1. Hearing on “Gender Budgeting: State of Play and Way Forward”
Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) European Parliament
June 20, 2018
Dr. Elisabeth Klatzer

2. Introduction
First European Parliament resolution on gender budgeting - building public budgets from a gender perspective (2003)
Since then major progress throughout the world and in European countries
Is the EU keeping pace with international developments?

3. Gender Budgeting as international Standard in Public Finance Management work
OECD recognized Gender budgeting is a key tool for implementing gender equality
International Monetary Fund (IMF) engages with GB
2016 international review: Gender Budgeting: Fiscal Context and Current Outcomes
Properly designed gender budgeting improves government budgeting systems

4. Gender Responsive Public Finance Management Institutions and Practices
“Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is good budgeting.” (Janet Stotsky, International Monetary Fund)

5. Clear Legal Obligations
Legal basis obliging EU institutions and Member States to gender equality and preventing discrimination, including in budgetary policies:
Article 2 and 3, TEU
Article 8 and 11, TFEU
Art. 23 Charter of Fundamental Rights
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Beijing Platform of Action etc.
Political Commitments to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at Member States level as well as by the European Commission

6. Obligations: Sustainable Development Goals
Specific indicator on Gender Budgeting included in the list of SDG indicators
Indicator 5c.1: Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment
Criteria for 5c.1. indicator:
Criterion 1: Address well-identified gender equality goals; have adequate resources allocated and executed within the budget
Criterion 2: Extent to which Public Financial Management system promotes gender-related or gender-responsive goals
Criterion 3: Criterion 3. Allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment made public

7. Gender Budgeting – living up to the standards
Gender budgeting is an application of Gender Mainstreaming in the budgetary process.
It means a gender based assessment of budgets incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process and restructuring revenues and expenditures in order to promote gender equality.
(Council of Europe)

8. Gender Budgeting – living up to the standards (2)fg
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Integrating gender perspectives at all stages of the budget and planning processes
Gender budget analyses
Involving inside actors and external stakeholders
Changes based on gender analyses

9. A range of standard GB tools9
ex ante
Gender impact assessment
Budget baseline analysis
Gender needs assessment
Gender Responsive Budget Call Circulars
Gender Budget Statements
concurrent
Performance setting
Participatory Budgeting
Resource Allocation
Gender Responsive Budget Incidence analysis
ex post
ex post GIA
Spending review
Gender Performance Audit
Gender Responsive Audit Reports
Source: OECD 2016, own adaptations

10. Wide and extensive practice of Gender Budgeting throughout Europe
See: Gender Budgeting in Europe. Developments and Challenges Angela O’Hagan & Elisabeth Klatzer (2018), editors
Wealth of contributions from the European Gender Budgeting Network (EGBN)
Extensive experience in many public administrations
EU lagging far behind

11. EU is lagging behind & falling further back
In last MFF Gender Budgeting was not systematically applied to EU budget
Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) proposal by the European Commission even further steps backwards:
Gender Equality not visible as a priority
No “Gender Mainstreaming in the Budget Process” (see Council of Europe standard definition of GB)
Gender Equality even further disappearing
see ESIF proposals
see Rights and Values Programme
Increasing Funds to gender blind areas and areas fundamentally detrimental to promoting peace and equality
see tremendous increases of EU funds for militarization and weapon’s industry
see e.g. stronger links of funding to structural reforms, but not to gender equality progress
(we agreed that following speakers will provide more details on this …)

12. EU is lagging behind. How to catch up?
Implement legal obligations through out budget processes
Full implementation of Gender Budgeting
in MFF
in annual budget process
in all Funds
Not as an option, but as a key requirement

13. Recommendations
FEMM Committee to take a leading role in making sure the European Parliament does not approve any budget which doesn‘t meet internationally recogized standards of good governance and Public Finance Management & Gender Budgeting
Set up an ad hoc advisory group of experts on Gender Budgeting to support work in MFF negotiations
Adopt an own initiative report on Gender Budgeting in the new MFF
Building on existing reports and expertise

14. Key challenge and target
European Parliament to take a leading role
in making sure EU approves MFF & regulatory package ONLY, IF
it meets EU treaty obligations towards gender equality and
international standards and obligations of good governance in Public Finance Management & Gender Budgeting