EU Court of Auditors on Gender Equality in Europe: "The Commission talks a lot and does little"

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Member of the Court of Auditors Eva Lindström

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European Court of Auditors

The European Court of Auditors published a special report on gender mainstreaming in the EU budget on Wednesday - and in it it clearly criticizes the

EU Commission

.

The lead author of the report, the economist Eva Lindström, born in 1957, has been working for

Sweden

at the Court of Auditors

since March 2018

, whose task it is to monitor the legality of all income and expenditure of the EU institutions.

SPIEGEL:

Ms. Lindström, according to your analysis, the EU Commission is failing to structure the budget in a gender-equitable manner.

Why should the EU of all things use its multiannual financial framework as an instrument for equality?

Lindström:

It's not just about equality and justice, but also about economic growth.

The European Institute for Gender Equality has calculated that per capita gross domestic product would be between 6 and 9.5 percent higher by 2050 if we were to achieve gender equality.

SPIEGEL:

In your report, you accuse the EU Commission of failing to keep its promises in terms of equality.

What is the particular problem?

Lindström:

The former Commission under President Jean-Claude Juncker didn't even have a formal strategy for equality, just a kind of working paper.

At least there is a strategy in the current commission of Ursula von der Leyen.

But there is still a lack of implementation.

SPIEGEL:

What exactly should the Commission do differently?

Lindström:

The problem is that she doesn't really know herself - because she can't know. For many areas she does not have sufficient gender-specific data to set herself goals, to check compliance with them and to act accordingly. Take agriculture, for example: Most of the landowners are men, but we do not know to what extent women also benefit from the extensive EU funding. Such data exist in other areas, such as the Erasmus program for students, but they are not used. I'm surprised how little is happening here. The Commission talks a lot and does little.

SPIEGEL:

Speaking of Erasmus: you mention in your report that young women are now overrepresented there.

Should there also be countermeasures in terms of gender equality?

Lindström:

Of course.

Equality is not just about promoting women, as we all know there is more than one gender.

But women are still underrepresented in some technical subjects at universities.

In addition, performance counts at universities, and if women do more on average there, they should also be overrepresented in the Erasmus program.

SPIEGEL:

If men are structurally in the majority, do you have to take countermeasures for reasons of justice, but not with women?

Lindström:

The question is why girls get better grades on average in school.

Of course, they are no more intelligent than boys.

Presumably the school system is simply better adapted to the needs of girls.

Here too, improvements should be made to ensure that both boys and girls are given the best possible support.

SPIEGEL:

When it comes to social injustice, factors such as age, skin color or social origin may play an even greater role than gender, but politically they are often given less importance - also when drawing up the EU budget.

Do you think that's right?

Lindström:

Of course, justice in a broader sense is important.

But equality is mentioned very specifically in the EU treaties; it is one of the fundamental values ​​of the European Union.

However, we are still a long way from gender equality, and some countries are even falling behind.

SPIEGEL:

Which countries do you mean?

Lindström:

Poland and Hungary, for example, are actively resisting.

They even want to prevent the word gender equality from appearing in official EU documents.

It is also about the rule of law as a whole.

When challenged, women, homosexuals and immigrants are the first to lose their rights.

This is another reason why it is important that the Commission set an example and keep what it has promised.

SPIEGEL:

You are mainly talking about the Commission.

What can and what must the individual EU states do?

Lindström:

Take my homeland, Sweden: From my point of view, the most important reform was the abolition of spouse splitting in 1975. Suddenly women had a huge incentive to go to work.

And men thought that was a good idea.

That was the starting point for many of the reforms that followed.

SPIEGEL:

Tax policy in the EU is a matter for the member states.

What can Brussels do about it?

Lindström:

For some countries - including Poland and Hungary - EU money is much more important than for others.

If you were to pay more attention to gender equality when awarding them on the basis of very reliable data, you could achieve a lot.

This is not witchcraft, but solid budgetary policy.

SPIEGEL:

Is everything going well in western countries?

Lindström:

In Sweden we now have an even number of board members in companies, something that is also being discussed in Germany.

Getting that through wasn't even particularly difficult.

Just be decisive enough and maybe not necessarily ask white men over 60 who you know won't add much.

SPIEGEL:

Is it automatically fairer below the board members if you replace powerful white men over 60 with powerful white women over 60?

Lindström:

There are many research results on this that go in different directions.

I wouldn't want to commit myself to that.

But overall, more diversity is important on the executive boards, if only to have different points of view there.