The 'High Level Group on Gender Mainstreaming' (HLG) met on 17 and 18 September 2015 in the Grand Duchy under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The HLG, which meets biannually, is composed of senior officials from the 28 EU Member States with in-depth expertise on gender equality. The meeting this week served to offer an update on the equality priorities declared by the Presidency trio of Italy (previous), Luxembourg (current) and Latvia (future).
Topics discussed included the equal participation of men and women in political and economic decision-making, an assessment of the implementation of the 2010-15 equality strategy of the European Commission, and the integration of 'gender mainstreaming' into the 'Europe 2020' strategy of the EU, which aims to "become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy" through five ambitious objectives; these being employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and energy.
Luxembourg Minister for Equal Opportunities, Lydia Mutsch, was present at the meeting to deliver a welcome address, emphasising the priorities set by the Luxembourg Presidency with regards to its development of equality between men and woman, particularly in the field of decision-making.
Minister Mutsch equally stressed the importance of integrating a gender dimension into the development, implementation and evaluation of all political sectors.
Photo by MEGA (L-R: Lydia Mutsch, Minister for Equal Opportunities; Salla Sasstamoinen, Director for Equality, Directorate of Justice and consumers (European Commission))
