What changed

OPINION

The Committee on EmploymentWomen's Rights and SocialGender AffairsEquality calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

– having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ Annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2023,

A. whereas Article 8 TFEU states that the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities and to promote gender equality in all its activities, thereby establishing the principle of gender mainstreaming; whereas gender equality must be incorporated into all EU policies and activities, including via gender budgeting at all levels of the budgetary process; whereas equality is a fundamental right under the Treaty of Lisbon and a priority for the Union and achieving gender equality is crucial to upholding these rights; whereas the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has a central role in supporting Union institutions and Member States in achieving that aim; whereas it is EIGE's objective to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality, including gender mainstreaming in all EU policies, a task in which it has proven to be vital and effective; whereas it is therefore underlined that EIGE needs to be provided with sufficient and stable financial and human resources to fulfil its tasks;

– having regard to the European Commission’s Evaluation of the EU agencies under the remit of DG Employment – Eurofound, Cedefop, ETF and EU-OSHA,

B. whereas EIGE was established in order to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality in the Union, including gender mainstreaming in all Union policies and the resulting national policies, the fight against discrimination based on gender, and raising Union citizens’ awareness of gender equality;

– having regard to the Eurofound's Consolidated Annual Activity report 2023,

C. whereas EIGE’s core mission focuses on achieving gender equality in the EU by providing research, collecting and communicating data, and developing methods to improve statistics and data collection, measuring the state of gender equality at both EU and Member State levels, developing methodological tools and providing technical support for gender mainstreaming, and cooperating with EU institutions, it’s Member States, EU agencies, international organisations, academia, civil society and other stakeholders;

– having regard to the Cedefop's Consolidated Annual Activity report 2023,

D. whereas the Gender Equality Index 2023 for the European Union (EU) surpassed 70 points for the first time, showing a modest growth of 1.6 points since 2022; whereas the increase in the overall EU score is the highest year-on-year rise since the first edition of the Index in 2013; whereas some domains showing signs of regression, in particular in economic and income metrics;

– having regard to the ETF's Consolidated Annual Activity report 2023,

E. whereas in 2023 EIGE’s work focused on two thematic priorities: the European Green Deal and gender-based violence; whereas crises exacerbate women’s vulnerability and exposure to violence, intensifying existing structural inequalities and aggravating all types of gender-based violence, including physical, sexual and psychological; whereas following the principle of gender mainstreaming, incorporating gender sensitive perspective, and researching the effect of all policies on women are crucial aspects of achieving gender equality; whereas women are underrepresented in leading roles in climate policy, as men still fill 67 % of climate-related decision making roles; whereas EIGE pointed out as well that women are underrepresented in the creation and development of clean innovation; whereas this has added value for European policymaking;

– having regard to the EU-OSHA's Consolidated Annual Activity report 2023,

F. whereas gender equality in the Union has been particularly impacted by the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the cost of living crisis, which women are disproportionately affected by, and the backlashes against gender equality and women’s rights; whereas this further deepens inequalities; whereas EIGE's work focused also on gender-based violence (GBV), by working on a EU wide survey on GBV to close the 10 year data gap on the prevalence of violence against women in the EU; whereas EIGE works towards the provision of evidence on GBV that can support the EU and Member States (and beyond) in their efforts to eradicate all forms of violence;

– having regard to the ELA's Consolidated Annual Activity report 2023,

G. whereas EU agencies, such as EIGE, contribute to the implementation of EU policies and strive for the development of a more sustainable, inclusive and competitive Europe for the benefit of all EU citizens; whereas these agencies are decentralised and thereby independent in the development of their work programmes;

– having regard to Commission’s report: Evaluation of EU Agencies: Eurofound, Cedefop, ETF and EU-OSHA,

1. Stresses that in the last decade economic, social, labour and gender inequalities within and between Member States have become more acute; recalls the important role played by EIGE understanding and addressing the extent and causes of gender inequality in the EU; notes EIGE’s continuous high level of budget execution, despite the persistent understaffing of the agency, with commitment appropriations of up to 98 % in 2023 and a payment appropriations rate of 83 %; congratulates EIGE for achieving 92.76 % of its work programme objectives; notes that the 2023 Gender Equality Index focused on how gender gaps impact and are impacted by green transition efforts, especially in sectors like energy, green technology innovation and transport and welcomes EIGE's initiatives shed light on this phenomenon;

