EU Growth Linked to Gender Equality, ECB Says

The growth of the European Union’s finances and development of the single market can only be completed if all countries pursue gender equality, a board member of the EU’s bank has said.

The “European project and gender equality… are more closely connected than they appear”, according to a member of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) supervisory board, Sharon Donnery.

“The architects of European integration have often used economics in pursuit of a wider political purpose”, Donnery said in a May 9 speech at a conference in Ireland

“[E]conomic barriers” continue to affect women in the EU, she said, adding that “the broader goal is equal opportunities and dignity for everyone”.

To complete the single market, Donnery argued the EU should not think in geographical terms alone: “We should also think about it in human terms, as the removal of barriers to opportunity within them. A market is not truly single if it is open across borders but still segmented within societies.”

The European Commission estimates that this gender employment gap cost the EU economy €390 billion in 2023, she added, referencing a 2026 EU gender equality strategy. 

The Gender Equality Strategy 2026-30 calls on member states to tackle gender based violence and encourages them to “improve equal access to legally available and affordable safe abortion services".