European Women's Lobby, WIDE and CONCORD Statement Towards ...

July 2011 1

European Women’s Lobby, WIDE and CONCORD Statement Towards a gender responsive, accountable and participatory EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework and EU financing instruments 2014-2020 Introduction The European Women’s Lobby (EWL), WIDE Network, and the Gender Working Group of CONCORD – the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs, call on European and national policy-makers to integrate a women’s rights and gender equality perspective in the forthcoming decisions about the scope, priorities, and financing of the EU multi-annual financial framework (MFF) 2014-2020, and to ensure that EU funding programmes for the 2014-2020 period will provide the framework and sufficient financial resources to strengthen the EU commitment to promote women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of its internal and external policies. A gender-responsive MFF that takes into account the differential impact of budgetary decisions on women and men, that allocates sufficient funding for specific actions on gender equality through and that encourages gender mainstreaming in all EU financing instruments will make the limited EU budget more effective. It can also help the EU to reach the targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy, to enhance economic growth, and to answer demographic challenges. However, these positive outcomes require political will to prioritise gender equality. Earmarked EU funding for promoting equality between women and men has decreased since the 2000-2006 financial period, and in the 2007-2013 period only 0.37% (EUR 3.56 million of EUR 975 billion) of the EU budget has been allocated to budget lines and spending categories earmarked for promoting women’s rights and gender equality2. The decrease of EU funding for specific action on gender equality is partly due to the increased emphasis on gender mainstreaming as part of the EU dual strategy to gender equality. However, while an efficient gender mainstreaming can be a powerful tool to achieve equality between women and men when it accompanies specific actions to redress gender inequalities, evaluations of current funding programmes both within both EU internal and external policies show serious gaps in gender mainstreaming practices. The first part of this paper provides decision-makers with a roadmap to ensuring that the multi-annual financial framework 2014-2020 is gender responsive. This section has been published as an independent paper in May 20113 before the European Commission’s proposal for the MFF 2014-2020 of 29 June 2011. Given the gender blindness of the Commission’s proposal4, the recommendations to submit the MFF to gender impact assessment and to make in the MFF an explicit commitment to gender responsive budgeting are even more relevant. The 1

Sections 3.3 and 10.3 on EU external and development policies and financing programmes in these fields have been drafted by WIDE and the CONCORD Gender Working Group. The rest of the text has been drafted by the EWL.

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See annex 1 for a breakdown of earmarked EU spending on women’s rights and gender equality. The EWL, WIDE, and CONCORD Gender Working Group Statement “Toward gender responsive, accountable, and participatory post 2013 EU multi-annual financial framework” http://www.womenlobby.org/spip.php?article1725&lang=en 4 A Budget for Europe 2020 and A Budget for Europe 2020 II – Policy fiches, SEC(2011) 867final SEC(2011) 868final 3

second part of the paper makes recommendations regarding how specific funding programmes can better contribute to EU commitments to promoting equality between women and men and gender mainstreaming, and reacts to the initial remarks about the programmes made by the Commission in its MFF proposal.

Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Part I: Gender responsive, accountable and participatory EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2014-2020 .............................. 3 1.

EU values, social challenges, civil society participation as transversal priorities of the post-2013 MFF ................................. 3

2.

Provide sufficient financing for programmes/budget lines for equality between women and men ....................................... 4

3.

Policy priorities for the post-2013 MFF: social justice, fundamental rights, and development .............................................. 5 3.1. ‘Inclusive growth’ and Social Europe ................................................................................................................................. 5 3.2. Citizenship and fundamental rights ................................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 EU external policies and development ............................................................................................................................... 7

4.

Introduce elements of gender-responsive budgeting to ensure that the EU budget has a real impact .................................. 8

5.

Size, financing, flexibility, and conditionality of the EU budget ............................................................................................. 10

Part II: EU funding programmes 2014-2020 in support of EU commitment to equality between women and men .................... 11 6. New independent financing programme for gender equality, non-discrimination and fundamental rights Error! Bookmark not defined. 7. Continue DAPHNE Programme to combat violence and make addressing violence against women its core priority .... Error! Bookmark not defined. 8. Integrated programme for employment, social policy, and social inclusion (successor of the PROGRESS programme) Error! Bookmark not defined. 9.

Strengthen the dual approach to gender equality in the European Social Fund ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

10. The gender equality dimension in the funding programmes related to EU external policies..............Error! Bookmark not defined. 10.1 Investing in People programme within Development Cooperation Instrument ............... Error! Bookmark not defined. 10.2 The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 10.3 Instrument for Stability ...................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 10.4 Geographic Programmes ................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Annex 1: Overview of earmarked EU financing for women’s rights and gender equality within the 2007-2013 MFF ............ Error! Bookmark not defined. About the organisations .................................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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Part I: Gender responsive, accountable and participatory EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework 2014-2020 The European Women’s Lobby (EWL), WIDE Network, and the Gender Working Group of CONCORD – the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs, call on European and national policy-makers to integrate a women’s rights and gender equality perspective in the forthcoming decisions about the scope, priorities, and financing of the post-2013 EU multi-annual financial framework (MFF). EWL, WIDE, and CONCORD Gender Working Group key proposals for a gender sensitive, accountable and participatory Multi-annual Financial Framework 2014-2020: 1. Make the values and principles expressed in the Treaty of Lisbon, including democracy, fundamental rights, equality between women and men, anti-discrimination, and social justice part of framework of reference for the next MFF; 2. Make in the post-2013 MFF policy priorities of a) sustaining the European Social Model, and b) promoting fundamental rights including women’s rights; make these two priorities visible in budget headings and support them with strong financial instruments and programmes; 3. Earmarked funding for equality between women and men should in no circumstances decrease from the current level; distribute this funding through specific programmes/earmarked budget lines in all EU policy areas as provided in the Lisbon Treaty. 4. Assess the gender impact of the proposed spending priorities, sources of revenue, and governance tools before the MFF is adopted to ensure that the post-2013 MFF is gender sensitive; 5. Include in the MFF a commitment to gender-responsive budgeting to ensure that from 2014 onward gender mainstreaming is part of the EU budgetary process from planning to monitoring and evaluation, and propose the necessary support structures; 6. Make gender mainstreaming/gender budgeting a requirement in the founding regulations of all the EU financing programmes and ensure effective implementation with sufficient financial resources and support structures and by setting clear targets in the corresponding strategic documents; 7. Make EU funding more accessible to civil society organisations at national and European levels and in neighbouring and developing countries, both as promoters of EU-funded projects and as recipients of operating grants.

1. EU values, social challenges, civil society participation as transversal priorities of the post-2013 MFF The EWL, WIDE, and the CONCORD Gender Working Group believe that the values and principles expressed in the Treaty of Lisbon, including democracy, fundamental rights, equality between women and men, antidiscrimination, and social justice must be part of framework of reference for the next MFF. The EU’s long-standing commitment to gender mainstreaming and the new transversal clauses of the Lisbon Treaty oblige it to promote

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equality between women and men, social inclusion, and non-discrimination in all its policies.5 Furthermore, the Charter of Fundamental Rights constitutes a catalogue of civil, political, economic and social rights, which are legally binding for the Union and its institutions.  The values and principles of Lisbon Treaty should be reflected in EU spending under all the budget headings of the next MFF, and in all the steps of the budgetary process. More than 100 million women and men in Europe live below the poverty line, and inequalities based on sex, race, age, sexual orientation and disability are still widespread in Europe and worldwide. This calls for strong EU measures aiming at promoting fundamental rights including women’s rights, social inclusion and social justice in both internal and external policies. The demographic challenges of an ageing population and low birth rates will put extra pressure on the European social and economic model, and require EU level action to meet increasing care needs and to promote intergenerational solidarity and active ageing.  The next financial framework must provide the EU with the means to respond to the social challenges that have been accelerated by the economic crisis and the ensuing austerity measures.6 The next MFF must also answer to the democratic challenges the EU faces and create a sense of European belonging and ensure that the voices of citizens and their representatives are heard in decision-making. This requires that the EU strengthens the voices of civil society organizations (CSOs)  Make EU funding more accessible for them and building their capacities to input into policy-making within and outside the EU.

