[Brussels, 2 July 2020] On July 1, Germany will take over the EU Council Presidency for six months. Its focus will be on the Corona crisis and how to overcome it. In doing so, the Federal Government must make a special effort to promote cohesion in Europe. Gender equality is one of the main topics on the agenda.
Mona Küppers, president of the National Council of German Women’s Organizations (Deutscher Frauenrat – DF): “Equality is more important than ever in Corona times. Because the crisis is widening gender inequalities as if under a burning glass. The Federal Government must, therefore, push ahead with the new EU strategy for gender equality and make it crisis-proof – especially in financial terms. A prerequisite for this is that half of all Corona aid must benefit women. Because today the course is being set for whether our living together, our economy, our relations with the world after the pandemic will become more social, peaceful and environmentally friendly – or the opposite. Therefore ‘fair share’ is of vital importance.“
In a detailed commentary, the DF has taken a stand on the EU strategy for gender equality 2020-2025 whose aim is to create a Europe of equality in which gender-based violence, gender discrimination, and structural inequality between women and men are a thing of the past. Specifically, the DF demands, among other things, that the economic stimulus packages now being negotiated, such as #NextGenerationEurope and the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework, be based on the principle of gender budgeting. The measures for the European “Green Deal” but also for the digitalization must also be urgently assessed for their gender impact and adapted accordingly.
Statement of the DF on the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025
