
Roma women, and their access to employment.

•	

•	 Other challenges mentioned by respondents are: equality between women and 
men in connection to the media and virtual space, environment, transport, sports, 
science, education and health. New challenges like precarious working conditions 
and the increasing digitalisation of society should also be addressed in a new 
strategy. Some suggest considering the equal division of work and family tasks 
between women and men as an additional priority area. Furthermore the impact 
of the financial and economic crisis should be taken into consideration.

•	 The role of education has been left out of the strategy, a vital area that can help 
fight gender stereotypes as decisions on future careers is taken in schools, which 
later has effects on pay, decision making and live/work balance.

•	 Some  observe  that  gender  mainstreaming,  as  a  strategy  within  the  strategy, 
should have been dealt with more prominently. More attention should be paid to 
the integration of gender perspectives in the EU economic policies and the Eu-
rope 2020 strategy as well as in other policy areas in general. Currently, gender 
mainstreaming is closely associated in the Strategy with employment and social 
issues and less so with other areas.

•	 According to others, while the priority areas of the Strategy address issues that 
are relevant in the European context, the specific actions included in the docu-
ment are sometimes too generically identified.

•	 The language in the strategy should be more gender neutral in order to achieve 
gender equality for both sexes. Currently the tone of the strategy doesn’t include 
the  male  perspective.  In  addition,  the  gender  equality  language  should  work 
more with the justice and human rights argumentation, not just the economic 
argumentation. 

92

Annexes2.2. In general terms, do you think that the objectives of the Strategy’s 
priority areas were sufficiently clear and well defined?

yes: 9

no: 2

partially: 11

don’t know: 0

FI, LT, EL, MT, DE, DK, LV, 

IE, LU

RO, BG

SI,  EE,  IT,  PL,  BE,  SE, 

NL, FR, ES, AT, HR

The  positions  on  this  issue  are  split,  with  half  of  the  respondents  only 
partially agreeing:

Positive answers:
•	

In general, the objectives of the Strategy were clearly defined. The text of the 
Strategy and the communication approach of the European Commission have 
been quite clear and concise.

•	 Priority  areas  are  well  defined  and  backed  by  relevant  statistical  data.  Refer-
ence is made to relevant legislation, commitments, guidelines and other related 
documentation. Every objective of the Strategy is also complemented with a set 
of key actions that the Commission set out to achieve for every priority area, 
thus shedding more light on the scope of these priorities. Moreover, the annual 
reports of this Strategy provide further insight on the actions taken to achieve 
these priorities, as well as the progress and remaining challenges to the achieve-
ment of gender equality within the priority areas mentioned.

•	 The Strategy defined concrete and measurable key actions and sub-actions for 
each priority area. This is crucial for the successful implementation and evalua-
tion of any strategy and should also be done in the next one. 

•	 Each priority is to a great extend adequately designed to provide an effective 

answer to the main gender equality issues identified on European level.

While the more negative aspects are the following:
•	 The objectives identified in Strategy are often too broadly defined. It would be 
helpful to set more specific indicators to each of the objective. We are however 
aware of the difficulty with setting of the objectives and their exact indicators. 
In order to make gender equality a reality, we need more specific, measurable, 
achievable and realistic objectives. The specific actions are sometimes too gen-
erally identified, thus failing in some cases to establish specific outputs or results 
to be achieved, timing and responsibilities.

•	

•	 The  actions  were  sometimes  too  broadly  defined.  Verbs  like:  “promote”,  “sup-
port efforts”, “seek to encourage”, “consider initiatives” are not concrete enough 
to  give  a  clear  indication  of  the  results  expected.  It  was  particularly  the  case 
regarding the actions concerning decision-Making. Most of the time, no concrete 
indicators were mentioned.

•	 Area 1 (Equal economic independence) and area 2 (Equal pay for equal work) are 
similar and could be merged in a future Strategy. Also, gender mainstreaming is 
not sufficiently prioritised in the Strategy, and not clear enough in the “Horizontal 
issues” area 6. Gender Mainstreaming needs to be a specific priority.

•	 Monitoring and control mechanism with specific “gender sensitive” indicators are 
also  needed,  and  the  data  supporting  them  should  be  gender  disaggregated 
to demonstrate relevant gender gaps and gender-specific impacts. Additionally, 
those  targets and  indicators need  to be  in  connection with  both the  EU  2020 
Strategy  and  its  monitoring  and  control  mechanism  and  with  the  post  2015 
development agenda.

93

Annexes•	 There needs to be more emphasis on information dissemination and awareness 
raising. There has to be an emphasis on fighting gender stereotypes through the 
areas mentioned earlier and through a clear structure, where outdated models 
of perceptions are discouraged.

•	

2.3.  More  specifically,  do  you  think  that  the  objectives  of  each  priority 
area were sufficiently clear and well defined?

Focusing on the objectives of each priority area, the respondents show different 
views on whether they are all sufficiently clear and well defined:

Equal economic 

independence 

Yes

11

No

1

FI, LT, EL, MT, DE, 

IE, 

DK, IT, LV, RO, 

BG, HR

Partly

10

CZ, SI, EE, PL, BE, 

SE, NL, FR, ES, LU

Equal pay for 

10

1

11

work of equal 

value

FI, LT, EL, MT, DE, 

IE, 

IT, PL, SE, LV, RO

Equality in deci-

14

1

sion-making

FI, LT, EL, CZ, DE, 

IE, 

DK, SI, IT, PL, SE, 

LV, RO, LU, HR

CZ, DK, SI, EE, BE, 

NL, FR, ES, LU, 

BG, HR

6

EE, BE, NL, FR, 

ES, BG

Dignity, integrity 

11

2

8

Don’t know

0

0

0

1

and ending gen-

der violence

FI, EL, MT, CZ, DE, 

IE, PL

EE, IT, BE, SE, NL, 

LT

DK, SI, LV, RO, 

BG, HR

FR, ES, LU

Promoting gender 

11

2

7

2

equality beyond 

the EU

FI, LT, EL, MT, DE, 

IE, LU

CZ, DK, BE, NL, 

EE, IT 

SI, PL, SE, LV, RO, 

FR, ES, HR

Horizontal issues

BG

11

3

8

LT, EL, MT, DE, 

IE, SE, FR

FI, CZ, EE, BE, NL, 

DK, SI, IT, PL, LV, 

RO, BG

ES, LU, HR

94

Annexes2.4 In general terms, do you think that implementation of the 24 key ac-
tions of the Strategy brought about sufficient progress in gender equality 
across the EU?

Yes: 5

No: 4

Partly: 12

Don’t know; 1

LT, EL, IT, RO, BG

IE, SE, AT, LU

FI,  MT,  CZ,  DE,  DK,  SI, 

NL, HR

EE, PL, BE, FR, LV, ES

Respondents underline that:

•	 Gender  equality  in  the  EU  is  still  work  in  progress,  where  a  lot  of  energy  and 
political will are still needed. The Commission has acted on the large majority 
of actions in the strategy and progress has been made in many areas. Some of 
the key actions have caused movement towards gender equality in the European 
Union, especially in the fields of equal pay for equal work and equality in decision 
making. Measurable progress has been achieved with regard to the presence of 
women in boards of the larger publicly listed companies.

•	 However, progress across Member States and priority areas is uneven, with gen-
der equality far to be achieved in several policy fields and gender gaps still sig-
nificant in many Member States. 

•	 The period covered has been challenging due to the economic downturn. 
•	 Many respondents focus on slow progress of effective and full implementation 
of gender mainstreaming across all DGs (apart from DG EMPL and Education). 
One of the priorities in the forthcoming EU strategy should therefore be a plan/
platform for through implementation of gender mainstreaming in the Commis-
sion, building on the experience of almost 20 years and providing an inspiration 
and role model for Member States. 

2.5 More specifically, do you think that sufficient progress in the six prio-
rity areas was achieved?

Yes

No

Partly

Don’t know

Equal  economic 

2

independence 

LT, EL

Equal  pay 

for 

3

work  of  equal 

LT, EL, SE

value

Equality  in  deci-

4

sion-making

LT, EL, IT, HR

Dignity, 

integrity 

1

and  ending  gen-

EL

der violence

2

CZ, LU 

2

CZ, LU

1

LU

3

15

3

FI,  MT,  DE,  SI,  EE, 

IE, DK, NL

IT,  PL,  BE,  SE,  FR, 

LV, RO, ES, BG, HR

14

3

FI,  MT,  DE,  SI,  EE, 

IE, DK, NL

IT,  PL,  BE,  FR,  LV, 

RO, ES, BG, HR

13

3

FI,  MT,  CZ,  DE,  SI, 

IE, DK, NL

EE, PL, BE, FR, LV, 

RO, ES, BG

14

3

CZ, PL, LU

FI,  MT,  DE,  IE,  SI, 

LT, DK, NL

EE,  IT,  BE,  FR,  LV, 

RO, ES, BG, HR

95

AnnexesPromoting gender 

4

equality  beyond 

LT, EL, SE, HR

the EU

Horizontal issues

2

1

LU

3

13

4

FI,  MT,  CZ,  DE,  IE, 

DK, EE, IT, NL

SI,  PL,  BE,  FR,  LV, 

RO, ES, BG

15

2

EL, IT

CZ, SE, FR

FI,  LT,  MT,  DE,  IE, 

DK, NL 

SI,  EE,  PL,  BE,  LV, 

RO, ES, LU, BG, HR

2.6. Could more progress have been achieved through the Strategy?

Answers to this question provide some valuable indications:

