Why is gender-responsive evaluation essential within the EU evaluation framework and the European Green Deal?
Considering gender impacts in evaluations is an important item on the agendas of EU and international institutions. Here are some good reasons for this.
- Why gender-responsive evaluation essential within the EU evaluation framework and the European Green Deal
- To strengthen transparency and accountability
- To address gender and intersecting inequalities and promote evidence-based, gender-responsive policies
- To achieve the EU's commitments to consider gender impacts in the context of the green transition
EU commitments to identify and assess gender impacts in evaluation in the context of the European Green Deal
There is both a legal and a policy basis for the assessment of gender impacts at all stages of the policy cycle, including evaluations. Specifically, a four-pronged framework supports the evaluation of gender impacts in the EU in the context of the European Green Deal.
The 'Better regulation' guidelines and toolbox provide practical guidance and operational and methodological detail to assist staff and practitioners in the implementation of the ‘Better regulation’ agenda.
In 2020, the Commission committed to improving the assessment of gender impacts in evaluations and impact assessments within the 'Better regulation' framework under the interinstitutional agreement.[1] Its aim was to enhance budgetary transparency, gender equality and gender mainstreaming in the implementation and monitoring of the 2021–2027 multiannual financial framework. Specifically, the Commission committed to examining how to develop a methodology to track expenditure on gender equality. This corresponds well with the understanding that gender-responsive evaluations can contribute to more transparent and efficient policymaking.[2] In 2021, the Commission built on this commitment with the communication on 'Better regulation'.[3] This pledged greater attention to the dimension of gender equality and equality for all and committed the Commission to consistently considering it in all stages of policymaking.[4]
Overall, the practical guidance of the toolbox on gender equality, in general (as an objective requiring mainstreaming), and on assessing gender impacts is limited. This points towards the urgency of developing specific tools for gender impacts and gender equality in evaluations that would complement the 'Better regulation' toolbox.
The EU gender equality strategy sets out the key objectives and actions for the EU to advance towards a gender-equal society. The Commission commits to improving gender mainstreaming by systematically including a gender perspective in all stages of policy design in all EU policy areas, internal and external. The Commission also commits to implementing the strategy using intersectionality as a cross-cutting principle.
The EU and its Member States have also committed to the Beijing Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Area H of the Beijing Platform for Action on institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women and Target 5.C of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) on the adoption and strengthening of sound policies and enforceable legislation to promote gender equality are pertinent to gender-responsive evaluation.
The European Green Deal presents a roadmap for policies and measures to deliver the most radical societal transition in living memory and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The principle of ‘do no significant harm’ (DNSH) to the environment is a key element of the European Green Deal. ‘DNSH’ means refraining from supporting or engaging in economic activities[5] that cause significant harm to any relevant environmental objectives.[6] In practice, this principle requires decision-makers to assess the potential environmental impacts of proposed activities and take steps to avoid or minimise any negative effects, implement mitigation measures, or choose alternative options with fewer environmental impacts. The DNSH principle applies to the EU funds under the 2021–2027 multiannual financial framework and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Another integral part of the European Green Deal is the EU’s commitment to ensuring that the green transition is just and fair and leaves no one behind. To make this commitment a reality, the European Green Deal recognises that all EU actions and policies should pull together to help the EU achieve a successful, just and fair transition. The EU can only fulfil the objectives of the European Green Deal and its commitment to a just and fair transition if the transition policies address gender and intersecting inequalities.
The EU gender equality strategy[7] recognises that green policies do not have an equal impact on women and men. For instance, as climate refugees, women face increased risks such as sexual and gender-based violence. The strategy acknowledges the gender impacts of climate adaptation measures, such as the renovation wave or the EU strategy on climate adaptation. It emphasises the need to address the gender dimension in green policies to maximise the full potential of the European Green Deal. The more recently adopted regulation on the Social Climate Fund[8] also recognises that women are more affected by energy and transport poverty – particularly lone mothers, single women, women with disabilities, and older women living alone.
In 2020, the Commission committed to developing a methodology to track expenditure on gender equality.[9] The methodology was piloted across all spending programmes in the context of the 2023 EU draft budget and has been applied again on a pilot basis in the 2024 draft budget. [10] The methodology is a work in progress that the Commission has committed to further improving. It aims to annually track the contributions made by policy design and resource allocation to promote gender equality. The methodology is meant to be aligned with the common provisions regulation (CPR) gender tracking system for the EU cohesion policy funds (for which EIGE has developed practical guidance as part of the gender budgeting toolkit)[11] and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee gender marker.[12] The tracking methodology assigns a score at the programme level, considering programming and implementation information as available.
Some EU funds also established gender equality as a horizontal principle and include requirements to monitor, report and evaluate gender equality. The (CPR)[13] for the 2021–2027 funds (ERDF, ESF+, CF, JTF, EMFAF, AMIF, ISF and BMVI)[14] establishes gender equality as a horizontal principle. It mandates that Member States and the Commission must promote equality between women and men and ensure the integration of a gender perspective throughout the preparation, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of programmes[15].