Brussels, 27/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of the third meeting on 25 May in Brussels of the High Level Group on Gender Mainstreaming, which aims to promote equality in the management of Structural Funds, the Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, pointed out: “Equality between men and women is one of the EU's fundamental objectives, and we have a responsibility to see that it is taken into account in the area of regional policy, which accounts for one third of the EU budget and is one of the most visible policies for citizens”. She went on to add: “Gender mainstreaming is also part f the Lisbon strategy, because gender discrimination, both overt and latent, equates to a great waste of human resources. Eliminating discrimination will lead to gains in both employment and productivity”.
The Group met in June and November 2004. It is composed of personalities from management authorities of the 25 EU Member States, and of Bulgaria and Romania in their capacity as observers. The Group's action is based on the Commission's communication of 20 December 2002 entitled “Implementation of gender mainstreaming in the Structural Funds programming documents 2000-2006”. The Group contributes to the development of instruments and mechanisms to integrate the gender dimension at every stage of the regional and cohesion process. The aim of these half-yearly meetings is to strengthen partnerships, consult actors concerned in an informal manner and share good practice. Good practice includes the establishment of the Gender Institute in Sachsen-Anhalt (Germany), and a new pre-school in Kent (UK), as well as a micro-credit scheme for female entrepreneurs in Finland.