On the sidelines of the tense negotiations on the EU's future budget, the European Court of Auditors said on Wednesday 12 February that it was analysing how gender mainstreaming has been integrated in the past in the various EU funding programmes.
Its audit report, expected in the first quarter of 2021, will assess in particular whether there is an appropriate framework for promoting gender equality, whether the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and annual EU budgets take account of gender mainstreaming and whether the Commission is able to demonstrate the results achieved.
The Court of Auditors recalls that the three European institutions have committed themselves in the past to gender mainstreaming in EU initiatives. However, as the auditors point out, the examination of current programme expenditure that accompanied the Commission's proposal for the MFF 2021-2027 revealed that gender equality had not been integrated in the EU budget in the same way as climate change or biodiversity, but that this principle had been applied through specific programmes, mainly those dealing with employment and social issues.
It is in this context that the Court of Auditors intends to carry out its work. The audit will cover in particular the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) and the Erasmus programme. Report Summary: http://bit.ly/2tW3Za0 (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)