Europe's moment of truth: the new Gender Equality Strategy

One in three women in the EU experience gender-based violence, while full equality remains more than fifty years away. EIGE Director Carlien Scheele on why the new Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030 must be our turning point.

"Millions of women on a daily basis, wake up afraid of what the day might look like. And that's horrible," says EIGE Director Carlien Scheele.

"If you're not safe, you can't do anything. You can't work, you can't have your education, you can't properly take care of your children and you can't properly take care of yourself."

While gender-based violence is an issue particularly close to her heart, Carlien recognises that safety is one priority among many that demand attention.

The figures on violence against women are just a sample of EIGE's data providing the spine for the EU's newly published Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030.

We're making progress, but not fast enough

The previous strategy alongside consistent political will delivered real legislative gains in terms of pay transparency rules, binding quotas for corporate boards and the landmark Combatting Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence Directive.

But EIGE's Gender Equality Index - a tool for measuring progress in the EU and Member States - tells an uncomfortable story about the pace of change. At the current rate, full equality in the EU remains at least fifty years away.

That is the backdrop against which the EU launched its latest Gender Equality Strategy and set out its ambitions.

It sets out concrete action across eight priority areas:

1. ending gender-based violence;
2. closing the pay gap;
3. improving women's health;
4. redressing the imbalance in care responsibilities;
5. tackling labour market inequality;
6. reforming education;
7. strengthening women's participation in public life;
8. and embedding gender mainstreaming across every EU policy area.

"The Commissioner has every reason to be proud of this strategy. And the fact of the launch is a reason for optimism," says Carlien.

"The Commission calls on all Member States to put in place national gender equality action plans by the end of 2027. That's a really important step forward.

"We're reaching out to Member States and saying: you've seen the text. Now it's about national action. That sits with Member States, and EIGE is here with the data and evidence to support where needed."

Data drives smart policymaking

That the new strategy draws heavily on EIGE research is important to Carlien, whose years as a policy adviser for the Dutch government taught her that good decisions need solid evidence.

"If you don't watch out, as a policy adviser, you can be guided by emotions and assumptions. When you're designing policies, you want to be sure they serve the people in your country," she says.

"You have to understand the needs of women and men, in all their diversity. It's unthinkable that you don't understand the baseline, and for the baseline you need data."

Assets like EIGE's gender-neutral job evaluation and classification toolkit apply the same logic at employer level. It helps companies of all sizes interrogate their own pay data and identify where inequality is hiding.

"What's most difficult to combat is unintentional or implicit bias. I'm talking about hidden stereotypical thinking that most people aren't even aware of," says Carlien.

"That's what we should target. It's also what we try to make visible through our research. The beauty of the new legislation on tackling the gender pay gap and the tool we have developed is it helps employers dive into it and target potential unconscious bias."

Why we need gender mainstreaming

Carlien admits that implicit bias tests on age and gender challenged her, despite her expertise in equality.

"Now in speeches, I ask people: When I say the word 'surgeon', what do you see?" explains Carlien.

"I always automatically see a man. Because this is what I was faced with in hospital growing up in the 70s and 80s. Younger generations say, 'a woman'."

Her point is not to embarrass anyone, rather to show that stereotypical thinking is not confined to bad actors. It is structural, widespread and changeable once people see it.

Nowhere is that more relevant than in gender mainstreaming, a commitment that runs through the entire strategy.

The principle that we should consider the different impact on women and men in every aspect of life, work and politics is straightforward. Putting it into practice has proved harder.

To support that process, EIGE is launching a Gender Mainstreaming Helpdesk in 2026, giving Member States direct access to practical tools and expertise.

Where EIGE's approach has been tried, with eight Member States on gender budgeting, it has already produced concrete outcomes.

"As soon as people see the added value, they accept it. It improves the quality of what they're trying to achieve through their policies and legislation," says Carlien.

What success looks like in 2030

The new strategy will take us to 2030, by which time Carlien wants to see compatible, cross-border data on gender-based violence up and running under the new directive on Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

She hopes all Member States are either implementing, or well on the way to implementing, their own national action plans for preventing and combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

And she wants the Gender Equality Index, when it publishes in 2030, to show that the needle has moved.

"I truly hope we will see that new legislation is working, that we have all the means in place for mature data collection, and that all Member States are on board," says Carlien.

"I want there to be this vibe to continue our work on gender equality, all for the better of the women and men, in all their diversity, of the European Union".

"When bad actors start pushing false narratives, that means they're worried. And when these people are worried, it means we are doing something right."

The Index says Europe may still be fifty years from gender equality. Carlien believes the positive steps in the strategy say otherwise. The next years to 2030 will show us.

Read the full Gender Equality Strategy