Ursula von der Leyen made a ‘union of equality’, based on the principle of equality for all and equality in all its senses, a cornerstone of her mandate. Binding measures since 2019 have made significant strides in supporting the fundamental principle of equal pay for equal work, gender-balanced company boards, work–life balance, binding standards for equality bodies and combating violence...
Climate change is one of the greatest environmental and development challenges facing the world today, and it has critical impacts on human rights and inequalities, including gender equality. To overcome these challenges, in 2019 the EU launched the European Green Deal (EGD) strategy, which sets out targets of no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and economic growth decoupled...
A decade after it was first proposed, the EU’s directive on improving gender balance among directors of listed companies and related measures was adopted by EU co-legislators in November 2022, coming into force in December 2022. The directive requires at least 40 % of the non-executive members of the boards of listed companies, or at least 33 % of all...
Foresight is the method of anticipating future developments and potential risks to inform strategic planning. In the EU, foresight has been integrated into policymaking since 2021 to create evidence-based strategies that anticipate future trends, risks and opportunities. The EU is mandated to incorporate a gender perspective into all policies and activities to achieve gender equality, and foresight is no exception...
This report presents evidence on gender inequalities in financial independence in the EU, with a particular focus on how financial independence has been defined and measured. It also presents evidence on the impact of tax–benefit systems in EU Member States on gender inequalities in financial independence and explores consequences associated with financial dependence, including economic violence. The report finds that...
The Gender Equality Index 2023 presents the EU in relation to gender equality amid crises and uncertainties. In recent years, the world has been hit by repeated shocks and multiple crises. What remains constant is the fact that when crisis strikes, women and girls suffer disproportionally. The crises and shocks continuously threaten to create new challenges and reverse years of...
Economic violence is a common form of violence against women statistically defined as ‘any act or behaviour which causes economic harm to an individual’. Economic violence is rooted in gender inequality and reinforced by traditional gender norms.
The increase in gender inequalities that has resulted from the COVID-19 crisis points to the importance of placing gender equality at the heart of the EU policy response to mitigate the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic in both the short and the long terms.
The persistent gender imbalance among key decision-makers in large corporations and financial institutions remains a cause for concern. EU institutions recently agreed on a directive aimed at increasing the number of women on corporate boards by requiring Member States to ensure that companies listed on stock exchanges have at least 40 % of the under-represented gender among non-executive directors or...
The European Institute for Gender Equality defines gender-responsive public procurement (GRPP) as ‘a gender mainstreaming tool to promote gender equality through public procurement. GRPP is procurement that promotes gender equality through the goods, services or works being purchased. EIGE, in its work on gender mainstreaming and in particular gender budgeting, seeks to promote gender equality in how public resources are...
This technical report presents the methodological aspects of the online survey on gender equality and socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19 carried out by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). The survey was implemented in all 27 EU Member States from June–July 2021 and its results are presented in the Gender Equality Index 2022 – The COVID-19 pandemic and care. This...
The Gender Equality Index is a tool to measure the progress of gender equality in the EU, developed by EIGE. It gives more visibility to areas that need improvement and ultimately supports policy makers to design more effective gender equality measures. The Gender Equality Index has tracked the painfully slow progress of gender equality in the EU since 2010, mostly...