2. Provide sufficient financing for programmes/budget lines for equality between women and men In a time of financial and economic crisis, there is a danger that equality between women and men be sidelined when decisions about the spending of public money are made. This is a mistake because the elimination of gender inequalities and the contribution of women are necessary for sustainable economic and social recovery. Targeted EU budgets that that make a difference for women’s rights and that help women live up to their full potential as agents of economic growth are currently very small-scale. Over the 2007-2013 financial period only 0.37% (3.56 billion) of the 975 billion Euros of the EU budget is allocated through budget lines earmarked for promoting women’s rights and gender equality.7 These budgets must be secured and increased in the post-2013 MFF.  Establish specific programmes/earmarked budget lines for promoting women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of EU competencies to guarantee adequate and predictable levels of funding for equality between women and men over the whole period covered by the next MFF. 5

According to article 8 TFEU the EU shall promote equality between women and men in all its policies; article 9 TFEU, the so-called social clause, requires the EU to ensure in defining and implementing its policies and activities promote high levels of employment, guarantee high level of social protection and fight against social exclusion; article 10 of TFEU obliges the EU to combat discrimination based on, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. 6 This dimension is almost absent from the European Commission’s proposals made in The EU Budget Review although eradication of poverty is one of the seven headline targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy, 7 See annex 1 for details.

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Funding for programmes and activities that promote women’s rights and gender equality is key to ensuring that the EU budget reflects the EU’s Treaty commitments to equality between women and men and that it is in line with the commitments made in the EU Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010-2015 and in European Pact for gender equality 2011-2020. Such funding is also vital to attaining the headline targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy that are the policy priorities of the next MFF (women are key to reaching the 75% employment target and women are the majority of those facing poverty), to tackling demographic challenges (gender equality and family support correlate positively with birth rates),8 and to increasing economic growth and competitiveness (gender equality is a proven growth factor).9 EU funding for activities to increase women’s employment rate and promote quality employment, to improve reconciliation policies for both women and men, to strengthen national care infrastructures, to tackle vertical and horizontal gender segregation in education and in the labour market, and to combat the gender pay gap and the increasing feminisation of poverty is indispensable for reaching the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy and to counter the demographic challenges. However, delivering on the EU’s Treaty commitment to equality of women and men as a fundamental right goes beyond the Europe 2020 framework and the internal policies of the EU. This requires EU funding for combating violence against women,10 for promoting parity democracy, for improving women’s health, for empowering women’s rights organisations, and for strengthening capacity for gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting in Europe but also in developing and neighbouring countries.

3. Policy priorities for the post-2013 MFF: social justice, fundamental rights, and development 3.1. ‘Inclusive growth’ and Social Europe There is a broad consensus that the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth should be the general political framework for the next MFF and provide the basis for its structure.11 The EWL, WIDE, and the CONCORD Gender Working Group stress that an inclusive growth that truly benefits all women and men living in Europe requires a broad approach to strengthening the European Social Model that moves beyond the traditional short-sighted concept of economic growth. The MFF must provide framework to reduce poverty and social exclusion across Europe with specific emphasis on addressing feminisation of poverty, to create quality jobs for women and men, and to tackle discrimination and inequalities that prevent Europe from attaining high levels of well-being and exiting the economic crisis.  Develop within the MFF 2014-2020 an adequately funded EU social strategy to complement EU’s activities in the field of employment

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See for example Demography Report 2010. Lofstrom 2010, Smith 2009 10 To give a single example, the annual cost of domestic violence in the 27 EU countries is estimated to be as high as 16 billion Euros, amounting to 1 million Euros every half hour. The annual budgets of EU countries for prevention programmes are 1000 times less.(Psytel, 2006 Daphne Project on the cost of domestic violence in Europe) 11 The EU Budget Review SEC(2010) 7000 final; European Parliament draft report on “Investing in the future: a new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for a competitive, sustainable and inclusive Europe” 9

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This priority must have a visible place in the structure of the new MFF and be supported by strong multi-annual programmes – such as a successor to the current PROGRESS programme (see section 8 for detailed recommendations about the successor of PROGRESS) – that aim at providing quality employment and tackling social exclusion and gender and other inequalities that are its root causes. Financing instruments of the Cohesion Policy, in particular the European Social Fund (ESF), must increase funding for quality employment and social inclusion and social justice in all EU Member States and continue investing directly in the well-being of European women and men.12 These programmes must be accessible to civil society organisations who are the EUs key partners in attaining the inclusive and social objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy.13 (See section 9 for detailed recommendations about the ESF) Equality between women and men is one of the key aspects of inclusive growth. The successor of the PROGRESS programme must continue to fund gender equality-related projects and research in the field of employment and social inclusion in order to keep equality between women and men at the core of EU policies in this field.14 The role of Cohesion Policy in financing activities promoting women’s employment and social inclusion must be acknowledged in the new regulations and strengthened. Promoting equality between women and men must be made one of the horizontal priorities of the post-2013 Cohesion Policy common strategic framework15 to ensure that in addition to the European Social Fund (ESF), also the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Fisheries Fund, and the European Agriculture Fund will finance activities that promote women’s economic independence and improve reconciliation of work and family life. The common strategic framework as well as the founding regulations of specific funds must also include a strong gender mainstreaming obligation. The impact, target groups and final beneficiaries of large-scale projects related to environment, entrepreneurship, innovation, transport, and energy must also be assessed from gender equality perspective.  All the EU’s financing programmes that contribute to inclusive growth must take the dual approach of providing funding targeted at women and implementing gender mainstreaming. Shift toward care economy must be part of EU’s employment and social policy priorities; it is as important for the future of European societies as green economy. Care is crucial in the context of the demographic changes that all EU Member States are encountering, and in reaching the Europe 2020 employment target both in terms of facilitating women’s labour market access and of creating quality jobs both for women and men. Caring about others and being cared for is a fundamental human experience, but care is also a responsibility for society as a whole. Improving care for children, elderly, and other dependents and introducing innovative approaches to care must be made a Cohesion Policy priority in all Member States and regions.16 EU funding for good quality and affordable care services for children (565 million Euros through ERDF 2007-2013) and other dependents across the EU must increase, in particular in countries that invest only a small part of their GDP in care services. ESF funding should be used for innovative measures to support unpaid home carers, provide training for care workers and improve the quality of their work, and tackle gender segregation in paid and unpaid care. 12

It has been proposed that the ESF should be used to accelerate structural reform in EU Member States, for example, to implement active labour market policies, and reform Public Employment Services. 13 As foreseen in the European Platform against Poverty (COM (2010) 758 final), the EU must increase global grants that do not require cofinancing to make EU funding more accessible to small CSOs and to allow the CSOs to fully participate in delivering the objectives of the EU. 14 As of 1 January broader aspects of gender equality are no more in the mandate of DG Employment. 15 The Commission is expected to release the proposal shortly after the proposal of the post-2013 MFF due on 29 June. 16 Convergence objective of Cohesion policy covers 84 regions in 18 Member States with a total population of154 million, and per capita GDP at less than 75 % of the Community average. Spain is an exception, it was negotiated that Spain can use ERDF funding for childcare.

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 Make shift toward care economy a priority of the EU’s employment and social policy and make care a horizontal priority of the strategic framework of cohesion policy

3.2. Citizenship and fundamental rights The Europe 2020 Strategy does not sufficiently reflect all commitments made by the EU and Member States in the EU Treaty, international conventions and national legislation, such as promoting fundamental rights, equality between women and men, non-discrimination, and meaningful civil dialogue. Structuring the MFF along the priorities of the Europe 2020 Strategy must allow sufficient funding and visibility for these objectives both within and outside the EU.  Include in the MFF a separate budget heading for citizenship and fundamental rights, and establish under this budget heading an independent funding programme that promotes fundamental rights, equality between women and men, and non-discrimination. This programme should provide the core funding required for EU and national level work on women’s rights and gender equality on a broad array of issues, promote a fundamental rights approach to gender equality, and support European-wide gender equality and anti-discrimination networks with predictable funding volumes. (See section 6 about detailed recommendations about this programme.) Also, the DAPHNE programme to fight violence against women that falls under this budget section must be continued and strengthened so as to embody the recent EU commitments pertaining to this issue. (See section 7 for detailed recommendations about successor of DAPHNE.)

3.3 EU external policies and development17 The Lisbon Treaty reinforces the EU’s external action and implies that the EU has new responsibilities and decision-making capacities to promote European values and principles including equality, equality between women and men, and human rights in all its external policies. The EU Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010-2015 acknowledges that “through all relevant policies under its external action, the EU can exercise significant influence in fostering gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide”18. In its Council Conclusions 11080/10 of 15 June 2010, the EU has reiterated its “strong commitment to gender equality as a human right, a question of social value and a core value of the EU development policy.” The promotion of gender equality and women’s rights is also instrumental in achieving all the Millennium Development Goals and the respective objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Cairo Programme of Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women19. To fulfil these commitments the post-2013 MFF should ensure that all EU spending on external policies and development, including trade and neighbourhood policies and the new EU External Action Service adheres to the core values of the Treaty, building on a rights based approach and the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights. The post-2013 Financial Framework must show an increase of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in real terms and the reform of EU’s external action should not be financed at the expense of the EU’s development commitments. EU spending for development and external aid must include visible and predictable budget 17

This section has been drafted by WIDE and CONCORD. Strategy for Equality between women and men 2010-2015, Communication, COM (2010) 491 final. Brussels 21.9.2010, page 9. 19 EC Communication on Gender equality and women’s empowerment in Development cooperation (2007) 18

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allocations for gender equality to implement the Plan of Action for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development (2010-2015) and the above mentioned political commitments.  The post-2013 MFF and the regulations and strategies of all the post-2013 thematic and geographic instruments in the field of the EU’s external policies should set concrete gender equality targets and make specific financial allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment Specific budget allocations for gender equality would improve transparency in the allocation of funds and improve monitoring. To date no agreed system-wide tracking mechanism exists to assess the amount of aid allocated to gender equality and women’s empowerment through all the thematic and geographical instruments. The use of gender-segregated data is still far from sufficient and the new aid modalities are providing new and even more complex challenges when it comes to tracking the funds for gender equality and women’s empowerment and account for the results. Specific budget lines would give all the actors involved a clear picture of where the EU as a global player stands when it comes to women’s rights, gender equality and women’s human rights and allow them to hold EU accountable. Existing gender mainstreaming commitments must be strengthened and translated to specific targets and financial allocations. (See section 10 for detailed proposals.) The advancement of the EU’s goal to promote gender equality in development is still hindered by the absence of Policy Coherence with other EU policies such as trade policies and other macroeconomic measures in the area of external relations as well as with EU’s international women’s rights commitments (Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW). The post-2013 Financial Framework should foresee funds for gender impact assessments of EU internal and external policies to ensure that the principle of policy coherence is implemented. The value and importance of civil society organisations, especially women’s organisations’ contribution to the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights, must be recognised and supported by the EU. Women’s organisations in developing countries are facing today a critical situation: cuts in aid budgets and in funds for promotion of gender equality as well as new aid modalities prioritizing direct government support have had a reverse effect on the support for civil society in many developing countries. Also the political space for the CSO participation both in the EU donor countries and in partner states has been shrinking. As key actors in the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide women’s and women’s rights organisations should receive substantial, predictable and multi-year core funding.  In its external policy, the EU should strengthen the voices of civil society through enhanced CSO participation in decision-making processes, earmarked and increased funds for CSOs and simplified access to EU funds.

4. Introduce elements of gender-responsive budgeting to ensure that the EU budget has a real impact EU public money must be spent in a transparent and accountable manner and the EU budget must deliver results that increase the well-being of all women and men living in Europe. However, the result-driven approach proposed by the Commission should not lead to a narrow focus on activities that immediately contribute to economic growth and that are measurable in quantitative terms. An example of such narrow approach would be to focus on the quantity of new jobs created through projects financed by the EU, without assessing their quality 8

or whether both women and men benefit from them. The EWL, WIDE, and the CONCORD Gender Working Group believe that results and impacts of the EU budget must be assessed from a broad perspective that takes into account their social and gender impact. Therefore, the EU must in the post-2013 MFF commit to gender responsive budgeting20 as a part of the proposed resultorientated financial management. The Council of Europe defines gender budgeting as “application of gender mainstreaming in the budgetary processes. It means a gender-based assessment of budgets, incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process and restructuring revenues and expenditure in order to promote gender equality.”  The proposal for the next MFF must make a commitment to gender responsive budgeting and introduce structures needed to ensure that the gender mainstreaming of budgetary processes will be properly supported and monitored in all the Directorate Generals (DGs).  The post-2013 MFF itself must be gender-sensitive in terms of sources of revenue, expenditure categories, and governance tools. Therefore, the MFF has to be subjected to gender impact assessment before it is adopted by the Council and the European Parliament; Mainstreaming a gender equality perspective through the EU budget and taking into account gender inequalities and the different situations of women and men can make the limited EU budget more efficient and allow it to have a real impact. Without proper gender equality objectives, targets, indicators, and gender-segregated data, it is not possible to know whether EU financed projects and activities in fields such as energy, environment, development, and transport are successful in their specific aims and whether they contribute to greater gender equality or perpetuate gender inequalities. Introducing elements of gender-responsive budgeting into EU budgetary processes will take the EU’s Treaty commitment to gender mainstreaming one step further and fill the well-documented gaps in the existing gender mainstreaming practices within EU financing programmes. Implementing gender-responsive budgeting has already a legal basis in EU law and that the EU budget is easily amenable to gender budgeting. Understood as the application of gender mainstreaming in budgetary processes, gender-responsive budgeting is rooted in the articles 2 and 3 of TEU and the horizontal clause 8 of the TFEU.21 National experience shows that it is straightforward to implement gender mainstreaming in budgets that are, like the EU budget, activity-based and result orientated. The recent feasibility study on gender-responsive budgeting at EU-level confirms that despite its unique features, the EU budget is suitable for gender budgeting.22 Genderresponsive budgeting would require however the involvement of experts, training and some investment in specific resources. The adoption of the post 2013 multi-annual financial framework is an excellent opportunity to make an EU-level commitment to gender-responsive budgeting. The feasibility study on EU-level gender budgeting concludes that considerations of a gender dimension in the EU budgetary process ought to take place in the planning phase for the MFF. Commitment to gender budgeting must be followed with establishment of support structures that could include a strong coordinating structure within DG Budget or within the Secretariat General, the creation of a 20

Council of Europe (2005), Gender Budgeting Report, Strasbourg Experiences from Sweden and Denmark show that no new legislation in addition to existing gender equality and gender mainstreaming provisions is required to introduce gender budgeting methods. 22 Study to assess the feasibility and options for the introduction of elements of gender budgeting into EU budgetary process. European Commission DG Budget Specific contract ABAC 132007, under framework Contract BUDG 06/PO/01/Lot 002?ABAC-101922. 21

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gender budgeting focal point in every DG and the creation of an inter-service gender budgeting working group consisting of officials from different DGs, and to the allocation of appropriate financial and human resources;  The commitment to gender-responsive budgeting in the MFF must go side-by-side with a similar commitment in the founding regulations of the post-2013 financial instruments and programmes and the operationalisation of these commitments must be ensured in corresponding strategic documents.

5. Size, financing, flexibility, and conditionality of the EU budget The EWL, WIDE and the CONCORD Gender Working Group are concerned about the position of some Member States to reduce or freeze the size of the EU budget. The EU’s ‘new’ policy priorities of climate change, energy security and external policies and the EU’s strengthened commitment to fundamental rights within and outside the EU must receive adequate funding. This is also the case for the ‘old’ responsibilities such as equality between women and men, and Cohesion Policy. To ensure the sustainability of the EU budget, the European Commission has proposed several options for new sources of revenue that could replace part of the Gross National Income based national contributions, including taxation of the financial sector, an EU Value Added Tax or an EU energy tax. Introducing indirect ‘blind’ taxes such as VAT can aggravate social and gender inequalities because of women’s lower income (the average gender pay gap in the EU is 17.5%) and because of women’s different consumption patterns: women tend to carry most of household expenditure on basic goods. Financial sector taxation on the other hand would be fair in terms of gender equality because the impact would fall on individuals with higher income and on corporations, and because it is levied on activities that are difficult to tax at national level and that benefit from favourable tax treatments.23  Subject potential new sources of revenue to a gender and social impact assessment; introduce financial transaction tax as a fair way to finance part of the EU budget There is consensus that the internal flexibility within different budget headings of the Financial Framework must increase to accommodate unforeseen challenges and it has been proposed that to maximise flexibility, the number of budget headings in the next MFF should be reduced. The danger is that policy priorities that are smallscale in terms of spending such as equality between women and men and anti-discrimination may get lost if the MFF’s budget headings are not detailed enough and if the policy priorities within these headings are not clearly spelled out. On the other hand, gender-responsive budgeting requires that restructuring expenditure must be possible in order to correct the unintended negative consequences of EU expenditure and to promote gender equality.  Protect small but vital budget lines that require predictability to have an impact from the unpredictability caused by increasing flexibility It has been proposed that as part of the result-based approach, EU funding through Cohesion Policy should be made conditional to structural reforms made by the EU Member States, or tied to the Growth and Stability Pact.

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Commonwealth Secretariat 2004. Gender impacts of government revenue collection: the case of taxation.

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These proposals are not acceptable. The will or ability of governments to implement the labour market reforms required by the Commission or to keep budget deficits under control should not mean cutting EU financing for activities that can have a positive impact on the lives of women and men living in Europe, for example through projects aiming to tackle gender segregation of the labour market.  Introduce conditionality and incentives that oblige and encourage Member States and other comanagers of the EU budget to use EU money in a manner that contributes to greater equality between women and men, social justice, non-discrimination and to responsible and participatory governance processes.24

Part II: EU funding programmes 2014-2020 in support of EU commitment to equality between women and men The European Women’s Lobby (EWL), WIDE Network, and the Gender Working Group of CONCORD – the European Confederation of Relief and Development NGOs, call on European and national policy-makers to ensure that EU funding programmes for the 2014-2020 period25 will provide the framework and sufficient financial resources to strengthen the EU commitment to promote women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of its internal and external policies. This paper complements the joint statement of the organisations on the post-2013 EU multi-annual financial framework released in May 201126. Earmarked EU funding for promoting equality between women and men has decreased since the 2000-2006 financial period27, and in the 2007-2013 period only 0.37% (EUR 3.56 million of EUR 975 billion) of the EU budget has been allocated to budget lines and spending categories earmarked for promoting women’s rights and gender equality28. The decrease of EU funding for specific action on gender equality is partly due to the increased emphasis on gender mainstreaming as part of the EU dual strategy to gender equality. However, while an efficient gender mainstreaming can be a powerful tool to achieve equality between women and men when it accompanies specific actions to redress gender inequalities, evaluations of current funding programmes both within both EU internal and external policies show serious gaps in gender mainstreaming practices. Political will is required to redress these regrettable developments when the decision about the priorities and financial envelopes of the EU funding programmes for the 2014-2020 period are made. It is crucial that the total earmarked EU funding for women’s rights and gender equality for the 2014-2020 period is increased or at the very least maintained in comparison to the current level. To guarantee adequate

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For example Cohesion Policy Operational Programmes could be rejected by the Commission if the level of funding for actions targeted at women is not sufficient, or if the impacts of the proposed on actions on women and men are not assessed. 25

The European Commission has made initial proposals for the post-2013 financial programmes and their budgets in its

proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020. A Budget for Europe 2020 and A Budget for Europe 2020 II – Policy fiches, SEC(2011) 867final SEC(2011) 868final. The detailed regulations are being discussed by the Commission services. 26 The EWL, WIDE, and CONCORD Gender Working Group Statement “Toward gender responsive, accountable, and participatory post 2013 EU multi-annual financial framework” http://www.womenlobby.org/spip.php?article1725&lang=en 27 This decrease is mainly due to the significant decrease in ESF funding earmarked for specific action. See The European Social Fund, women, gender mainstreaming, and reconciliation of work and private life. European Union 2010. 28 See annex 1 for a detailed breakdown of earmarked EU funding for gender equality

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and predictable levels of funding for promoting equality between women and men over the 2014-2020 period covered by the next MFF, the EU must establish a strong independent funding programme for women’s rights and gender equality, non-discrimination and fundamental rights within the budget heading “Security and Citizenship.” Clear gender equality objectives and targets with earmarked budgets must be established within relevant funding programmes such as the European Social Fund, the integrated programme for employment, social policy and social inclusion, and Instrument for Development Cooperation. In addition, gender mainstreaming must be made a requirement in the founding regulations of all the 2014-2020 financing programmes, and its operationalisation ensured with sufficient financial and human resources and followed up in the strategic documents of the programmes. EWL, WIDE, and CONCORD Gender Working Group proposals for specific funding programmes EU internal policies 8. Establish a strong independent funding programme for equality between women and men, nondiscrimination, and fundamental rights within the budget heading “Security and Citizenship” in order to guarantee sustained level of funding and visibility for these crucial EU objectives; 9. Continue and strengthen DAPHNE programme to combat and prevent violence in the framework of the proposed broad “Justice Programme” and make addressing violence against women its core priority in order to turn EU commitments to end violence against women into action; 10. Ensure that the proposed integrated programme for employment, social policy and social inclusion has a strong mandate to promote equality between women and men in order to guarantee the success of the EU’s employment and gender equality policies; 11. The European Social Fund must strengthen the double strategy of specific action and gender mainstreaming; EU external policies 12. Ensure that earmarked budgets for promoting equality between women and men in the thematic funding programmes on human development and human rights and enhance gender mainstreaming in other thematic and geographical funding instruments;

1. New independent financing programme for equality between women and men, nondiscrimination and fundamental rights The gender equality section of the PROGRESS Programme is the main multi-annual budget line that is earmarked for implementing the objectives of the EU gender equality policies, estimated to be 88 million euro over 2007201329. This budget has been managed by DG Justice since January 2011 when the Equality Directorate responsible for EU’s gender equality policies was moved from DG Employment to DG Justice. Continuation of the strong policies of the European Union in the field of women’s rights and gender equality as required by EU’s Treaty commitments to equality between women and men and gender mainstreaming (articles 2, 3, 8, and 157) requires a strong EU financing programme with gender equality as one of its core objectives, and the allocation of sustained resources for policies in this field over the whole 2014-2020 period. This programme 29

The actual financial allocation will be less because part of the budget of PROGRESS was reallocated the European Microfinance Facility.

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should offer a holistic framework to implement the Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010-201530 and future EU policies in this area through specific action on equality of women and men. It should also be the driver for the EU’s efforts to mainstreaming gender equality into all EU policies. Commission’s proposal for MFF 2014-2020 places gender equality policies within a “Rights and Citizenship Programme” under the budget heading “Security and Citizenship” that has a EUR 387 million budget over the 2014-2020 period31. The EWL, WIDE, and CONCORD Gender Working Group welcome the proposal to create an independent funding programme for rights and citizenship and stress that this programme should cover only the policy areas of gender equality, non-discrimination, and fundamental rights and citizenship (gender equality and anti-discrimination section of PROGRESS Programme and the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme). Only a strong independent financing programme with mutually supporting objectives can ensure the predictability of EU funding for promoting equality between women and men and guarantee that this indispensable cross-cutting EU priority will not get lost among the other objectives of DG Justice.  Create a strong independent funding programme that has equality between women and men, nondiscrimination, and fundamental rights as its objectives. The proposed “Rights and Citizenship Programme” should only be about these three priorities. The new location of the EU’s gender equality policies in DG Justice should be seen as an opportunity to increase the overall budget of the EU allocated to gender equality and to strengthen the scope of EU action to promote equality between women and men in fields other than employment. The proposed budget of EUR 387 million for the “Rights and Citizenship Programme” would indeed present an increase of EUR 40 million to the funding allocated through PROGRESS and Fundamental Rights and Citizenship programme. This increase is justified given the importance of strong EU level gender equality policies for reaching the targets of the EU 2020 Strategy and answering to the demographic challenges, and the EU’s new Lisbon Treaty commitments to fundamental rights.  The total budget of the independent funding programme for gender equality, non-discrimination, and fundamental rights must exceed the combined budgets of PROGRESS and Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme. Funding allocated for promoting women’s rights and gender equality through this programme must in no circumstances decrease in real terms from the current level of EUR 88 million. European networks working on gender equality and non-discrimination have demonstrated their effectiveness and the European added value of their advocacy work over the years they received core funding from the PROGRESS programme. The capacity of representative EU networks to relay information and knowledge between EU and national decision makers, national and civil society organisations representing the women and men living in European countries cannot be replaced by institutional actors or by private companies. Through their national level member organizations, NGO networks also play a crucial role in providing input in European policy making processes and in monitoring the effectiveness and implementation of European policies. This requires stable or increased funding levels for European NGO networks and their national member organizations.

30 31

Strategy for Equality between women and men 2010-2015, SEC(2010) 1079, SEC(2010) 1080 A Budget for Europe 2020 and A Budget for Europe 2020 II – Policy fiches, SEC(2011) 867final SEC(2011) 868final

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 Support for European civil society networks through operational grants should be one of the core actions of the new DG Justice funding programme, including in the field of equality between women and men.

2. Continue DAPHNE Programme to combat violence and make addressing violence against women its core priority The DAPHNE III Programme to “prevent and combat violence against children, young people and women and to protect victims and groups at risk” has had a budget of EUR 116.85 over the 2007-2013 period. DAPHNE’s budget and in particular the funding for combating violence against women is very low scale considering that the annual cost of domestic violence in the EU is estimated as high as EUR 16 billion every year and that the annual budgets of EU countries for prevention programmes are 1000 times less32. There is no earmarking system in DAPHNE Programme that would guarantee a certain level of funding for combating violence against women. Based on analysis of the selected projects for action grants 2007-2010, approximately one third of the project funding is allocated to combating violence against women33. The level of EU funding to address violence against women must be increased in the next financial period to allow for efficient EU action in this crucial area. More visibility and more EU financing for combating violence against women is necessary to embody the recent EU commitments pertaining to this issue. The European Parliament resolution of 6 April 2011 calls for EU strategy on violence against women34; violence against women is one of the priorities of the EU Strategy for Equality between Women and Men 2010-201535, and one of the three priorities of the European Pact for Gender Equality 2011-2020 adopted by the EPSCO Council on 7 March 201136. The EWL, WIDE, and the CONCORD Gender Working Group are concerned that the Commission does not foresee continuation of DAPHNE as an independent programme, but proposes a of EUR 416 million “Justice Programme” that streamlines several existing DG Justice funding instruments, including DAPHNE, into one programme37. Creation of a large programme with increased flexibility risks reducing the visibility and the funding allocated for the EU priority to combat violence against women, instead of strengthening it.  Ensure that the activities of the DAPHNE programme, in particular combating and preventing violence against women, are incorporated in the objectives of the proposed “Justice Programme,” and that the level of funding for EU action to combat violence is increased from the current level as has been required by the European Parliament.

32

.Psytel, 2006 Daphne Project on the cost of domestic violence in Europe Analysis of projects selected for DAPHNE action grants reveals that out of the EUR 11.944.160 action grant budget in 2008 around EUR 4 million and out of the EUR 28.990.560 action grant budget of 2009-2010 around EUR 9 million was allocated for projects related to violence against women. These estimates are based on the names of the selected projects, and on the names of involved organizations; the data provided by DG Justice is not detailed enough to make a more precise assessment. 34 European Parliament resolution of 5 April 2011 on priorities and outline of a new EU policy framework to fight violence against women P7_TA(2011)0127 35 Strategy for Equality between women and men 2010-2015, SEC(2010) 1079, SEC(2010) 1080 36 Council conclusions on the European Pact for Gender Equality for the period 2011-2020 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/119628.pdf 37 A Budget for Europe 2020 and A Budget for Europe 2020 II – Policy fiches, SEC(2011) 867final SEC(2011) 868final 33

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 Make combating violence against women the main priority of the DAPHNE section of “Justice Programme,” and earmark a substantial part of the funding allocated for the fight against violence for addressing violence against women. Civil society organizations have proven themselves as indispensable partners of the EU in combating violence against women within the previous DAPHNE programmes. In the current financing period DAPHNE action grants for projects addressing violence against women amounted to only approximately EUR 4 million in 2008 and approximately EUR 9 million in 2009-2010, one third of the grants distributed38. Direct funding for projects on violence against women related to protection of victims, prevention, provision of services, and prosecution of perpetrators has to be increased in the next financial period. One of the dangers of a broad Justice Programme where combating violence against women is only one of many priorities is that due to common rules and common calls for proposals for all these priorities, operational grants and action grants may become less accessible to civil society organizations.  Ensure that the “Justice Programme” distributes operational funding and provides regular action grants to civil society organizations working on violence against women. There is a clear added value for EU funding to combat violence against women at EU level: violence against women is a European issue, as it is prevalent in all Member States and therefore the struggle against this phenomenon should be supported by the EU. It is also a requirement based on EU principles to ensure the same level of protection against this violation of human rights throughout the EU, to ensure the highest level of standards, including in relation to common definitions and policies. The DAPHNE programme has been key in helping the exchange of good practices and information between actors in the different Member States. In the framework of the next DAPHNE programme, the findings from the previous DAPHNE projects should be used for the development of a legislation and action against violence against women.

3. Integrated programme for employment, social policy, and social inclusion (successor of the PROGRESS programme) The Commission proposes that for the financial period 2014-2020 the Programme for Employment and Social solidarity (PROGRESS) will be replaced with an “integrated programme for employment, social policy and social inclusion.” This programme is foreseen to cover PROGRESS (without gender equality and non-discrimination sections), EURES and European Progress Microfinance Facility and have a total budget of EUR 850 million. The EWL, WIDE, and CONCORD Gender Working Group welcome the proposal to create a new independent funding programme that has strengthening social policy and promoting social inclusion as its objective, and that the budget of the new instrument is foreseen to be more than the sum of its parts39. To give due priority to the social inclusion objectives and employment and poverty targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the new 38

See note 6.

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We estimate there is an increase of approximately EUR 95 million. PROGRESS without equality sections: 444 million (65% of the financial envelope of 683.25 million established by Decision No 284/2010/EU), microfinance facility 100 million for 2010-2013  175 million for full seven year period, EURES 136 million (estimate based on commitments in the EU budget 2007-2011)

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programme must enable the EU to develop a strong social strategy to complement its activities on employment. Poverty reduction and social inclusion must have a visible place in the new programme, and the increase in the budget of the new programme should be used to support activities in these fields, for example by allocating a specific budget for reaching the EU poverty target.  Use the “integrated programme for employment, social policy and social inclusion” to develop a strong EU social strategy and to provide the framework for reaching the poverty target of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The added value of the current PROGRESS programme has been its broad approach that combines the EU’s objectives on employment and social inclusion and its gender equality and non-discrimination objectives. This combination has allowed PROGRESS to address the structural gender and other inequalities that are the root cause of social exclusion in the European Union. EU’s gender equality and non-discrimination policies will after 2013 be funded under another budget heading (see above). To secure the added value of PROGRESS, the new integrated programme must have a strong mandate to promote gender equality and non-discrimination in employment, social policy, and social inclusion. This requires gender equality targets and earmarked budgets for specific gender equality related activities in all activities and policy fields covered by it and efficient gender mainstreaming in all the activities funded by the programme.  The new programme must continue to fund gender equality-related specific action in the field of employment, social policy and social inclusion in order to keep equality between women and men at the core of EU policies in this field.  Regulations should include a strong gender mainstreaming clause to ensure all EU activities in the field of employment and social inclusion have the removal of structural gender inequalities as their goal (article 2.2 of current regulation) The new integrated programme should play a crucial role in maintaining and improving the coordination between the EU’s employment and social inclusion policies and the EU’s gender equality policies. There is no social justice without gender equality, and the full integration of the gender equality dimension in the future programme is necessary for the success of the EU’s employment and social policies and to the attainment of the inclusive objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy. This is all the more important because the financial and economic crisis has been gendered in its nature and in its effects, but EU and national level responses to the crisis have lacked a gender equality perspective. A strong gender equality objective in the new programme is also crucial to the success of the EU’s gender equality policies. Structural gender inequalities in the labour market, such as the persistent gender pay gap and the disproportional impact of parenthood on women’s employment that is due to gender inequalities at home and insufficient care services and reconciliation policies for both women and men, are one of the main obstacles on the way to de facto equality between women and men in Europe.  Efficient collaboration mechanisms between DG Employment and the Equality Directorate in DG Justice must be ensured in order to oversee that all the activities taken within the successor of the Progress programme support the EU’s gender equality policies. PROGRESS is currently the only programme providing core funding opportunities for European NGOs working on social issues. It is therefore instrumental in allowing for the independent political work of European NGO networks and their contribution to the developing and monitoring the implementation of the EU law and policies through their direct relationships with groups and individuals concerned. It is therefore crucial to ensure that 16

representative European civil society networks continue to receive core funding through the new integrated programme, especially in application of Article 11.1 and 11.2 of the Treaty on European Union.  A key objective of the integrated programme successor must be to support non-governmental actors in their contribution to the EU and national policy making in the field of employment, social policy, and social inclusion

4. Strengthen the dual approach to gender equality in the European Social Fund Improving the role of the European Social Fund (ESF) in promoting equality between women and men is crucial to make the 2014-2020 ESF an efficient tool for reaching the inclusive and social objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, and to ensure that the ESF funds will help the EU Member States to reach the national 2020 targets related to employment, poverty, and education. This requires using ESF funding in each Member State to support broad gender equality goals that go beyond quantitative labour market outcomes. The ESF should address gender inequalities in the labour market and pay specific attention to the low quality of women’s jobs that remain in a gender segregated framework coupled with a persistent gender pay and pension gap. ESF funding should alse be used to redress gender inequalities at home in relation to unpaid work and parenting contribute to women’s lower labour market participation and for women’s poverty. The allocation of EU funding for specific action in the field of gender equality through the ESF has decreased drastically since the 2000-2006 financial period when the ESF distributed EUR 4.5 billion (8% of the ESF budget) for gender equality-related activities40. In the current period, EUR 2.4 billion (3% of the ESF budget) is allocated to promotion of women’s employment and to reconciliation of work and family life41. Even if specific action promoting women and gender equality can be funded also through other priorities (for example supporting women’s entrepreneurship), the decrease in ESF funding spent for specific action in this field may be as high as EUR 1,5 billion.  Mandate the ESF to sustain a broad gender equality policy that goes beyond increasing women’s employment rate in quantitative terms and addresses low quality of women’s work and gender inequalities at home;  Increase the share of ESF budget used for specific action in the field of gender equality, and make it easier to track this funding. For example, the regulations could propose one category of expenditure to cover all gender equality specific actions with thematic sub-categories (reconciliation measures for both women and men, tackling vertical and horizontal gender segregation in employment and in education, supporting women’s entrepreneurship, tackling gender stereotypes). Women in all EU Member States do not benefit equally from the support of the ESF. Currently the share of the total ESF finances that Member States use for activities promoting women’s employment ranges from nothing in

40

The European Social Fund, women, gender mainstreaming, and reconciliation of work and private life. European Commission 2010, p.27-28 41 Expenditure category 69 “To improve access to employment and increase sustainable participation and progress of women in employment to reduce gender-based segregation in the labour market, and to reconcile work and private life, such as facilitating access to childcare and care for dependent persons.” Data is an estimate from the EC Structural Funds database from December 2007.

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Sweden and Denmark and 0.2% in Hungary to 18% in Netherlands42, although the gender pay gap, inequalities in the labour market, and feminization of poverty are relevant structural problems in all EU member states. Furthermore, research shows that due to the economic and financial crisis some EU Member States have decided to reduce the funding originally allocated for gender equality. 43  The allocation of ESF funding should be based on an earmarking system ensuring that a certain minimum percentage of resources are allocated to promoting equality between women and men in all Member State. Although the focus on gender mainstreaming has been identified as the main reason for the drastic decrease in ESF financing for specific action on gender equality44, recent evaluations reveal serious gaps in gender mainstreaming practices. The gender mainstreaming provisions in the current ESF regulations (article 3biii and article 6) are not strong and clear enough and not enough capacity building and financial resources are provided to ensure that gender equality is promoted in all activities financed and at all stages of the planning and implementation of the Operational Programmes.45  Make gender equality a horizontal principle in the ESF regulations (article 6) with strengthened wording that gives the European Commission the power to oblige Member States to implement the article, and explains gender mainstreaming in a precise manner.  Use ESF funding to create a permanent gender mainstreaming support structures within the ESF at both national and EU level and introduce European standards of gender mainstreaming in the ESF.46 Social civil society organisations, including women’s rights organisations must be given a partnership status in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the ESF. ESF funding must be made accessible to civil society organisations who are the EU’s key partners in delivering on the inclusive and social objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, including through global grants for small NGOs as foreseen in the European Platform against poverty. 47

5. The gender equality dimension in the funding programmes related to EU external policies The EWL, WIDE network and Gender Working group of CONCORD welcome the EC proposals on the MFF which reaffirms the EU’s commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and the target of official development aid reaching 0.7% of GNI commitment in 2015. To meet these objectives it is important that the EU

42

The European Social Fund, women, gender mainstreaming, and reconciliation of work and private life. European Union 2010. 43 Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender Equality. Synthesis Report. European Commission 2011. 44 Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender Equality. Synthesis Report. European Commission 2011. 45 Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender Equality. Synthesis Report. European Commission 2011. 46 European Community of Practice in Gender Mainstreaming position paper on the preparation of the Structural Funds Programming period 2014+ http://www.gendercop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/GENDERCOP-Position-Paper-on-theNew-Funding-Period-of-the-Structural-Funds.pdf 47 As foreseen in the European Platform against Poverty (COM (2010) 758 final), the EU must increase global grants that do not require co-financing to make EU funding more accessible to small CSOs and to allow the CSOs to fully participate in delivering the objectives of the EU.

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budget on external policies and development adheres to the core values of Lisbon Treaty, builds on a rights based approach and the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights. In the MFF 2007-2013 there had been only one specific programme supporting gender equality and women’s empowerment. However, the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights is not only crucial in itself but is a fundamental human right and a question of social justice, as well as being instrumental in achieving all the MDGS. Therefore specific budget allocation for gender equality in all the six identified strategic objectives would be helpful.

5.1 Development Cooperation Instrument Thematic Programme: Investing in People The thematic programme Investing in People (IiP) within the Development Cooperation Instrument is the only EU funding programme that earmarks funding for promoting gender equality in EU external co-operation, and the foreseen allocation of EUR 57 million for 2007-2013 represents only 5% of the total budget of the programme48. The funding for specific action in the field of gender equality is extremely limited and more than half of the finances allocated through the programme in 2007-2010 were targeted at Neighbourhood Policy countries. Unless more robust targeted support is provided, the impact of EU interventions is likely to be low. Acknowledging the inadequacy of funding, the mid-term review of the programme proposed increasing funding for gender equality with extra EUR 10 million for 2011-2013.49 It is crucial that the inadequacy of gender equality funding in the current financing period is taken into account when thematic allocations are made for the 20142020 period.  Increase financial allocation for the thematic area of promoting gender equality and women’s rights in the founding regulation of the 2014-2020 human development instrument, and specify that these activities must be financed equally in all regions covered by the programme. The mid-term review of the Investing in People highlights that the limited funding for specific action for women’s rights is due to emphasis on gender equality as a cross-cutting principle of all areas of thematic intervention. However, there is no evidence of how much out of the EUR 482 million allocated in 2007-2010 for activities under the areas “good health for all”, “education and skills” and “other aspects of human and social development” has been used to reduce gender inequalities and ensure women’s empowerment in these spheres. The mid-term review acknowledges that without a specific funding allocation to develop tools to mainstream gender equality in different policies and tools to monitor their use the cross-cutting approach does not produce desired results50.

48

Financial allocations by thematic areas for 2007-2013: Gender equality: initial allocation EUR 57 million (5%) and extra EUR 10 million for the 2010-2013 period due to acute need; Good health for all: EUR 587.6 million (56%); Education and skills: EUR 130 million (12%); Other aspects of Human and Social development: EUR 222 million (21%); contingency and administrative costs (6%) 49 Investing in People – Mid term review of strategy paper for thematic Programme (2007-2013), p.17 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/health/documents/investing_people_mid-term_review_en.pdf 50 Investing in People – Mid term review of strategy paper for thematic Programme (2007-2013), p.18 http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/health/documents/investing_people_mid-term_review_en.pdf

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 Promote gender equality as a cross-cutting principle in all thematic and geographic areas covered by the development cooperation instrument (DCI): allocate financial resources for developing gender mainstreaming tools and monitoring their use and set in strategic documents concrete gender equality targets for all the thematic areas and ensure that funding is allocated to reach these targets.

Geographic Programmes51 The Plan of Action on Gender Equality and Women’s empowerment in Development 2010-2015 clearly highlights as an objective that the EU will “place gender equality issues systematically on the agenda of dialogue with partner countries” (objective 3). However, there is no statistical information publicly available on the extent to which geographical programmes of the EU external policy are contributing to women’s rights and gender equality, and it is not clear how the European Commission is tracking funding allocations for women’s rights and gender equality through these instruments. Furthermore, despite the general obligation of ensuring gender mainstreaming throughout the European development assistance and the development of tools and training programmes for EC staff, there is a lack of strong in-house political and technical guidance on how to ensure gender mainstreaming. The drafting of the regulations of the post 2013 geographic instruments is an opportunity to define gender equality targets and strong political and technical requirements for gender mainstreaming for all geographic instruments. To date no agreed system-wide tracking mechanism exists to assess the amount of aid allocated to gender equality or women’s empowerment. The use of gender-segregated data is still far from sufficient and the new aid modalities are providing new and even more complex challenges when it comes to tracking the funds for gender equality and women’s empowerment and account for the results. Specific budget lines would give all the actors involved a clear picture of where the EU as a global player stands when it comes to women’s rights, gender equality and women’s human rights and allow them to hold EU accountable.  The Commission strategy papers that set the priority areas and financial allocations and the consequent programming documents should include expected results and financial allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment.  Include a clear gender mainstreaming article in the founding regulation of all geographic instruments and ensure efficient gender mainstreaming by setting concrete gender equality targets in the following strategic documents and allocating sufficient human and financial resources.  Include a visible and predictable budget allocations for the implementation of the EU Gender Action Plan on Development.

Support to civil society organisations The value and importance of civil society organisations, especially women’s organisations’ contribution to the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights must be recognised and supported by the new MFF. Women’s organisations in developing countries are facing today a critical situation: cuts in aid budgets and in funds for promotion of gender equality as well as new aid modalities prioritizing direct government support have had a reverse effect on the support for civil society in many developing countries. Also the political space for the CSO participation both in the EU donor countries and in partner states has been shrinking. 51

Development Coordination Instrument(Latin America, Asia, central Asia, Middle East, South Africa), European Development Fund (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries), and European Neighborhood Instrument fund geographic programmes

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 The EU needs to strengthen the voices of civil society through enhanced CSO participation in decisionmaking processes, earmarked and increased funds for CSOs and simplified access to EU funds.  The EU must increase the funds to support women’s and women’s rights organisations as key actors in the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide. In the new MFF women’s organisations should receive substantial, predictable and multi-year core funding.

5.2 The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights The European Commission proposes reinforcing the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and focusing its activities in the 2014-2020 period on supporting the development of civil societies and on electoral observation52. According to the Commission the Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights 20072013 is one of its key tools in financing women’s rights in EU external co-operation53. This role must be retained and strengthened in 2014-2020. The EIDHR has promoting equal participation of women and men in social, economic, and political life, and combating all forms of violence against women in its scope54. However, no specific funding allocations are overseen for gender equality and women’s rights apart from a small joint operational allocation (EUR 18.7 million) for supporting EU guidelines on Children and armed conflict, Rights of the child and Violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them in 2011-2013. Measured through funding allocations, equality between women and men has been sidelined in EU’s work to promote democracy and human rights in comparison to the 2000-2006 period: the predecessor of the EIDHR, the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, supported programmes in the field of women’s rights, women and governance and ending violence against women with EUR 42.3 million (5.8% out of EUR 731 million total budget)55.  The founding regulation of the 2014-2020 Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights and the subsequent strategy documents must clearly specify allocations for promoting gender equality and women’s rights as human rights.  The next EU human rights instrument must translate political commitment of the EU guidelines on violence against women and combating all forms of discrimination against them56 into clear financial allocation to ensure the EU guidelines will not go unheeded. The strategic statements of the EIDHR mention gender mainstreaming as part of the general objective of mainstreaming gender equality and the rights of the child, indigenous people and people with disabilities 57. 52 53

A Budget for Europe 2020 and A Budget for Europe 2020 II – Policy fiches, SEC(2011) 867final SEC(2011) 868final http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/gender/index_en.htm

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REGULATION (EC) No 1889/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 December 2006 on establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide 55

Compendium of EIDHR funded projects 2000-2006 and summary: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/humanrights/documents/eidhr_compendium_by_project_theme_final_15_09_08_en.pdf 56 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/16173cor.en08.pdf 57 Both the EIDHR Strategy 2007-2010 and the EIDHR strategy 2011-2013 highlight that “throughout the response strategy and in projects under all the objectives, the mainstreaming of gender equality, the rights of the child, the rights of indigenous peoples, and the rights of persons with disabilities will be ensured. All projects will need to show, whenever relevant, how these issues are taken into account in the design, implementation and monitoring of their activities.”

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Commitment to gender mainstreaming as part of a broad statement about mainstreaming a number of horizontal priorities that encompass different methodologies and expertise cannot guarantee the required results. It would be advisable to be more specific in defining what mainstreaming gender equality concretely entails.  Include a detailed gender mainstreaming article in the founding regulation of the EIDHR and ensure efficient gender mainstreaming by setting concrete gender equality targets in the following strategic documents and allocating sufficient human and financial resources to ensure all parties are able to do gender mainstreaming.

5.3 Instrument for Stability The successor of Instrument for Stability, the EU’s main tool for crisis response, is foreseen to have a budget of 2.1 billion for 2014-202058. This programme must reflect the EU’s commitment to equality between women and men in general and also to UN resolution 1325 that requires the equal participation of women in conflict prevention and peace building through specific allocations that support involvement of women in these areas. Actions enhancing the role of women in peace and security in order to ensure implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325, and focusing on the needs of women and children in conflict in order to ensure implementation of UNSC Resolution 1820, are clearly highlighted in the regulation of the current Stability Instrument (Article 3(2)). However, in current period no financial allocations are foreseen to turn this commitment into action.  The founding regulation of the post-2013 EU instrument to support to peace and security must reflect EU commitments in the area of women, peace and security. The subsequent strategic documents must clearly identify results and targets as well as financial allocations in this area.

58

A Budget for Europe 2020 and A Budget for Europe 2020 II – Policy fiches, SEC(2011) 867final SEC(2011) 868final

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Annex 1: Earmarked EU financing for gender equality within the 2007-2013 MFF Earmarked EU financing for women’s rights and gender equality covers only 0.37% of the EU budget within the 2007-2013 MFF.59 There are only four earmarked budget lines in the EU budget that provide multi-annual and predictable funding for specific actions targeted at women and for promoting equality between women and men: in internal action these are the gender equality strand of the PROGRESS programme, the European Institute for Gender Equality, and the DAPHNE programme for combating violence against women, and in external action the gender equality component of the Development Cooperation Instrument programme ‘Investing in People.’ In internal action also the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have expenditure categories for activities that can be seen to promote to equality between women and men. Although also other financing instruments fund projects related to women’s rights and gender equality, for example in the field of research and innovation, due to lack of earmarked allocations it is not possible to estimate this spending in advance and hold the EU accountable for it. Furthermore, piecemeal projects cannot compensate for the predictability and visibility that independent multi-annual budget lines and expenditure categories provide. Financial Instrument

Allocations 2007-2013

Internal action Equality between women and men in the PROGRESS 88.00 million Euros60 programme European Institute for Gender Equality 52.50 million Euros DAPHNE Programme for combating violence against children, 116.85 million Euros young people and women European Social Fund - priority 69 “to improve access to employment and increase sustainable participation and progress of women in employment to reduce gender-based 2373.30 million Euros/ segregation in the labour market, and to reconcile work and 3% of total ESF61 private life, such as facilitating access to childcare and care for dependent persons” European Regional Development Fund –activities to support 298.50 million Euros ESF priority 69 European Regional Development Fund – priority 77 “childcare 564.70 million Euros / infrastructure” 0.3% of total ERDF External action Gender equality under Development Cooperation Instrument 66.00 million Euros Programme "Investing in People" Total 3559.85 million Euros % of earmarked gender equality spending of the total budget 0.37% of the EU 59

The lack of specific budget lines for gender equality, of gender specific data, and of gender specific information in the founding regulations and financial statements of EU financial instruments make it difficult to estimate the overall percentage of EU budget used to advance women’s rights and gender equality. This calculation includes only independent multi-annual budget lines and expenditure categories that have a direct link to gender equality. 60 The actual financial allocation is slightly less because part of PROGRESS budget was reallocated for European Microfinance Facility. 61 Data for the ESF and the ERDF is an estimate from the EC Structural Funds database from December 2007.

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The overall EU financing for women’s rights and gender equality has been decreasing in the last years. This is the case in particular with the European Social Fund. Over the 2000-2006 financial period the European Social Fund distributed 4.5 billion Euros of EU funding for gender equality-related activities (woman specific activities, reconciliation, and gender mainstreaming)62. Over the 2007-2013 period only 2.4 billion Euros of EU funding is programmed for the most important category of expenditure for gender equality. Even if gender equality related activities will be financed also through other expenditure categories (for example supporting entrepreneurship), it is estimated that the decrease will be at least 1 billion Euros.63

62 63

The European Social Fund, women, gender mainstreaming, and reconciliation of work and private life. European Commission 2010, Evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to Gender Equality. Synthesis Report. European Commission 2011.

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About the organisations The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisation of women’s associations in the European Union (EU), with members in all the EU member states and candidate countries, as well as Europeanwide bodies., representing a total of more than 2500 organisations. With a focus on European level policymaking, the EWL works towards equal rights and opportunities for all women and men to gain equal access to social, cultural and economic resources to strengthen their personal integrity and choice. On the basis of the input of member organisations across Europe, the EWL is active in lobbying, monitoring and awareness-raising across different areas such as women’s economic and social position, women in decision-making, violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights, integration policies and migrant women. The EWL also monitors and promotes the use of gender mainstreaming, which implies incorporating a women's rights perspective into all European policies. Find more about the EWL on www.womenlobby.org WIDE Network is a European feminist network of women´s organisations, development NGOs, gender specialists and women´s rights activists. WIDE is the only network in Europe working specifically on the advancement of gender equality, women’s rights and social justice in EU and EU member states development, trade and macroeconomic policies and practices. WIDE’s capacities and expertise – built along more than 25 years of experience - place the network as a key player for the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights worldwide through the European external actions. We are committed to a holistic human rights perspective as a reference framework for our analysis and action. WIDE’s work is grounded on gender justice and women’s rights, focusing on women’s economic, social, cultural and political rights as the basis for the development of a more just and democratic Europe and world. WIDE brings together 12 national and regional platforms from Europe, CEE and CIS countries and more than 60 members organisations from around the world. Find more about WIDE Network on www.wide-network.org CONCORD is the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs. Its 25 national associations and 18 international networks represent over 1600 NGOs which are supported by millions of citizens across Europe. CONCORD leads reflection and political actions and regularly engages in dialogue with the European institutions and other civil society organisations. Find out more about CONCORD on www.concordeurope.org

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