On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the EU agencies for the financial year 2024 – Agencies

OPINION

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

A. whereas gender equality is one of the founding values of the Union and the Union is committed to promoting gender equality in all its activities as enshrined in Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), thus establishing the principle of gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting; whereas gender equality must be incorporated into all EU policies and activities;

B. whereas European Institute for Gender Equality (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, a task in which it has proven to be vital and effective; whereas EIGE’s annual and multiannual programming has consistently aligned with current Union priorities; whereas EIGE has increasingly supported EU agencies and bodies in integrating gender perspectives into their programming and operations;

C. whereas the next MFF needs to embed gender equality objectives, gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting across all funding programmes;

D. whereas since 2010 the EU’s overall Gender Equality Index has increased by 7.9 points, despite this long-term upward trend, the 2025 Gender Equality Index demonstrates that Member States have made limited progress with a score for the EU of 63.4 and only a 0.8 increase in the 2024 Gender Equality Index; whereas according to the 2025 Index gender equality in the EU remains at least another 50 years out of reach; whereas in other areas such as women's health and education progress has stagnated and even seen setbacks; whereas the 2024 Index shows large disparities among Member States (top score: 82.0; lowest: 57.5), underscoring persistent inequalities across the Union and the need for continued monitoring and support by agencies such as EIGE;

E. whereas gender equality in the Union has been particularly impacted by the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, which women are disproportionately affected by, and the backlashes against gender equality and women’s rights, especially around sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in several Member States; whereas this further deepens inequalities and hampers gender equality;

F. whereas both inflation and long-standing underfunding has put increasing pressure on EIGE's budget, and has reduced the operational capacity of EIGE causing the agency to be understaffed and under permanent financial strain; whereas the 2022 external evaluation highlighted severe understaffing in gender mainstreaming, with EIGE able to respond to only one quarter of technical assistance requests; whereas EIGE has a central role in supporting Union institutions and Member States in achieving gender equality; whereas it is therefore underlined that EIGE needs to be provided with sufficient and stable financial and human resources to fulfil its tasks;

G. whereas rising inflation and the increase of the correction coefficient for Lithuania have been affecting EIGE’s salary-related costs, creating a significant challenge in core operational areas such as the provision of technical assistance for gender mainstreaming to EU institutions and Member States, as well as in its data collection activities;

H. 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; whereas EIGE has continued to enhance the quality and comparability of gender-disaggregated data across the Union, strengthening the evidence base available to EU institutions and Member States; whereas EIGE has expanded its digital tools and online platforms, improving access to statistics, methodological guidance and practical resources for policymakers and stakeholders; whereas EIGE has strengthened its cooperation with national statistical offices and competent authorities; whereas EIGE’s work on gender-based violence, such as the EU gender-based violence survey, which presented key results based on data from all 27 Member States, has supported the Union’s objective of improving prevention, data collection and policy coordination in this area;

I. whereas EIGE has been assigned additional tasks linked to the implementation and monitoring of newly adopted EU Directives, including Directive (EU) 2022/2381 on improving gender balance among directors of listed companies, Directive (EU) 2023/970 on equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers, Directives (EU) 2024/1499 and 2024/1500 on binding standards for equality bodies and Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women and domestic violence, as well as EU accession to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, so called as the Istanbul Convention;

J. whereas these new obligations require strengthened capacity for legislative monitoring, compliance reporting and data collection, including at least five additional Temporary Agent posts and four Contract Agent posts as identified by EIGE, notably to restore posts cut in earlier budget cycles; whereas the new EU Cybersecurity Regulation requires EIGE to strengthen its cybersecurity systems, including appointing a Cybersecurity Officer and conducting regular assessments and audits; whereas EIGE would need one Contract Agent (FG IV) for a Cybersecurity Officer and reinforced budgetary resources to fulfil these requirements; whereas EIGE is obliged to pay 200 000 for the acquisition of mandatory new financial software SUMMA, which represents almost 15% of its title II budget; whereas this budgetary demand disproportionally affects smaller agencies; whereas gender balanced representation within staff should always be promoted in all EU agencies as well as within EIGE through gender-sensitive recruitment procedures;

1. Recalls that EIGE was established to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of independent gender equality research, produce data and tools to help the EU and it’s Member States to design inclusive and gender-transformative policies, which are policies that tackle the root causes of gender inequality by challenging discriminatory norms, unequal division of power and harmful practices and aim to shift societal attitudes and behaviours towards real gender equality, and to mainstream gender equality into all their policies; notes the importance of availability of reliable gender-disaggregated data in order allow for evidence-based policy making; highlights the urgency for the Union to advance on gender equality in the light of ongoing crisis such as wars and climate crisis; further highlights the backlashes against gender equality by anti-gender and anti-democratic movements;

2. Welcomes the ongoing cooperation between the 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; notes the valuable contribution the EIGE can make to all the European Parliaments’ Committees and other EU agencies in order to better integrate gender mainstreaming in all EU policies;

3. Reiterates Parliament's call for increased funding and staff for EIGE, in line with rising requests for technical assistance and higher operational costs; calls therefore on the Commission to propose the necessary resources for the Agency to enable it to fulfil its tasks and to respond to increased demands for expertise, ensuring operational continuity and reinforcing the agency’s analytical and coordination capacities; calls for a 17% increase of its current Establishment Plan to account for the need for at least five additional Temporary Agent (AD) posts and four additional Contract Agent posts, as well as dedicated posts for cybersecurity, data protection and implementation of new legislative obligations; stresses the need to reduce excessive workloads currently borne by EIGE staff; calls for a predictable and stable multiannual budget for EIGE, reducing recurrent carry-overs and enabling long-term planning and research work and ensuring a healthy and productive working environment;

4. Notes EIGE’s continuous 95 % budget execution of its work programme and achievement of targets in the amended 2024–2026 programming document, despite understaffing and high carry-overs, and that the European Court of Auditors confirmed its accounts present fairly its financial position;

5. Highlights that in 2024, EIGE achieved its strategic objectives to contribute to better-informed and evidence-based policy and decision-making to achieve gender equality and fight discrimination based on sex; to support the integration of a gender perspective in EU policies and the resulting national policies; and to effectively promote gender equality to key stakeholders and target groups; further highlights that these achievements were made despite structural understaffing, confirming the necessity of additional resources to safeguard future performance;

6. Warns that without targeted additional staffing and investment, EIGE risks not being able to meet its obligations stemming from newly adopted legislations or sustain increased demands arising from new Union policy initiatives; stresses that budget demands such as the acquisition of SUMMA further stresses the EIGE budget; underlines that further budget allocations have to take into account mandatory expenditure agencies are expected to make; calls for a stable and reinforced budget for EIGE as one of the priorities related to gender equality in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), ensuring that the agency can continue delivering high-quality research, data, and policy support across all Union priorities;

7. Is of the opinion, that discharge can be granted to the Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality discharge in respect of the implementation of the Institute’s budget for the financial year 2024.

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

The rapporteur for opinion declares under her exclusive responsibility that she did not include in her opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION