Thanks EWL for effectively gendering the EU spending of 672.5billion of recovery and resilience loan

In relation to Next Generation EU, the main funding instrument the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF / 'the Facility'), consisting of €672.5 billion in loans and grants, was recently adopted by the European Parliament and EU Council.

The adopted Regulation contains some key wins that are in-line with EWL advocacy calls and suggested amendments to the wording of the regulation itself. This includes:

· Recital 28: Specific wording provided by EWL that recognises the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women working in healthcare, taking on unpaid care work, strengthened wording on gender mainstreaming and the need for robust care infrastructure:

“Women have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 crisis as they represent the majority of healthcare workers across the Union and balance unpaid care work with their employment responsibilities. The situation is especially difficult for single parents, 85 % of whom are women. Gender equality and equal opportunities for all, and the mainstreaming of those objectives should be taken into account and promoted throughout the preparation and implementation of recovery and resilience plans submitted pursuant to this Regulation. Investment in robust care infrastructure is also essential in order to ensure gender equality and the economic empowerment of women, in order to build resilient societies, combat precarious conditions in a female-dominated sector, boost job creation, prevent poverty and social exclusion, and in order to have a positive effect on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as it allows more women to take part in paid work.”

· Article 18 Recovery and Resilience Plans, paragraph 4(o), in which Member States submitting their National Recovery and Resilience Plans will be required to provide:

“an explanation of how the measures in the recovery and resilience plan are expected to contribute to gender equality and equal opportunities for all and the mainstreaming of those objectives, in line with principles 2 and 3 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 and, where relevant, with the national gender equality strategy;”

· Article 16 Review report, paragraph 2(a), which obliges the European Commission, as part of its review of the implementation of the Facility which will be submitted as a report to the European Parliament and EU Council by July 2022, must undertake:

“an assessment of the extent to which the implementation of the recovery and resilience plans is in line with the scope and contributes to the general objective of this Regulation in line with the six pillars referred to in Article 3, including how the recovery and resilience plans tackle the inequalities between women and men;”