Lithuania gets EU gender institute

LUCIA KUBOSOVA

01.12.2006 @ 18:09 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Lithuania has been chosen to host a new EU gender institute - set to be up and running next year with a seven-year budget of €52.5 million.

EU social affairs ministers on Friday (1 December) agreed unanimously that the new institute should be located in Vilnius and gather data on gender-related issues and policies across Europe, as well as make recommendations and organise seminars and conferences on the topic.

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Following this week's approval of the institute's regulations in the European Parliament's womens affairs' committee - set to be followed by a plenary vote - the new body should start working in 2007 with 15 employees, with the number of staff due to double by 2013.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, social policy commissioner Vladimir Spidla argued that the creation of the institute will be "an important step forward" in tackling cases of discrimination between men and women.

He admitted that its performance will depend on whether member states provide it with statistics on gender-related issues, otherwise it could go the way of the Vienna-based EU centre for monitoring racism and xenophobia which complained this week about the governments' reluctance to share data.

The pay gap between men and women in the EU is currently around 16 percent, of which - according to Mr Spidla - about half corresponds to objective reasons and the other half to "pure discrimination."

Political lobbying

With the decision, Lithuania has become the second "new" member state to host a bloc's decentralised body, with Warsaw last year picked to host the EU agency for external borders management - Frontex.

Slovenia - the unsuccessful second candidate for the gender institute seat - will try again in mid-December, as one of 11 candidates for the seat of the Galileo Supervisory Authority, tasked to manage the EU's satellite navigation programmes.

As the third bidder for the brand new gender institute, Slovakia suggested that the choice was made on the basis of political pressure by Nordic countries rather than a better project offered by Vilnius.

"The Finnish presidency put tough pressure upon us days before the meeting to back down as Lithuania's project was clearly best and gathered the most support," Slovak social affairs minister Viera Tomanova told journalists.

According to diplomats, Helsinki was trying to avoid that the issue would run to the mid-December EU summit, a factor that will also feature when the Galileo seat is considered.

The EU will have four new agencies - gathering specialised expertise in policy areas - starting to run from 2007.

The EU fundamental rights agency has a seat in Vienna as it will incorporate the existing Vienna-based European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, while Finland's Helsinki has been picked already to host the European Chemicals Agency.

The hosting of agencies is viewed as prestigious for countries and good for the economy, as they organise conferences with international participants or provide closer points of contact for national NGOs and other stakeholders.

National governments are competing to offer the best buildings with a great location as part of their candidacy for hosting the agencies, while usually asking just a symbolic rent.