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Gender Budgeting

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Checklist for putting the horizontal principle of gender equality into practice in Partnership Agreements

The CPR specifies that each Partnership Agreement (PA) must contain the following elements:

The selected policy objectives, indicating by which of the funds and programmes they will be pursued and a justification thereto, and where relevant, a justification for using the delivery mode of the InvestEU, taking into account relevant country-specific recommendations.

Does the justification of the selected policy objective(s) refer to gender equality/inequalities?

  • If not, has an assessment of inequalities in the area of the policy objective been carried out (see Tool 2 for more information)?
  • If not, why has this not yet happened?
  • Consider providing the support and knowledge needed to integrate gender equality as a horizontal principle by addressing it in the justification and the selected policy objectives.

Remember, it is mandatory to consider gender equality and inequalities according to EU regulations (see Tool 1).

Do the country-specific recommendations include information on gender inequalities?

  • If yes, make sure these inequalities and recommendations are being addressed by the selected policy objectives.

For each of the selected policy objectives referred to in point 1:

  1. a summary of the policy choices and the main results expected for each of the Funds;
  2. including where relevant, through the use of InvestEU;
  3. coordination, demarcation and complementarities between the funds;
  4. where appropriate, coordination between national and regional programmes;
  5. complementarities between the funds and other Union instruments, including L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement (LIFE);
  6. strategic integrated projects and strategic nature projects. 

Does the summary include references to inequalities in the Member State and at the sub-national and/or local level?

  • If not, identify relevant analysis on inequalities in the area of the policy objective that can support references to existing gender inequalities

Are the main results connected to advancing the equality of women and men in all their diversity (which means considering not only their sex, but also characteristics such as age, socio-economic situation, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, and rural or urban location) in the Member State?

  • If not, is there a justification for why this is not the case?
  • If not, make connections between the main results and the promotion of gender equality as a horizontal principle. This can be done by ensuring that the main results contribute to specific gender equality targets, such as promoting equality in the quantity and quality of employment or reducing the wage gap between women and men.

How are possible complementarities between the funds being taken into account to advance gender equality (see Tool 4 for more on coordination between the funds)?

Have gender equality issues been considered in a coordinated matter between national and sub-national programmes?

  • If not, consider ensuring that the PA explicitly addresses complementarities on promoting gender equality between national and sub-national programmes, as well as between the funds and other EU instruments.

The preliminary financial allocation from each of the funds by policy objective at national level, respecting fund-specific rules on thematic concentration.

Where relevant, the breakdown of financial resources by category of regions drawn up in accordance with Article 102(2) and the amounts of allocations proposed to be transferred between categories of regions pursuant to Article 105.

The amounts to be contributed to InvestEU by fund and by category of regions.

Will the preliminary financial allocation influence gender equality and the lives of women and men at the national and/or sub-national level?

  • If yes, how will the allocations influence women and men, for example positively or negatively? Will women and men be affected in different ways? Will these differences be justified? (For example, to compensate for structural disadvantages experienced by certain groups, fairness measures may be applied and relatively more resources allocated to such groups.) What will the impact of such differentiation be on gender equality (positive/negative)?
  • If no, identify the target group in a sex-disaggregated manner.

Remember, it is mandatory to consider gender equality and inequalities in EU regulations.

The list of planned programmes under the funds with the respective preliminary financial allocations by fund and the corresponding national contribution by category of regions.

  • Is the list of planned programmes clearly related to the policy objectives?
  • Make sure that you can clearly distinguish the horizontal principle of gender equality by specifying relevant aims and targets related to promoting gender equality. (See Tool 1 for more information on the horizontal principle.)

A summary of the actions which the Member State concerned shall take to reinforce its administrative capacity of the implementation of the funds.

Are there actions that refer to gender equality based on legal obligations and gender equality commitments?

  • If not, use Tool 1 to identify actions that should be included.

Is a capacity development strategy in place for management and other staff in place, or will there be? Does it, or will it, include capacities related to gender equality?

  • If not, make sure that capacity building activities on gender equality reach all relevant staff so that they all have the capacities needed to effectively implement the EU’s obligations on gender equality.

Are actors working on gender equality in the Member State – both state/public sector actors and civil society organisations – mentioned and included?

  • If not, identify relevant actors and ensure that they are included on a regular basis.

Is there, or will there be, a support structure for complying with the requirements of the horizontal principles, including the horizontal principle on gender equality?

  • If not, consider establishing such a support structure. In practice, there is a lack of knowledge on what and how to comply with requirements around gender equality. For instance, the claim that 'gender equality is not relevant” to a particular policy area is widespread, despite gender’s relevance to all areas. A support structure can provide the guidance needed to comply with requirements in practice.