•	 Progress in the Member States is a result of strategic work and political commit-
ment, however much work remains to be done. Political will and keeping gender 
equality prominent on the political area is crucial for accelerating the progress in 
achieving de facto gender equality. Systematic involvement of top-level national 
and EU political actors in the discussions and monitoring of the Strategy could 
bring about more even progress across the EU. 

•	 A future Strategy should have more ambitious goals in order to achieve genuine 

progress, as well as more concrete and binding measures. 

•	 More efficient gender mainstreaming in the implementation of the Europe 2020 

strategy is needed. 

•	 More progress could have been achieved if a set of key actions were targeted at 
stakeholders at a national level besides those set for the Commission: including 
national stakeholders in the strategy can enhance cooperation with the Commis-
sion,  thus  encouraging  the  development and  implementation  of  further  initia-
tives at a national level. Such coordinated effort can target the circumstances 
and needs of the Member States and strengthen more action towards specific 
objectives related to gender equality, thus achieving further progress. 

•	 The Strategy could have achieved more progress by improving cooperation with 
EIGE and other EU agencies, with a view to enhancing the quantity and quality of 
sex-disaggregated data. EIGE’s achievements should be better promoted and the 
Strategy should invite, encourage and facilitate MS to actively use its researches 
and instruments.

•	 The Commission’s Annual Reports on progress in gender equality are a valuable 
contribution to monitoring but it is regrettable that the Annual Reports have not 
been published as a stand-alone Commission’s Communication since 2011. This 
has reduced their visibility and perception considerably. In addition, the long term 
impact of the Strategy and its measures is difficult to evaluate. More attention 
is needed on evaluating and tackling the gendered effects of the economic crisis 
and the integration of gender perspective in the design and the implementation 
of the responses to the crisis.

96

Annexes3. Strengths and Weaknesses

3.1 What were the Strategy’s main strengths? Please name a maximum 
of three and explain briefly:

1.  The Strategy has provided a strategic approach, with well-developed pri-
orities and targeted actions (LT and most of the other countries). Concrete 
priorities allowed all partners to know where to focus their policies and actions 
(EL). The document was clear and accessible and not too lengthy. The Strategy 
correctly  identifies  the  most  important  areas  and  actions  to  be  taken  (PL).  A 
down-to-earth approach, with pragmatic, ambitious and highly visible objecti-
ves, built for the long-term. It is a politically important document showing the 
importance of gender equality policy in the EU and at national level and pro-
viding a framework, where goals and measures are defined to achieve gender 
equality as a value enshrined in the Treaty (LV).

2.  A strong political driver (FR). The Strategy helps to maintain gender equality 

as a priority for action in the political agenda and policy arena (ES). 

3.  The separate strategy for equality between women and men has increased the 
coherence and visibility of gender equality policies at the EU level. The 
strategy has focused on clear priority areas that have a direct link to the EU tre-
aties and goals (FI). One of the strategy’s main strengths is that it was a stand-
alone strategy (LU). The strategy defines actions that could only and better be 
done at EU level (BE). Priority areas are coherent and relevant (CZ), serving as a 
common reference framework; strengthens arguments for Gender Equality and 
cannot be put aside easily (AT). 

4.  The Strategy has strengthened the cross-sectoral coordination, monitoring 
and  evaluation  of  gender  equality  policies  (FI).  The  strategy  is  comple-
mented  with  regular  evaluation  and  reporting.  The  yearly  reporting  provides 
information  on  progress  and  ongoing  actions.  Such  reporting  also  highlights 
remaining challenges and areas that require further action, thus setting out the 
agenda for further actions towards the achievement of gender equality (MT). 
The Strategy defined concrete and measurable key actions and sub-actions for 
each priority area (DE). Regular reports highlighted both activities carried out in 
the framework of implementation of the Strategy at EU level and in Member 
States and also changes in relevant situation (i.e. statistics) (EE). The strategy 
gives  an  opportunity  to  monitor  progress  annually  on  gender  equality  issues 
and to compare to other Member States, providing sometimes a stimulus to na-
tional policies. The mid-term review of the Strategy is an essential and strategic 
tool for follow –up of development (SE). 

