At the 16th Regional Coordination Meeting of EU Candidate Countries and Potential Candidates on 16 December 2025, EIGE Director Carlien Scheele marks the relaunch of the Agency’s pre-accession cooperation, reflecting on resilience in challenging times, the power of partnerships, and the shared commitment to advancing evidence-based gender equality across the Western Balkans, Türkiye and beyond…
Good morning dear colleagues and dear partners,
Thank you very much for being here. This is quite a way to bring 2025 to a close! I am truly delighted to open the 16th regional coordination meeting – precisely because it means that EIGE’s cooperation with EU pre-accession countries has once again reinstated!
As you know, the Agency has a long history with pre-accession cooperation – as far back as 2013.
It’s great to see so many familiar faces as well as new ones as we take the next steps in our shared journey towards a region with stronger and evidence-based gender equality.
Let me extend very warm welcome to our project partners: we have representatives from the six Western Balkan partners: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo[1], Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, as well as Türkiye. Your commitment, year after year, is the backbone of this cooperation.
It’s also an honour to welcome partners with whom we so look forward to deepening our collaboration with: Ukraine and Andorra.
Your participation, your perspectives will strengthen our collective understanding of what meaningful gender equality work looks like in diverse political and social contexts.
Now I will briefly introduce the team at EIGE who will be taking this project phase forward:
First, our Team Leader, Dimitrios Tsoutsias…
Next, our Project Coordinator, Kristaps Petermanis, whom some of you know from the 2014-2017 period of this cooperation. We are delighted to have Kristaps back at EIGE!
First, our Team Leader, Dimitrios Tsoutsias…
Next, our Project Coordinator, Kristaps Petermanis, whom some of you know from the 2014-2017 period of this cooperation. We are delighted to have Kristaps back at EIGE!
Marija Grakalskiene, our Project Assistant, is supporting the project’s administration and finances.
And we also look forward to welcoming a gender equality researcher in 2026 to complete the project team.
So, coming back to the heart of this cooperation, I want to underline our shared goal of helping partners align with the requirements of EU gender equality legislation and policies before accession. This includes the transposition and practical implementation of legislation on gender equality, in particular laws addressing gender-based and domestic violence.
I will outline the project ahead based on its three core objectives:
First, to strengthen your ability to mainstream gender equality across policies and institutions, and to build the capacity to monitor progress using high quality, comparable, and reliable data.
Second, to support the collection of administrative and survey data on violence against women, aligned with Directive 2024/1385, which effectively transposes the Istanbul Convention into EU law. This is a major milestone for the EU, and we want to ensure that candidate countries are ready to meet these requirements.
Third, to reinforce regional cooperation and mutual learning. This is not a one-direction process – it is a partnership of exchange, where each of you contributes and each of you benefits.
Our project team will go into more detail later today, but I want to stress that this is a collective effort, and its success depends on the contributions and engagement of everyone in this room.
Now, I do not underestimate the tidal strength of the challenging environments we are operating in right now.
In the midst of a full-scale war, Ukraine has developed a Gender Equality Index which is a powerful reminder that gender equality work does not stop - even in times of crisis. On the contrary, it becomes even more essential.
But Ukraine is not alone in facing challenges. We are all up against the hostility of open backlash against gender equality. But it’s clear that it doesn’t deter you. It makes you all the more determined to persist and insist on fighting the good fight. It’s deeply admirable. And this is precisely why strength in numbers and partnerships matters all the more right now. We are grateful for the strong cooperation with the European Commission -
this is precisely why strength in numbers and partnerships matters all the more right now. We And are grateful for the strong cooperation with the European Commission - especially DG JUST and DG ENEST – who continue to champion gender equality as part of the EU’s political priorities.
On the ground, our collaboration with the EU Delegations and the EU Office in Kosovo will be essential for the practical and sustained implementation of this project.
I also want to welcome our colleagues from UN Women, particularly those contributing to the Gender Equality Facility in the Western Balkan region. The challenges we face are complex, and there is more work than any single organisation can take on. We need all allies at the table - and we look forward to creating strong synergies with you.
Before I close, I want to reiterate once more how truly encouraged I am by the commitment in this room. I can already see from now how much progress we will make together over the coming years.
I now hand the floor over to Kristaps and other colleagues, who will guide you through the next part of the programme. Thank you!
I look forward to hearing your views.
Thank you.
[1] This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.