Lithuania to host future EU institute for gender equality

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dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday December 1, 2006

Brussels- European Union member states on Friday agreed to set up a new EU institute for gender equality in Vilnius, capital of the bloc's 2004 newcomer Lithuania. The future EU agency is expected to be up and running already next year, said Finnish minister for social affairs Tuula Haatainen, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

The institute will be funded with a proposed budget of 52.5 million euros for 2007-2013.

The decision gives the EU's new member states the second decentralised EU agency. Poland hosts the bloc's body for external borders management (FRONTEX) situated in Warsaw.

Slovenia and Slovakia had also applied for hosting the gender equality institute.

Its aim is to support EU institutions and member states in promoting equality between women and men and combating gender discrimination, the EU commission has said.

Another task would be to develop tools for supporting the integration of gender equality into all EU policies.

All old EU-15 states have been allocated their own agency, with the new fisheries control agency set to move next year from a transitional seat in Brussels to Vigo in Spain.

The hosting of EU agencies is viewed as prestigious for countries and good for the economy. Decisions on who should get which seat is always marked by frantic backroom dealing between member states.

The EU defines its specialised agencies as "an answer to a desire for geographical devolution and the need to cope with new tasks of a legal, technical and/or scientific nature."

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency