On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the Commission for the financial year 2023

PA_NonLegDec

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 equality between men and women is one of the founding values of the Union and the Union is committed to promote equality in all its activities as enshrined in Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;

B. whereas the Union has room for improvement in its approach to promoting equality through its policies, legislation and funding mechanisms;

1. Expresses serious concern over the lack of focus on protecting women and girls from violence in the Union budget; regrets the absence of disaggregated data on gender-based violence and urges mandatory gender impact assessments specifically aimed at protection against violence to enable monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures in relevant legislative acts;

2. Acknowledges the Union’s commitment to gender mainstreaming and the need to further focus on combating violence against women and girls in policymaking; stresses the need to urgently establish a common approach to rape with common minimum sanctions in national laws;

3. Is concerned about the growing financial risks due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its impact on gender equality policies; highlights the need to prioritise policies that protect children, women and families;

4. Supports the United Nations’ Spotlight Initiative’s goal of ending violence against women and girls and addressing the needs of vulnerable groups, such as victims of harmful practices like female genital mutilation or child marriage; urges the Commission to stop funding movements in and outside the Union that contribute to the oppression of women in all forms;

5. Calls for a stable financing framework to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the Daphne Programme to support the protection of women and children against violence.