(Source: EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS)
The EU has a long-standing commitment to gender equality. But too little has been done to
mainstream gender: in other words, to systematically and actively promote gender equality in
policy-making and in spending the EU budget. Necessary prerequisites are still missing, according to
a report published today by the European Court of Auditors.
The idea behind gender mainstreaming is simple: gender needs to be taken into account at all stages
and in all areas of policy-making and policy implementation. Gender-responsive budgeting is not just
about funding explicit gender-equality initiatives. It is about understanding the impact of budgetary
and policy decisions on gender-equality goals, and using this information to adjust for inequalities by
introducing changes to public expenditure and revenue.