The European Union’s 2 trillion-euro proposal for its long-term budget for 2028-34 includes some improvements in tracking how much of the bloc’s spending contributes to promoting gender equality. But critics warn that without binding targets or clear benchmarks, gender equality risks remaining a cross-cutting ambition rather than a concrete spending priority.
Negotiations on the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework — which finances everything from agriculture and regional development to security and defense — are currently underway, with a goal of reaching an agreement with the European Parliament and EU member states by the end of the year.
Economists from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have repeatedly stressed that public spending is not gender-neutral. That means that the way money is distributed can either reinforce existing disparities between men and women or help correct them.
“If the EU is serious about gender equality, it has to show it in how it designs and spends its budget,” MEP Lucia Yar (Renew, SK), one of the European Parliament’s negotiators on the next MFF, told The Parliament.
According to the latest data from the European Commission, the EU allocated around 38 billion euros to programs meant to promote gender equality in 2024. That’s less than the year prior, but the figure represents a greater proportion of the overall funding. Even so, a recent report by the European Parliament Research Service noted that the current 2021-27 budget has failed to integrate a clear approach to gender equality.
No magic bullet
One of the core problems, critics argue, is uncertainty. Under the current structure of the MFF, there is no estimate of how much of the proposed 2 trillion euros would ultimately be devoted to advancing gender equality.
“Spending targets already exist in other areas — notably climate and environmental objectives, which account for 35% of the EU budget,” Yar said. “Introducing a similar target for gender equality would be a logical step.”
For now, the Commission’s approach remains largely focused on tracking gender spending rather than enforcing outcomes. Most EU programs financed through the MFF do not include binding requirements for member states, such as reducing the gender pay gap.
There is also no strong follow-up mechanism to assess whether gender equality measures — such as pay transparency rules or gender quotas — are delivering results. That makes it difficult to measure progress over time or identify when countries backslide.
“Clear objectives and measurable targets must be set before the budget is designed and implemented,” Yar argued.
In a written response to The Parliament, a Commission spokesperson acknowledged that efforts to mainstream gender equality across all programs under the current MFF fell short. The uneven inclusion of gender requirements by EU co-legislators led to “inconsistent application and monitoring across programs,” worsened by gaps in available data, the spokesperson wrote.
Still, the Commission insists lessons have been learned. A 2024 overhaul of the EU’s financial regulation has, according to the spokesperson, laid the groundwork for a “more harmonized and results-oriented approach” in the next MFF. Under the new framework, member states will be required to assess how their proposed policies are expected to contribute to gender equality.
But without binding spending shares or targets, national governments retain wide discretion over how far they push those objectives, raising concerns that outcomes could diverge sharply across the bloc.
“Most of these [EU] programs do not carry gender equality objectives, so there's a real risk of gender equality being diluted to a certain extent," Mary Collins, secretary-general of the European Women’s Lobby, told The Parliament.
 (2).png)
The economic case
As the Commission increasingly frames the next budget around competitiveness and “value for money,” experts are keen to emphasize that gender equality is not just a social goal — it’s an economic one.
“Evidence consistently shows that investment in gender equality is associated with stronger labor markets, higher productivity and more resilient societies,” a spokesperson for the European Institute for Gender Equality said in a statement to The Parliament.
To unlock those gains, the EIGE contends, gender considerations must be embedded throughout the entire budget cycle — from impact assessments and program design to funding decisions and performance reviews.
A gender-responsive budget would also account for unpaid care work, which continues to fall disproportionately on women. Around four in five women in the EU perform unpaid care work daily, compared with fewer than half of men. That imbalance limits women’s participation in the formal labor market and weighs on overall economic performance.
According to the EIGE, closing gender gaps in employment, education and decision-making could add as much as 3.15 trillion euros to the EU’s gross domestic product by 2050.
Yet advocates worry that the Commission’s latest proposal moves in the opposite direction. Large EU funding programs with clear potential to support gender equality — such as the 771.3 billion euros allocated to reducing socioeconomic disparities between regions — would give member states greater flexibility over spending.
Women’s rights groups fear that, in practice, that flexibility means more money will flow toward politically urgent priorities such as security and defense at the expense of social policies. Drafts of the next MFF include a fivefold increase on defense and space spending compared with the current budget, while spending on social and people-centered policies has dropped from 11% to 7.2% of the total budget, according to a coalition of more than 100 civil society organizations.
“Budgets mirror political priorities. Excluding women, or sidelining these objectives, is extremely risky,” Collins warned, adding that it would undermine the EU’s founding values.
Under its treaties, the EU is legally obliged to eliminate inequalities, including gender disparities, through its policies and financing. “That is precisely where the MFF still falls short,” Collins added.
Negotiations on the next budget could stretch into late next year. Whether gender equality emerges as a structural objective — or remains an afterthought — may ultimately hinge on whether lawmakers are willing to move from promises to binding commitments. In a tighter fiscal environment, that choice could prove decisive.
Sign up to The Parliament's weekly newsletter
Every Friday our editorial team goes behind the headlines to offer insight and analysis on the key stories driving the EU agenda. Subscribe for free here.