5.  The Strategy and its measures have provided important support for gender 
equality  policies  in  Member  States  (FI).  The  European  Commission  has 
shown strong determination to support and promote the Strategy; in that way, 
the Member States considered the text of the Strategy as a useful tool for the 
promotion of gender equality at national level (EL). It is a reference framework 
for action on gender equality for both the EU and Member-States, contributing 
to the visibility of gender equality issues on both, national and EU level. Defines 
key priority areas of intervention also being relevant for all the Member States 
(SI). Coordination and sharing of national gender equality policies within the EU 
(NL).  The  added  value  of  having  a  focused  strategy  at  EU  level,  encouraging 
and reinforcing national policies and practices (ES). The priorities and actions 

97

Annexesimplemented by the Strategy address issues that are relevant in the European 
context; it is a coherent framework for gender equality and a useful guidance 
for gender equality activities at national level (BG). Rather small number of fo-
cus areas. This enabled focusing both efforts and resources on achieving results 
in chosen areas (EE). 

6.  The  dual  strategy  consisting  of  both  specific  measures  to  promote  gender 
equality  and  gender  mainstreaming  in  all  policy  areas:  both  approaches  are 
needed in the effective promotion of gender equality (FI, IE, SI, IT).

7.  The linkage to the other important international documents and conventions 
on the gender equality is included (CZ). External work: a united EU has enabled 
progress and promoted gender equality (DK)

8.  Supportive  measures, such as expert-level co-operation (HLG and Advisory 
Committee), programme for exchanging good practices, gender mainstreaming 
in the EC (EE); Coordination and knowledge exchange; it is important to learn 
from other MS in order to build on best practises. Having specific focus areas 
helps create synergies with the EC as well as MS (DK). Organising the events of 
exchange of good practices at European Union level (RO). 

9.  Promoting areas of interest which focus on vulnerable groups, their situation, 
especially in the context of economic, financial and social crisis in Europe (RO). 

The main weaknesses identified are:

1.  Gender mainstreaming is the most mentioned issue: More focus would have 
been needed on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in different policy 
areas  with  concrete  tools  to  integrate  gender  perspective  in  policy  processes 
(including systematic gender impact assessments and training of civil servants 
and  decision-makers)  (FI).  Gender  mainstreaming  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
Strategy could be mentioned in a broader way and as the horizontal issue of the 
Strategy (CZ). We need more effective mechanisms for gender mainstreaming 
and top-level commitment to achieve this (SI). Reference to gender mainstre-
aming is limited (IT). Gender mainstreaming is not sufficiently prioritised in the 
Strategy. There should be a plan/platform for implementation of gender main-
streaming in the Commission. A systematic work on enforcing the implementa-
tion of gender mainstreaming in all policy fields is crucial in the preparation of 
the new strategy (SE). Gender mainstreaming does not appear to be established 
yet as a routine assessment tool outside of the employment and social policy 
area e.g. in EU environmental policy (IE). The Strategy insufficiently addresses 
gender mainstreaming in other areas of the Europa 2020 (e.g. innovation and 
research) (LT) The Strategy is not effectively linked to the EU 2020 strategy and 
does not address certain policy fields that are important for gender equality (IT).

2.  Another weakness often cited is the need of a more formal follow-up and 
monitoring of the implementation of the Strategy (e.g. in the form of a 
communication and political discussion on the Annual Report on equality betwe-
en women and men) (FI). The annual report must get its formal status back so 
that it can serve as a basis for a dedicated debate on gender equality at the 
EPSCO-Council and as input for council conclusions to be adopted by the council. 
A political message is also essential if the Commission wants to present the re-
port to the EP and to have a dialogue with them (SE). The Commission’s Annual 
Reports on progress in gender equality have not been published as a stand-alo-

98

Annexesne Commission’s Communication since 2011 (DE). No systematic discussions of 
gender equality in the Council formations) (SI). Lack of a tool to bring systematic 
top-level political attention to the implementation of the Strategy and progress 
of the situation of women and men in the EU (EE). 