Part 1 – General comments

2. Notes that EIGE was established as EU’s knowledge centre on gender equality to produce independent research and share best practises to eliminate discrimination based on gender, combine research, data and tools to help EU and it’s Member States to design inclusive and gender-transformative policies and to mainstream gender equality into all their policies; highlights the urgency for the Union to advance on gender equality, in the light of ongoing crisis, such as climate crisis, wars, backlashes on gender equality and anti-democratic movements and widespread gender based violence; emphasizes that addressing backlashes and gender-based violence cannot be decoupled from tackling economic and social inequalities; calls on EIGE to prioritize research and recommendations that focus on reducing the gender pay gap, increasing women’s access to quality jobs, and ensuring their economic independence as a fundamental part of its mission; notes in that regard that gender pay gap in the EU is 13 % and pension gender pension gap is 29 %, effecting women’s societal wellbeing; notes that women in the EU also experience threats to their fundamental rights and bodily autonomy, as attacks against SRHR, including abortion rights persist; reiterates that women are also disproportionately affected by climate crisis and wars and conflicts;

1. Expresses its satisfaction that the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has declared the transactions underlying the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), the European Training Foundation (ETF), and the European Labour Authority (ELA) annual accounts for the financial year 2023 to be legal and regular, with the exception of ECA’s qualified opinion on the legality and regularity for some ELA payments, and that the financial position of the five agencies as at 31 December 2023 is fairly represented;

3. Recognizes the high success rates of EIGE in developing actions and communication campaigns on gender equality, emphasizing its importance in creating awareness;

2. Appreciates the high quality work performed by the agencies working in the area of employment, social affairs and inclusion (Eurofound, EU-OSHA, CEDEFOP, ETF and ELA); recalls the particular mandates of these agencies and the specific composition of their management bodies based on the tripartite principle and thus including representatives of the national authorities and social partners; recognises that trough their members the management bodies ensure the necessary alignment between the agencies’ work and stakeholders’ needs and priorities; stresses the importance, autonomy and added value of the five agencies in their field of expertise; appreciates the five agencies’ key contribution in promoting the European Year of Skills 2023;

4. Highlights the importance of resuming actions related to the gender mainstreaming that did not achieve a 100 % success rate, particularly those due to procedural reasons;

3. Recalls the importance of developing a long term Human Resources policy on work-life balance, ensuring teleworking, right to disconnect and career development, enhancing the geographical balance to have an appropriate representation from all Member States, and recruiting and integrating people with disabilities as well as promoting their equal treatment and their opportunities;

5. Highlights the important research by EIGE which presents how violence is a result of inequalities that affect all women, but that indeed some groups of women are more vulnerable to experiencing violence such as women with disabilities; calls on EIGE to further develop its future work on this pressing topic;

4. Welcomes the five agencies’ continued and growing cooperation and sharing of resources among them and with other institutions, including other EU agencies, the Commission and the Parliament;

6. Notes that EIGE already considers violence against women as being one of the most severe human rights violations within societies;

5. Calls on the Commission to ensure better use of the Agencies’ expertise in relevant policy areas regarding for example, elaboration of reports and studies, conducting research and surveys, which can allow for more efficient utilisation of existing Union budget resources compared to alternative solutions; appreciates the five agencies’ efforts to further develop their digital and online communication in order to increase their visibility and raise awareness of their high-impact work; stresses, in this regard, the unused potential in providing for specific, relevant information and the same quality products as external consultants, when the agencies’ mandates allow it;

7. Agrees with EIGE in its research that women and girls with disabilities are often at a higher risk of transport poverty due to limited transport affordability, availability, and accessibility;

6. Reiterates the need to equip the agencies at a level commensurate to the assigned tasks, with a sufficient number of staff, employed in a stable manner and having sufficient material resources; recalls the importance of providing these agencies with the necessary technical and human resources to fulfil their tasks, and to empower them to implement effective, inclusive and cross-sectoral Social Dialogue within the Union; recalls that the EU Agencies should promote job security for workers;

8. Welcomes EIGE’s gender equality highlights which presented Croatia and Greece as having the highest share of women among research and innovation personnel in business enterprises in the electricity and gas and water supply sectors; notes that such information has added value to the cause of gender equality in the energy market;

7. Notes the Court’s observations for agencies concern shortcomings in public procurement procedures, management and control systems and budgetary management and that weaknesses in public procurement procedures remain the main source of irregular payments;

9. Notes that the 8,5 % increase in EIGE’s staff costs can be attributed to the continued high inflation rate as well as a 2,7 % indexation of salaries, and that the average number of staff remained at 45; notes that two contract agents were engaged and funded by the IPA contribution agreement with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations; notes that Regulation (EC) No 1922/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on establishing a European Institute for Gender Equality, states in article 6 that EIGE should function independently in the public interest; recalls that EIGE’s task is to collect, analyse, and disseminate information as regards gender equality and to develop, analyse, evaluate and disseminate methodological tools in order to support the integration of gender equality into Union policies and the resulting national policies; acknowledges the persisting understaffing of EIGE, as evidenced in the findings of the second external evaluation; stresses its calls for EIGE to be granted the necessary budget and staff allocations to enable it to fulfill its tasks, including in response to the increasing urgent demands, technical assistance, and requests for its services;

8. Acknowledges that the high inflation rate in 2023, and the related increase in various costs and utilities, affects significantly the agencies’ budget dedicated to operational expenditure, in particular for agencies located in Member States experiencing the highest inflation rates; recalls the importance of health and safety at work; calls on all EU Agencies to meet the highest standards of health and safety at work and to ensure that workers have access to their annual medical examination by reviewing procedures, measures and allocation of resources accordingly, including the necessary professional training;

10. Recalls that EIGE was set up to help the European institutions and the Member States to mainstream gender equality in all their policies and combat gender-based discrimination by supplying up-to-date studies, and thus makes an important contribution to efforts to achieve genuine gender equality;

9. Welcomes the agencies’ efforts to implement policies on diversity and inclusiveness, particularly when it comes to persons with disabilities; encourages the agencies to enhance comparable data collection on the employment of persons with disabilities; recognises the progress made within the Agencies towards gender balance within their staff: calls for further efforts to ensure gender balance also at the senior management level and to mainstream gender in all their activities;

11. Welcomes the ongoing cooperation between EIGE and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), in particular the Institute’s contribution to the ongoing efforts of the Committee concerning gender-based violence, work-life balance, the gender pay and pension gap, impact of crises on women, gender mainstreaming and budgeting; strongly supports the work of the Institute, which enables the Committee to properly do its work; notes the importance of availability of reliable gender-disaggregated data in order to allow for evidence-based policy making; notes the valuable contribution EIGE can make to all the European Parliament's Committees and other EU agencies in order to better integrate gender mainstreaming across EU policies and actions; calls on EIGE to adopt an intersectional framework in its research and policymaking to address the compounded social and economic disadvantages faced by women from marginalized groups, including women of color, migrants, persons with disabilities, and LGBTIQA+ individuals; stresses the importance of collecting disaggregated data to develop targeted solutions for these groups;

Part 212. –Is Dischargeof inthe respectopinion, ofon the implementationbasis of the budgetdata ofcurrently theavailable, Europeanthat Foundationdischarge forcan be granted to the ImprovementDirector of LivingEIGE andin Workingrespect Conditionsof (Eurofound)the implementation of its budget for the financial year 20232023.

10. Appreciates the Foundation’s continued high quality work on enhancing and disseminating knowledge, and providing evidence-based expertise to support the development of better informed social, employment and work-related policies in Europe, to analyse policy options to improve working conditions, industrial relations, employment and living, and to produce expertise on inter alia poverty, inequality, inclusive labour markets, inaccessibility of affordable housing, labour shortages, just transition, right to disconnect, telework, hybrid work and related impacts on work–life balance, psychosocial risks to workers’ well-being, intergenerational inequalities and quality of working conditions;

11. Observes some of the Foundation’s most important publications in 2023 on topics as job quality (including of essential workers), hybrid work, right to disconnect, involvement of the social partners in setting and implementing the national resilience and recovery plans, and minimum wages in Europe; appreciates notably the Foundation’s report on right to disconnect published in 2023 which fills an information gap by providing evidence on how the right to disconnect is implemented at company level and what the impact is;

12. Commends the Agency for the achievement of 95 % of its annual work programme, with 36 out of 38 outputs delivered in 2023;

13. Expresses its satisfaction for the positive ECA’s opinion on the Foundation’s accounts, including on the legality and regularity of payments and invites the Foundation to address the ECA’s remarks;

14. Notes from the Foundation’s report with regard to the follow-up measures taken in light of the discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Foundation for the financial year 2022 that corrective actions have been taken in connection to its procurement templates and traineeship scheme;

15. Notes the 16,8 % of carryover rate, above the 15 % benchmark, and the Foundation’s reply making a distinction between planned and unplanned carry-overs, the latest being assessed at 4 % by the Foundation;

16. Notes the Commission’s recommendation to further improve staff training through formal guidelines and a more systematic approach;

Part 3 – Discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) for the financial year 2023

17. Appreciates the Agency’s activities to develop, gather and provide reliable and relevant information, analysis and tools to advance knowledge, raise awareness and exchange occupational safety and health (OSH) information and good practice in order to promote healthy and safe workplaces in Europe in particular their work on the health and social care sector and psychosocial risks at the workplace; notes the prominent role of the Agency in delivering on the priorities and principles identified in the European Pillar of Social Rights and the EU OSH Strategic Framework; appreciates in this regard the Agency’s continued significant contribution, through several actions carried out alone or in collaboration with EU institutions, other agencies and bodies;

18. Expresses its satisfaction for the positive ECA’s opinion on the Agency’s accounts including on the legality and regularity of payments and invites the Agency to address the ECA’s remarks;

19. Welcomes the Agency’s prompt and successful action in a procurement procedure to protect the interest of the EU budget and notes the related ECA’s opinion on the alternative procedure taken in extreme urgency;

20. Notes the 29 % of carryover rate, way above the 15 % benchmark, and the Agency’s reply linking part of the carryover to commitments planned in the Agency’s Single Programming Document;

21. Notes with satisfaction the cost-cutting actions performed by the Agency for allocating resources to the Agency’s core tasks; welcomes the Agency’s implementation of the AGM system (Advanced Gateway to Meetings), which will help provide an electronic and automated system for reimbursements of experts which was a significant factor in non-compliance with the payment time limits;

22. Notes the Commission’s recommendation to strengthen its cooperation with the other agencies related to the EMPL committee remit;

Part 4 – Discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) for the financial year 2023

23. Appreciates the Cedefop’s high quality work on providing research, analyses and technical advice and expertise in vocational education and training (VET), qualifications and skills policies as well as modernisation of apprenticeships with the aim of promoting high-quality training tailored to the needs of individuals and of the labour market, to compile and disseminate research on skills mismatches and labour shortages, and to ensure digital skills are integrated into VET across the Union, as well as, the Cedefop involvement in the 2023 European Year of Skills;

24. Expresses its satisfaction for the positive ECA’s opinion on the Agency’s accounts including on the legality and regularity of payments, and that the Court has no observations for 2023 and invites the Agency to address the ECA’s outstanding observations from previous years; commends Cedefop for its exemplary commitment (100%) and payment (98%) appropriations rates successfully demonstrating the optimal use of resources entrusted to Cedefop;

25. Notes the Cedefop’s corrective action taken regarding the daily subsistence allowances paid to Greek seconded national experts; notes with appreciation the Centre’s commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030; welcomes the adoption of a climate neutrality strategy and roadmap in 2023 and the efforts to become EMAS certified by 2025; encourages other specialised agencies to establish similar plans and policies;

26. Notes the Commission’s recommendation to review the Cedefop Management Board’s working arrangements to increase efficiency and effectiveness;

Part 5 – Discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Training Foundation (ETF) for the financial year 2023

27. Appreciates the ETF’s activities in helping the Union, Member States and its partner countries to harness the potential of their human capital and to improve the employment prospects through the reform of education, vocational training, skills and labour market systems, as well as, the ETF role in the 2023 European Year of Skills;

28. Expresses its satisfaction for the positive ECA’s opinion on the Agency’s accounts including on the legality and regularity of payments, and invites the Agency to address the ECA’s remarks from 2022, especially concerning open procurement procedure;

29. Notes the ETF’s confirmation that it has reviewed its methodologies on financial solvency in the tendering evaluation process and on financial assessment;

30. Notes the Commission’s recommendation to improve the geographical and gender balance among its staff, and to further cooperate with the ELA and the European Institute for Gender Equality;

Part 6 – Discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Labour Authority (ELA) for the financial year 2023

31. Appreciates the Authority’s work to assist Member States and the Commission in ensuring a fair and effective enforcement of Union rules on labour mobility and coordination of social security systems, in facilitating effective labour mobility in Europe through European Employment Services (EURES) activities, making it easier for citizens and businesses to benefit from the internal market, and to raising awareness, through training and information campaigns, about the rights and obligations of workers and employers; notes that the year 2023 was a final year of the Authority’s setup and growth phase, resulting in reaching full operational capacity, as regards both operational activities and resources; welcomes the adoption of the Authority’s business continuity plan in September 2023;

32. Welcomes in particular the Authority’s #EU4FairConstruction information campaign, aimed at raising awareness about the rights and obligations of workers and employers in the construction sector with a dedicated focus on posting of workers and actions on digital tools to support labour mobility, including training on the Internal Market Information system, Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information, and European Register of Road Transport Undertakings systems as well as its support and coordination to 76 concerted and joint inspections in 2023, more than doubling the number from 2022;

33. Expresses its satisfaction for the overall positive ECA’s opinion on the legality and regularity of underlying revenue and reliability of the Authority’s accounts; notes, however, the ECA’s remarks on a basis for qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of payments underlying the accounts due to irregular expenditure exceeding the materiality threshold;

34. In this regards, notes the ECA’s opinion on an irregular contract awarding and subsequent irregular payments under this contract which in 2023 amounted to EUR 1.32 million and the Authority’s reply that the concerned contract was not renewed and ran until the end to avoid disruption in the Authority’s activities; welcomes that ELA has revised its tender documents, including financial offer templates, to clarify that tenders exceeding the contracting authority's maximum budget will be rejected;

35. Notes the ECA’s opinion on shortcomings in ELA’s ex-ante checks and the 3,8 % of irregular expenditure above the materiality threshold; takes note of the Authority’s commitment to enhance its ex-ante checks by reviewing and formalising the process for assessing key parameters;

36. Notes the 26 % of carryover rate, way above the 15 % benchmark, and the 19 % of Title II appropriations cancelled, and takes note of the Agency’s reply committing to make efforts to enhance budget implementation; recalls that at the end of 2023, the proportion of ELA's temporary workers (seconded national experts and interims) remained high at 47 %; however, commends the Agency for its achievement in almost fulfilling its planned staffing level in 2023, while improving the efficiency of its recruitment process;

37. Expects the Authority to deliver on its commitments and address all ECA’s remarks without delay;

Part 7 – Conclusion

38. Asks the Agencies and the Commission to implement as soon as possible all outstanding ECA's recommendations;

39. Recommends, based on the facts available, that discharge be granted to the Executive Directors of the Eurofound, EU-OSHA, the CEDEFOP, the ETF, and the ELA in respect of the implementation of the Authorities’ budget for the financial year 2023.

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

PursuantThe toChair Articlein 8her ofcapacity Annexas Irapporteur tofor the Rules of Procedure,opinion thedeclares rapporteurunder forher opinionexclusive declaresresponsibility that she receiveddid not receive input from the followingany entitiesentity or personsperson to be mentioned in thethis preparationAnnex ofpursuant theto opinion,Article prior8 of Annex I to the adoption thereofRules inof committee:Procedure.

Entity and/or person

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

European Training Foundation

European Labour Authority

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur for opinion.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur for opinion declares that she has submitted to the natural persons concerned the European Parliament's Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted

28.1.2025

18.2.2025

Result of final vote

0:

41

27

8

10

5

1

Members present for the final vote

Li Andersson, Marc Angel, Pascal Arimont, Konstantinos Arvanitis, Nikola Bartůšek, Gabriele Bischoff, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, Rachel Blom, Andrzej Buła, David Casa, Estelle Ceulemans, Henrik Dahl, Johan Danielsson, Marie Dauchy, Mélanie Disdier, Elena Donazzan, Gheorghe Falcă, Chiara Gemma, Niels Geuking, Juan Carlos Girauta Vidal, Isilda Gomes, Alicia Homs Ginel, Sérgio Humberto, Irena Joveva, Martine Kemp, Katrin Langensiepen, Miriam Lexmann, Marit Maij, Marlena Maląg, Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak, Eleonora Meleti, Idoia Mendia, Maria Ohisalo, João Oliveira, Branislav Ondruš, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, Dennis Radtke, Nela Riehl, Liesbet Sommen, Villy Søvndal, Pál Szekeres, Romana Tomc, Jana Toom, Francesco Torselli, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, Marianne Vind, Mariateresa Vivaldini, Petar Volgin, Jan-Peter Warnke, Séverine Werbrouck

Abir Al-Sahlani, Mireia Borrás Pabón, Irmhild Boßdorf, Mélissa Camara, Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, Valérie Devaux, Elisabeth Dieringer, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Heléne Fritzon, Lina Gálvez, Alexandra Geese, Chiara Gemma, Assita Kanko, Arba Kokalari, Ewa Kopacz, Elena Kountoura, Sebastian Kruis, Judita Laššáková, Eleonora Meleti, Irene Montero, Carolina Morace, Maria Noichl, Mirosława Nykiel, Sirpa Pietikäinen, Giusi Princi, Emma Rafowicz, Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, Benedetta Scuderi, Laurence Trochu, Marko Vešligaj, Maria Walsh, Lucia Yar

Substitutes present for the final vote

Vivien Costanzo, Raúl de la Hoz Quintano, Özlem Demirel, Valérie Devaux, Rudi Kennes, Hristo Petrov, Andrea Wechsler

Elena Donazzan, Loucas Fourlas, Elisabeth Grossmann, Jana Toom

Members under Rule 216(7) present for the final vote

Gabriella Gerzsenyi, Nikos Papandreou

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION