On 8 October 2025 Director Carlien Scheele speaks at the ‘Gender Flagship Capitalization Conference – Best Practices & Lessons Learned’ in Brussels Organized by SG REFORM and Expertise France, and supported by the Technical Support Instrument of the European Commission.
Good morning, colleagues,
It is a great pleasure to join you today at the Gender Flagship Capitalisation Conference.
I would like to start by thanking SG REFORM, Expertise France, the European University Institute, and all the Beneficiary Authorities for their commitment to making gender mainstreaming in policy and budgeting a reality across the European Union.
You have truly taken what is often sidelined and overlooked and made it into a mainstream practice.
This occasion is an opportunity to celebrate that.
But it’s also a stock-taking opportunity to recognise that we still have much to achieve against ongoing challenges.
When I think back to our very first conversations with DG REFORM, I remember how you started from scratch – with a strong vision and determination to give EIGE a substantial role throughout the project. I am glad we found ways to contribute and support the project. It has truly been a pleasure to work alongside such dedicated partners, and I deeply value the collaboration that has taken place across all project stakeholders.
However, let’s start positively.
Across the EU, gender equality has become more and more a recognised value and policy goal. Here is where we have seen important progress:
- All governments have established institutional mechanisms to make gender equality a matter of priority in public administrations, although my Agency's data shows that the strength of institutional mechanisms varies considerably across the EU. We are, on average, only halfway to having strong and accountable gender equality mechanisms.
- So what does this say? More robust gender equality institutions mean more equality. It’s that simple.
- Data shows that the use of gender mainstreaming tools, such as gender impact assessments, gender budgeting and gender-sensitive language, is not widespread. But Member States that use these tools effectively demonstrate a more comprehensive and systematic approach to gender mainstreaming.
- Gender mainstreaming tools such as Gender Responsive Budgeting and Gender Impact Assessments are no longer abstract ideas but fully formed and embedded policy practices.
- And thanks to initiatives like the Gender Flagship, we now have strongersupport for capacity building, implementing good practices, methodologies and tools for gender mainstreaming throughout the policy making process.
The achievements are twofold: technical and strategic.
They are strategic steps towards ensuring that public resources — our policies and budgets — work for women and men, in all diverse realities
What have we learnt?
The Gender Flagship Project has shown us that success depends on two things:
- Strong institutional mechanisms – when equality bodies and line ministries work hand-in-hand, supported by finance ministries, gender equality stops being a side issue and becomes part of the system.
- Capacity and ownership – thousands of practitioners have been trained under this project, proving that skills and knowledge are essential to make tools operational and sustainable.
At my Agency, we see this come up in our own research under the Beijing Platform for Action, particularly in Area H on institutional mechanisms.
Countries with stronger institutional frameworks consistently perform better in EIGE’s Gender Equality Index, across real-world outcomes like financial resources, political representation and work-life balance.
Spain, for example, scores an impressive 86 % on EIGE’s composite measure of institutional strength, and is among the EU’s gender equality frontrunners. But more than half of Member States score below 50 % on institutional strength.
What challenges lie ahead?
Let’s be frank. Resistance to gender equality initiatives is growing. Anti-gender narratives and movements are gaining traction in some Member States at alarming speed. Institutional mechanisms are sometimes underfunded or politically sidelined. These damaging movements also have a chilling effect on civil society – who are the first to respond and the last to give up in their fight for women’s rights and gender equality.
We also face the strategic challenge of Europe’s next Multiannual Financial Framework.
If gender equality is not firmly embedded in this process - through means of full-fledged gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting and robust monitoring - we risk missing the opportunity of aligning EU spending with our commitments to reach a gender equal Europe.
As far as my Agency’s contributions, we continue to provide evidence and tools to help policymakers rise and overcome these challenges.
- Our indicators on gender mainstreaming, budgeting, and institutional mechanisms support Member States in carefully identifying gaps and designing reforms.
- Our Gender Mainstreaming Platform brings together practical guidance, case studies, and methodologies that are already being used by administrations across Europe.
- And our work feeding into the next EU Gender Equality Strategy (2026–2030) will ensure that lessons from the Gender Flagship project are not only celebrated but built upon.
All of this points to a simple truth: gender mainstreaming works. But its success is only as certain as the funding and political will pouring into it.
As we move forward, let us commit to three things:
- Protecting institutional mechanisms from political rollback – to do this we have to reinforce and intensify efforts to embed and keep gender mainstreaming strong.
- Integrating gender budgeting and gender equality objectives into the next MFF, so that EU money reflects EU values.
- Strengthening partnerships with civil society. They keep institutions accountable and bring realities from the ground into policymaking.
Dear colleagues,
Progress in gender equality demands, as a starting point, commitment from governments to ensure that the relevant people and structures have adequate power and capacity to act. To be effective, however, such visible commitments need to be backed up by clearly documented strategies and action plans, with adequate budgets and appropriate monitoring and evaluation processes that ensure accountability.
The Gender Flagship Project is a reference for what works. Let’s not risk losing what is now a benchmark for real progress. Let’s keep the momentum up and continue to take action.
Thank you.
