The EU and U.S. agreed today to suspend all retaliatory tariffs on EU and U.S. exports imposed in the Airbus and Boeing disputes for a four-month period. The suspension allows both sides to focus on resolving this long-running dispute. It provides an important boost to EU exporters, since the U.S. had been authorised to raise tariffs on $7.5 billion of EU exports to the U.S. Similarly, EU tariffs will be suspended on some $4 billion worth of U.S. exports into the EU.
European Commission Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said: “This is a significant step forward. It marks a reset in our relationship with our biggest and economically most important partner. Removing these tariffs is a win-win for both sides, at a time when the pandemic is hurting our workers and our economies. This suspension will help restore confidence and trust, and therefore give us the space to come to a comprehensive and long-lasting negotiated solution. A positive EU-U.S. trade relationship is important not only to the two sides but to global trade at large.”
These tariffs will now be suspended on both sides for a four-month period, as soon as internal procedures on both sides are completed.
Background
In 2018, the Appellate Body found that the EU and its Member States had not fully complied with the previous WTO rulings with regard to EU subsidies to aircraft maker Airbus.
In March 2019, the Appellate Body confirmed that the U.S. had not taken appropriate action to comply with WTO rules on subsidies to aircraft maker Boeing.
In October 2019 the WTO authorised the U.S. to take countermeasures against European exports worth up to $7.5 billion, and the U.S. imposed these tariffs on 18 October 2019. The EU Member States concerned have taken in the meantime all necessary steps to ensure full compliance.
In October 2020, the WTO authorised the EU to take similar countermeasures on $4 billion of U.S. exports to the EU against illegal U.S. subsidies to aircraft maker Boeing. The EU sought an agreement with the United States that would have allowed the EU to avoid imposing these tariffs. Since, the U.S. at that time was not ready to accept a negotiated settlement including an immediate removal of the U.S. tariffs, the EU decided on 9 November 2020 to impose its countermeasures. On 31 December 2020, the U.S. changed the reference period for the calculation of its sanctions, thereby substantially increased the range of EU products subject to tariffs.
Compliments of the European Commission.
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The Delegation of the European Union to the United States is pleased to announce that it has granted to distinguished partners funding for projects in support of strengthening transatlantic relations. For the next two years, these four grants will promote a broad range of opportunities for Americans and Europeans to engage and deepen their understanding on a range of issues that are of common interest and concern.

MEET EU: Making Encounters, Engaging Transatlanticists
Coordinated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh (PITT) and Florida International University (FIU), this project introduces young Americans along the East Coast to the EU through model EU simulations, a Brussels-Luxemburg study tour for educators, an EU Film Festival and short film competition, a community road show, and expert career panels.
Engaging the New Generation of Transatlanticists
The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in partnership with the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will organize throughout the United States a series of diverse and engaging activities on the EU to inform and engage the next generation of American leaders and traditionally under-represented groups. Activities include an essay contest, study tour, town hall meetings, blog post/social media contest, and transatlantic political-military game.
TRAnsatlantic Civil society dialogues with Key policy STAkeholdeRs  (TRACKSTAR)
The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) together with James Madison University (JMU) and the Lares Institute will encourage transatlantic dialogue and cooperation between non-governmental organisations and interest groups representing diverse constituencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Seven distinct working groups will tackle a range of policy areas, including climate change, energy, the circular economy and biodiversity, digital economy, trade and investment, democracy and transparency, and regulatory cooperation.
Transatlantic Working Group on the Future of Work
Bruegel AISBL (BA) in partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) will establish a working group of transatlantic experts to exchange best practices, build strategic alliances and provide analysis and recommendations on new developments and challenges in the field of work and employment.
More information on these grants
Compliments of Delegation of the European Union to the United States.
The post Strengthening EU-US Relations with Four New Projects first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

Released on March 5, 2021 |
“The European Union and the United States today agreed on the mutual suspension for four months of the tariffs related to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Aircraft disputes. The suspension will cover all tariffs both on aircraft as well as on non-aircraft products, and will become effective as soon as the internal procedures on both sides are completed.
“This will allow the EU and the US to ease the burden on their industries and workers and focus efforts towards resolving these long running disputes at the WTO.
“The EU and the US are committed to reach a comprehensive and durable negotiated solution to the Aircraft disputes. Key elements of a negotiated solution will include disciplines on future support in this sector, outstanding support measures, monitoring and enforcement, and addressing the trade distortive practices of and challenges posed by new entrants to the sector from non-market economies, such as China.
“These steps signal the determination of both sides to embark on a fresh start in the relationship.”
Compliments of the Office of the United States Trade Representative. 
The post USTR | Joint Statement of the European Union and the United States on the Large Civil Aircraft WTO Disputes first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

