EIGE’s new report shows that countries with robust gender equality institutions make more progress on gender equality. As EU leaders shape the next Gender Equality Strategy and budget, there’s no time to waste.
Decades of efforts towards gender equality have proven that robust gender equality mechanisms drive change. Without them, best intentions falter and commitments to fairness and opportunity risk being little more than paper promises.
Institutions are the bodies and processes that governments and societies put in place to promote and uphold gender equality across all areas of our life. They include government and independent gender equality bodies.
Thirty years on from the Beijing Platform for Action, the world’s most ambitious blueprint for women’s rights, Europe stands at another pivotal moment.
Over the coming months, EU policymakers will shape the EU’s new Gender Equality Strategy and priorities for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
This will define funding, legislation and social and democratic progress across the bloc for years to come.
EIGE’s latest report provides evidence that countries with stronger institutional mechanisms achieve better results on gender equality.
“The message is clear: more robust gender equality institutions mean more equality. It’s that simple,” says Carlien Scheele, Director of EIGE.
“With the next Multiannual Financial Framework and the new post-2025 Gender Equality Strategy, we have a unique opportunity to lay firm foundations. We can now walk the talk by integrating gender-budgeting into the next EU long-term budget. If we want gender equality in practice, we must put a focus on strengthening the structures that make it possible.”
EIGE’s latest evidence on institutional mechanisms
EIGE’s report on institutional mechanisms for gender equality in the EU is a comprehensive snapshot of how equipped Member States are to drive meaningful progress. It captures data to monitor progress, identify gaps, and provide recommendations as part of the monitoring of Area H of the Beijing Platform for Action. The data collection tracks four crucial areas:
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Governments’ formal commitments to gender equality
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The resources and reach of gender equality bodies
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The extent to which gender considerations are built into all policies (gender mainstreaming)
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And the production and dissemination of gender statistics.
The findings show that countries with stronger institutional frameworks consistently perform better in EIGE’s Gender Equality Index, across real-world outcomes like financial resources, political representation and work-life balance.
Spain, for example, scores an impressive 86 % on EIGE’s composite measure of institutional strength, and is among the EU’s gender equality frontrunners. But more than half of Member States score below 50 % on institutional strength.
Gender mainstreaming, or embedding gender perspectives across all policy areas, remains a weak link. We see an average score of just 34 % and outright declines since 2021.
Many governmental bodies are under-resourced. While five Member States - Germany, Spain, France, Sweden and Greece - have 100 people or more actively dedicated to promoting gender equality, others have as few as five on staff.
The report highlights the patchy nature of national strategies and accountability. Only a handful of Member States have robust action plans with clear, costed targets and regular reporting.
This leaves a dangerous gap between aspirations for gender equality and on-the-ground delivery.
Why the shrinking space for civil society matters now
Strong institutional mechanisms aren’t just about government. They thrive in a vibrant, well-resourced civil society.
Women’s groups and grassroots NGOs help to keep power in check, deliver services, and ensure that diverse voices shape future policy. Yet civil society is under strain.
For consultation processes to be more than box-ticking exercises, civil society organisations must be included. And their priorities need to be reflected in final strategies.
Here our report finds that small, local and regional organisations, as well as those closest to marginalised communities, struggle most to be heard.
For example, “there was a lack of involvement for migrant women, and there was actually not even a mention of migrant women in that strategy as such. We always feel left out when these discussions are held,” one civil society group told our researchers referring to a limited access to consultation platforms in gender equality policies.
Civil society organisations highlight that an intersectional approach in gender equality policies remains an emerging practice, noting that many stakeholders still lack awareness and understanding of how sex and gender interplay with other personal characteristics.
Financial insecurity is often critical, as many organisations rely on short-term, competitive grants, just to keep running.
“We are constantly figuring out how we can get the next funds,” one civil society representative told us. “The entire women’s movement spends an enormous amount of resources figuring out how to survive for two years.”
Across Europe, the pressure on civil society is growing. Without consistent and long-term funding, civil society organisations face structural barriers that hinder their capacity to contribute to long-term transformative changes.
And when civil society space shrinks, everyone pays the price. Checks on power fade, marginalised voices are sidelined, and citizens lose essential support.
What needs to happen: a call to action
Too often, gender equality bodies are treated as underfunded add-ons. And gender mainstreaming remains patchy, at best. The foundations of civil society are being eroded just when they are needed most.
The upcoming EU Gender Equality Strategy for 2026–2030 and the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) present a unique chance to change course.
EIGE urges policymakers to:
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Embed strong institutional mechanisms and effective use of gender mainstreaming as core priorities in the new Gender Equality Strategy.
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Allocate dedicated percentages of the next EU’s long-term budget to gender equality and gender mainstreaming interventions and activities.
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Increase resources for gender equality bodies, so they can boost efforts to promote gender equality.
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Consider initiating a legislative process for an EU directive on substantive gender equality, which would foster gender equality and mainstreaming standards across the EU.
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Guarantee sustainable, multi-year funding for civil society organisations, so they can move beyond day-to-day survival and invest in long-term progress.
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Promote genuine inclusion, ensuring the voices of grassroots organisations, rural communities and other underrepresented groups are heard when shaping policy.
Now, let’s deliver real progress on gender equality
Our new report offers a roadmap for what works. It shows that robust gender equality institutions, adequate resources, well anchored gender mainstreaming structures and processes, and meaningful civil society participation deliver real progress on gender equality.
As Carlien Scheele, Director of EIGE, explains: “Well-equipped gender equality institutions help uphold our values and turn them into everyday realities.”
As the EU shapes its strategy for lasting change, we should all recognise that stronger gender equality institutions will help to deliver improvements to all our lives.
Read the full report to see why these decisions matter. And add your voice to our call for robust institutional mechanisms to be at the heart of the new Gender Equality Strategy.
This is how we build a future where gender equality isn’t just an ambition, but a lived reality for everyone.