3.  The  need  for  objectives  and  indicators  is  another  issue  mentioned  by 
respondents.  The  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  Strategy  are  difficult  to 
assess,  in  the  absence  of  measurable  objectives  (IE).  No  specific  monitoring 
system  of  the  results  achieved  through  the  Strategy  is  in  place  (IT).  How  to 
measure progress when indicators are often absent (AT). There are no concrete 
goals and targets, which makes it difficult to assess progress and see whether 
results have been achieved (SE). There is not a clear connection in the annual 
reports of the Commission between the Strategy and the national results of MS 
policies on gender equality (NL). The lack of quantitative and qualitative targets 
in the main priorities areas and of a proper monitoring and control mechanism 
with  specific  “gender  sensitive”  indicators.  The  Strategy  for  equality  between 
women and men should made coherent synergies with the EU 2020 and its go-
vernance framework (ES). Lack of measurable goals and steady indicators that 
should be built on the model of the “Barcelona objectives” (FR). There are no 
indicators to measure the key action points in the 2010-2015 strategy. Objec-
tives too ambitious and vague (HR).

4.  A few respondents say that the bureaucratic terminology in certain parts of 
the text of the Strategy is difficult to understand and probably “hostile” to cer-
tain citizens who are sceptical towards the EU (EL). Wording often too weak e.g. 
consider initiatives instead of launch initiatives (AT).

5.  Intersectionality is not covered in much detail in the strategy. The needs of 
particular groups should be considered in every objective within the strategy, in 
the context of gender mainstreaming (MT). The question of multiple discrimina-
tion should be covered (CZ). More binding and concrete measures and better in-
tegration of an intersectional approach and taking into account the differences 
between groups of women and men, for example women with disabilities, older 
and younger women and women from ethnic minority background, without lo-
sing focus on gender (SI).

6.  The Strategy should include actions that can be carried out at a national 
level to enhance the effectiveness of its implementation across the Member 
States and achieve stronger results (CZ). 

7. 

8. 

It is important to promote gender equality as an issue concerning both women 
and men but looking at the strategy it still seems as if gender equality is only 
concerning promoting and empowering women (DK). 

Insufficient programs and funding lines allocated by the European Commission 
for the implementation of activities in the field of equality between women and 
men, linked to the objectives of the European Strategy (RO).

99

AnnexesAnnex 3

Positions expresses by relevant 
stakeholders by priority areas

Priority area 1: equal economic independence 

The general conceptualisation by different stakeholders is that across Europe the-
re’s still the permanence of under-utilisation of female human capital. Accor-
ding to the stakeholders Key area 1’s objective seems still not assured. The Advisory 
Committee states “a significant under-utilisation of the EU’s well educated fema-
le  human  capital  resource”,  besides  the  European  Council’s  and  the  Employment 
Committee’s  specific  endorsement  of  the  need  to  increase  female  labour  market 
participation.

Referring to strategy action  1.1  (Support  the  promotion  of  gender  equality  in 
the implementation of all aspects and flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 stra-
tegy) according to EIGEs’ opinion (2015) “Gender equality needs constant and sub-
stantive support in order to be a priority policy within the complex European agen-
da.” According to Advisory Committee (2012) the EU2020 targets have played their 
role as policy anchors, while in Advisory Committee (2014) it is said that “Europe 
2020”60 offers an opportunity to review and re-launch the Union’s commitment to 
the achievement of comprehensive gender equality policies. The achievement of the 
economic independence of women is closely linked to the key employment target of 
the Europe 2020 agenda. The European Parliament motion (2015) regrets “the fact 
that the Europe 2020 Strategy did not satisfactorily include the gender perspective, 
and therefore calls on the Commission and Council to ensure that gender equality 
is incorporated in all the programmes, actions and initiatives launched under that 
strategy  and  to  introduce  a  specific  pillar  for  equality  between  women  and  men 
within the strategy, to consider the objectives of the future strategy as an aspect of 
the European Semester, and to insert a gender perspective in the country-specific 
recommendations and the Annual Growth Survey”.

Relating to strategy action 1.2 (Poverty, social exclusion and pension) the Euro-
pean Parliament states that the face of poverty in Europe continue to be dispropor-
tionately female, “and this includes particularly single mothers, women with disa-
bilities, young women, old women, migrant women and ethnic minority women, all 
of whom are affected by poverty and social exclusion”; according to Forum on the 
future of gender equality in the European Union (2015) the Strategy addresses the 
poverty  of  women  through  actions  promoting  equal  economic  independence  and 
tacking women’s lower pension entitlements. 

As for strategy action 1.3 (Promote gender equality in education and training) 
European Commission (2014a) report on equality between women and men men-
tions the persistence of this segregation in education and occupations, while 

60   European Commission COM (2010) 2020 final: Europe 2020 A strategy for smart, sustainable and 
inclusive growth: March 2010.

100

Annexes 
according  to  the  European  Parliament  motion  (2015)  “there  are  still  educational 
institutions that practise gender segregation, and education materials often contain 
stereotypes that help to perpetuate the traditional separate roles assigned to girls 
and boys, which has a negative influence on their choices”. 

Referring  to  strategy  action  1.4  (Promote  gender  equality  in  European  Funds) 
much has been done: the European Commission has ensured its position as a hori-
zontal principle in successive EU structural funding programmes. The Commission 
has  funded  initiatives  at  Member  State  and  Institutional  levels  through  Progress 
and Daphne. The European Commission has made EU PROGRESS funding available 
over a two year period to end 2015 to enable both MS and civil society to undertake 
a wide range of projects to advance women into decision-making roles, and this 
continues  under  the  Rights,  Equality  and  Citizenship  (REC)  Programme  (Advisory 
Committee (2014)).

Strategy action 1.5 (Promote female entrepreneurship and self-employment) is 
mentioned  in  the  European  Parliament  motion  (2015)  which  stresses  the  impor-
tance of support programmes for women entrepreneurs and for women in science 
and academia, and urges the EU to support such programmes in a more tangible 
manner.

In the area of strategy action 1.6 (Reconciliation between work and private life) 
the Advisory Committee, reporting the results from a study promoted by DG Justice 
Single  Parents  and  Employment  in  Europe61  underlines  that  much  still  has  to  be 
achieved: mothers continue to be much more likely than fathers to work part-time; 
working mothers continue to have much frequent interrupted careers for caring pur-
poses; parental leave still remains a female tool; lone (single) mothers continue to 
have reduced work opportunities; women continue to spend significantly longer pe-
riods on domestic work than men. The European Parliament motion (2015) under-
lines “the failure to promote policies making for work-life balance, the insufficient 
promotion  of  flexible  working  hours,  especially  among  men,  and  the  low  take-up 
rate of parental and paternity leave”. In addition specific concern is expressed by 
the Advisory Committee referring to the availability of services: “The availability 
of  affordable  quality  childcare  to  support  working  parents  continues  to 
remain a major issue in many MS although a revision of the Barcelona targets 
to incorporate factors such as ages of compulsory schooling and the use of infor-
mal childcare arrangements merits consideration. (…) Recent research shows no 
significant improvement, which is disappointing particularly as the social part-
ners actively fostered action in relation to the availability of parental leave”62. The 
Advisory Committee evidences, in particular in the Nordic countries, a behavioural 
change, particularly on the part of senior male politicians and other key role model 
concerning the taking of parental leave, with some impact on the responses of the 
wider  workforce.  According  to  ETUC  in  relation  to  equal  economic  independence, 
most unions point to the need for stronger action on reconciliation issues, quality 
employment and equal pay.

Within  strategy  action  1.7  (Migration  policies  and  integration  of  migrants)  the 
Committee  on  Employment  and  Social  Affairs  (2015)  highlights  the  unequal  and 
vulnerable  position  of  women  of  minority  and  immigrant  origin  as  regards  their 
access to education and the labour market and calls on the Commission to propose 

61   Short Statistical Report No. 3: European Commission: April 2014.

62     Advisory  Committee  on  Equal  Opportunities  for  Women  and  Men  (2014)  Opinion  on  gender 
equality in the EU in the 21st century: remaining challenges and priorities, 27.11.2014.

101

Annexesin  its  new  gender  equality  strategy  clear  measures  against  discrimination  in  the 
labour market based on gender and gender identity. At the same time the European 
Parliament  motion  (2015)  stresses  the  importance  of  a  gender-sensitive  asylum 
and migration policy, the recognition of the threat of genital mutilation as a reason 
for asylum.

Priority area 2: equal pay for work of equal value

The main feeling emerging from stakeholders regards the enduring of gender 
pay gap: equal pay for work of equal value is still not adequately tackled. 
As Eurostat statistics63 show in all Member States, there is still a significant 
gender  pay  gap  (GPG).  As  reported  by  the  Advisory  Committee  the  equal 
pay  principle  is  hindered  by  a  lack  of  transparency  in  pay  systems,  a  lack 
of legal certainty on the concept of work of legal value and by procedural 
obstacles,  besides  Recommendations  issued  by  the  European  Commission 
on the GPG, addressed to all Member States and requiring them to facilitate 
greater wage transparency through specific measures in collaboration with 
economic entities, civil society, the social partners and the equality bodies.

European  Commission’s  report  on  equality  (2014a)  recalls  that  “progress 
in  closing  the  gender  pay  and  pension  gaps  has  been  frustratingly  slow” 
and  that  occupational  segregation  is  still  widespread  and  women  tend  to 
be concentrated in less well-paid sectors, but “Even in the same occupation 
and  with  the  same  education  level,  women  tend  to  be  paid  less  than 
their  male  counterparts”.  The  European  Parliament  motion  (2015)  draws 
attention  “once  again  to  the  fact  there  is  still  a  gender  pay  gap  that  has 
hardly been reduced in recent years; stresses that the gender pay gap arises 
from insufficient participation of women in the labour market, vertical and 
horizontal  segregation,  and  the  fact  that  sectors  where  women  are  over-
represented often have lower wages”. 

No  comments  on  each  strategy  action  has  been  found  in  the  documents 
analysed, even though, for example, as part of the Strategy, the European 
Commission in 2011 established the European Equal Pay Day together with 
collateral initiatives such as ‘Equality Pays Off’ (strategy action 2.3 Institute 
a European Equal Pay Day) 

Priority area 3: Equality in decision-making

Priority area 3 is the one where more progress, according to the stakeholders con-
sidered, has been reached. At the same time according to European Commission 
(2014a)  while  a  few  national  parliaments  and  governments  are  about  to  reach 
gender parity, women still account for less than a third of ministers and members 
of parliaments in the vast majority of Member States. “Addressing this deficit plays 
an important role in improving democratic accountability and prosperity in Europe.”

Referring to strategy action 3.1 (Improve the gender balance in decision making) 

63     Source:  Employment  Statistics:  Eurostat  LFS;  Gender  Pay  Gap:  Progress  on  Equality  between 
Women and Men 2013 : European Commission.

102

Annexesaccording to the Advisory Committee this area represents the most significant in-
crease in women’s representation in recent years, most noticeably in MS which have 
adopted  legislative  measures,  even  though  in  very  few  MS  and  very  few  sectors 
of  activity  have  women  yet  achieved  the  critical  mass  of  30%  recommended  by 
the United Nations or the more ambitious EU goal of 40% , but 15 MS are still at 
or below 15%. A progress in this direction is clearly detectable thanks to the fact 
that this issue has been a clear priority of the European Commission and the EU 
for many years and the Commission has implemented a very useful on-line data 
collection system to identify progress in the achievement of the overall goal. The 
increase has probably been achieved in response to the Commission’s initiative in 
this regard and due to political and regulatory pressure and which led to the draft 
resolution currently being examined at technical level at the Council of Ministers 
and in the European Parliament. The European Parliament motion (2015) points out 
that the biggest increase by far in the proportion of women on corporate boards has 
occurred in countries that have already adopted legislation on compulsory quotas, 
and that in Member States where no compulsory measures have been implemented 
companies are still a long way from achieving an acceptable gender balance.

Priority area 4: dignity, integrity and ending gender violence 

The Council of the European Union (2014) considers that in recent years “the pro-
blem of violence against women and girls has gained more visibility. It is recognised 
that violence against women remains prevalent in the European Union and consti-
tutes one of the main sources of gender inequalities of our time and a violation of 
human rights”.

A consideration shared among stakeholders is that concerning the area of gender 
violence it is difficult to assess the progress as statistics remain highly difficult to 
be collected and interpreted. The Advisory Committee evidences that “these are fre-
quently hidden and unreported crimes, which may not always lead to prosecutions 
or the accurate measurement of true numbers of victims. Qualitative surveys are 
the most usual methodology used.” European Commission (2014a) describes in its 
Report on equality between women and men, 2014 that “The prevalence of gender-
based violence is still alarmingly high. The EU worked to gather accurate and com-
parable European data on gender-based violence, as a basis for gauging the right 
policy responses. In cooperation with national statistical offices, Eurostat started to 
collect more detailed crime data recorded by the police and justice systems. A first 
EU-wide survey on women’s experiences of various forms of violence has been car-
ried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)”.

Even if an EU-wide strategy on combating violence against women still hasn’t been 
adopted the Forum on the future of gender equality in the European Union (2015) 
mentions  that  “several  EU  Institutions  have  collaborated  to  work  on  several  are-
as of violence against women: in the support to the elimination of female genital 
mutilation, to support the drafting of the Istanbul Convention, the first instrument 
in Europe to set legally binding standards to prevent violence against women and 
domestic violence, and its ratification in MS. The Commission is collaborating with 
partners to improve knowledge including the collection of comparable data across 
the EU. EIGE has produced research on VAW and in cooperation with Eurostat, it will 
also contribute to the future collection of data on violence. The European Commis-
sion funded awareness-raising campaigns in EU countries and NGOs and networks 
working to prevent violence against women and support its victims. In addition, the 
European Commission organises regular exchanges of best practices”. 

