PES approaches to the promotion of gender equality
This report explores the current position in regard to gender equality as a field of intervention in European Public Employment Services (PES). Information was obtained from individual PES through their completion of a survey questionnaire distributed through the EU PES Network and to which 25 PES Network members responded. Addressing gender discrimination in the labour market has been a priority of European employment policy since the foundation of the European Economic Community. The EU PES Network Decision establishing the PES Network noted its central contribution to the achievement of a 75% employment rate for women and men as stated in the Europe 2020 strategy. The current PES Network Strategy Paper has reiterated PES commitment to this agenda. The overall picture is not homogeneous across PES in Member States. Uniform attention to gender equality is currently only present for data collection among PES (which is most likely the result of the EU policy requirements where data collection has been explicitly required for PES activities such as benchlearning or in implementation of ESF projects that increasingly require gender-disaggregated data collection for monitoring purposes. An overarching strategy to in tackle gender discrimination cutting across all aspects of PES activity is still missing in most cases. In a limited number of countries gender equality is mainstreamed in the existing employment strategy or PES have dedicated gender equality strategies. The adoption of gender equality as an objective within the renewed PES network mandate is an opportunity for PES to improve together in forthcoming years with the elaboration and implementation of a common EU model of PES intervention in this policy area.