103

AnnexesThe  European  Parliament  motion  (2015)  regrets  that  the  strategy  for  equality 
between women and men 2010-2015 “does not specifically address disability, de-
spite the fact that women with disabilities are often in a less favourable situation 
than men with disabilities and are more exposed to the risks of poverty and social 
exclusion; therefore calls on the Commission to address the needs of women with 
disabilities in order to ensure their increased participation in the labour market; in 
that sense also regrets that the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 does not 
also include an integrated perspective on gender or a separate chapter dedicated to 
disability policies with a special focus on gender”.

Priority area 5: promoting gender equality beyond the EU

The  European  Commission  in  its  Report  on  equality  between  women  and  men 
(2014a) states that they have played a relevant role in promoting gender equality 
beyond  the  EU:  “in  its  strategic  framework  and  action  plan  on  human  rights  and 
democracy in non-EU third countries, the EU prioritised issues such as women’s 
political participation and economic empowerment, initiatives against gender 
based violence and harmful traditional practices, and the implementation of United 
Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security”. 
The Implementation of the EU plan of action on gender equality and women’s em-
powerment in development has led to significant progress since 2010: “The Com-
mission  had  supported  developing  countries’  efforts  to  promote  equal  rights  and 
improve  the  situation  of  women:  …  gender  mainstreaming  was  enhanced  in  20 
different policy sectors… Gender has been systematically integrated into the main 
humanitarian aid policy areas (e.g. protection, shelter, food assistance, health, wa-
ter,  sanitation  and  hygiene)  and  the  gender-age  marker  (57)  introduced  in  2014 
will  further  ensure  gender-  and  age-sensitive  programming  in  these  areas.  The 
Commission is currently supporting several projects aimed primarily at eliminating 
sexual  and  gender-based  violence  in  various  countries,  including  the  Democratic 
Republic of the Congo and Syria”. 

The relevance of the EU action is clearly noticeable also in specific political actions: 
according to the European Commission (2013a) “in 2012, DG Justice in coopera-
tion with the EEAS and DG Development and Cooperation prepared an EU position 
paper for the 57th session of the CSW in 2013 on the Elimination and prevention 
of all forms of violence against women and girls. The CSW was able to arrive at a 
very good outcome reflecting the main EU priorities outlined in the position on this 
important topic.”

According  to  the  Advisory  Committee  (2014)  “The  EU,  including  the  Commission, 
continues to actively engage on gender equality issues at the UN Commission on 
the Status of Women and through funding of aid programmes. The European Union 
also  works  in  close  partnership  with  UN  Women.  (…)  The  EU  has  been  an  active 
player in the support of development for women in the 20 years since the Beijing 
Platform for Action was agreed (…).”

European Commission (2015c) report draws attention to the importance of promo-
ting gender equality through political dialogue. A majority of EU delegations (66 out 
of 78, as compared with 57 in 2013) reported that they had raised gender equality 
at least once in the framework of political dialogue with partner countries.

Priority area 6: horizontal issues

104

AnnexesThe priority area on ‘Horizontal issues’, particularly gender mainstreaming, is 
considered  particularly  relevant  by  the  members  of  the  HLG,  as  it  can  have  an 
impact  on  other  social,  economic  and  political  spheres,  by  ensuring  that  gender 
equality is safeguarded in the respective policies and programmes. Other ‘Horizon‑
tal issues’, such as gender stereotypes, may impact the achievement of gender 
equality  within  the  other  priority  areas.  Traditional  stereotypes  can  influence  the 
behaviour and attitudes of women and men in education, labour market, decision-
making positions, media, the uptake of family friendly measures, the family and 
society, thus affecting the use of time, access to resources and participation in all 
these spheres. Therefore, combating gender stereotypes can have a spillover effect 
on the achievement of gender equality within other priority areas of the strategy. 

However the way the actions are specified is considered by some HLG experts so-
metimes unclear with many diverging themes included in this priority area. In par-
ticular  the  objectives  of  gender  mainstreaming  could  have  been  clearer, 
especially in some of the core areas of the EU policies, such as economic policies 
and innovation policies. 

105

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