The Parliament is discussing a carbon levy on imported goods to stop companies moving outside the EU to avoid emissions standards, a practice known as carbon leakage.
As European industry struggles to recover from the Covid-19 crisis and the economic pressure due to cheap imports from trading partners, the EU is trying to honour its climate commitments, whilst keeping jobs and production chains at home.
Discover how the EU’s recovery plan prioritises creating a sustainable and climate-neutral Europe
An EU carbon levy to prevent carbon leakage
EU efforts to reduce its carbon footprint under the European Green Deal and become sustainably resilient and climate neutral by 2050, could be undermined by less climate-ambitious countries. To mitigate this, the EU will propose a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which would apply a carbon levy on imports of certain goods from outside the EU. MEPs will put forward proposals during March’s first plenary session.
How would a European carbon levy work?
If products come from countries with less ambitious rules than the EU, the levy is applied, ensuring imports are not cheaper than the equivalent EU product.
Given the risk of more polluting sectors relocating production to countries with looser greenhouse gas emission constraints, carbon pricing is seen as an essential complement to the existing EU carbon allowances system, the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS).
What is carbon leakage?
Carbon leakage is the shifting of greenhouse gas emitting industries outside the EU to avoid tighter standards. As this simply moves the problem elsewhere, MEPs want to avoid the problem through a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Existing carbon pricing measures in the EU
Under the current emissions trading system (ETS), which provides financial incentives to cut emissions, power plants and industries need to hold a permit for each tonne of CO2 they produce. The price of those permits is driven by demand and supply. Due to the last economic crisis, demand for permits has dropped and so has their price, which is so low that it discourages companies from investing in green technologies. In order to solve this issue, the EU will reform ETS.
What the Parliament is asking for
The new mechanism should align with World Trade Organisation rules and encourage the decarbonisation of EU and non-EU industries. It will also become part of the EU’s future industrial strategy.
By 2023, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism should cover power and energy-intensive industrial sectors, which represent 94% of the EU’s industrial emissions and still receive substantial free allocations, according to MEPs.
They said that it should be designed with the sole aim of pursuing climate objectives and a global level playing field, and not be used as a tool to increase protectionism.
MEPs also support the European Commission proposal to use the revenues generated by the mechanism as new own resources for the EU’s budget, and ask the Commission to ensure full transparency about the use of those revenues.
The Commission is expected to present its proposal on the new mechanism in the second quarter of 2021.
Learn more about the EU’s responses to climate change
Compliments of the European Parliament.
The post EU Parliament | Carbon leakage: prevent firms from avoiding emissions rules first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

March 8, 2021 | Blog post by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB |
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the world, the past year was one of sacrifice. Too many lost their lives, their loved ones. Others fought hard to survive – physically, emotionally and financially.
One year into the pandemic, we can clearly see that the social and economic impact of the virus is affecting women particularly hard. Women work disproportionately in the sectors that have been worst hit by the virus. They are more likely to have informal work that falls outside the scope of government support programmes. And many women have been left struggling to care for young and elderly family members while trying to keep their own careers on track.
These developments have the worrying potential to dial back the hard-fought progress made on gender equality. We must not let this happen.
But there is also hope for change. Existential crises disrupt our way of life and prompt us to reset some of our values. The pandemic has not only opened our eyes to significant weaknesses in our society – it has also forced us to do things differently. And this is where I see potential to change things for the better.
That’s why today, on International Women’s Day, I invite all of us – women and men alike – to choose to challenge old patterns and to adopt new ones more suitable for our needs today. We have our work cut out, at home, at work and in leading the way.
Work begins at home, the heart and centre of all our lives during confinement. The pandemic has vividly highlighted the imbalance in unpaid work between women and men. But it has also shown us that partners can step up. In some families, fathers − who themselves had to work from home or were put on reduced working hours – became the primary caretakers, while mothers worked in essential jobs outside the home.
Such a break with traditional norms, if it lasts, has the potential to free up women to fulfil their ambitions elsewhere – at work or in community life. Greater participation of women in work – supported by adequate public childcare and flexible working time arrangements for women and men – would be a big step towards closing the gender pay gap. Women in the EU earn on average 14.1% less per hour than men.[1] Growing up in a household where chores are more equally shared also gives children a more equitable idea of family roles than that of previous generations.
Work continues at the workplace. The pandemic has also reminded us of the crucial professional role women play in society. Out of around 18 million healthcare and social workers in the euro area, three-quarters are female, with a similar share of women working in education. Both sectors have been indispensable during the pandemic. Now that we have seen the true value of these jobs to society, they should be recognised and paid accordingly.
Yet, we also need more women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. For one, a stronger representation of women in these better paid jobs will help to narrow the gender pay gap. But jobs in these fields are also key drivers of innovation and are fundamental for the transition to a more digital and more sustainable economy.
So let’s choose to challenge established career paths – to encourage women and girls to advance where too few women have gone so far. Today at the ECB we are launching the next round of our Women in Economics Scholarship, which aims to address the low representation of women in this field.
Work endures in leadership. The pandemic has shown us the value of female leadership, especially in times of crisis. Research conducted during the pandemic showed that women were rated as more effective leaders than men by those who worked with them. Female leaders were better at engaging with their employees.[2]
Yet only 18.5% of EU heads of government are female.[3] Although representing more than half of the EU population (51%), women make up no more than one-third of national parliamentarians.[4] None of the euro area central banks, whose governors are appointed by their national governments, is headed by a female governor.
In corporate boardrooms, the share of women is similarly low. No more than 7.5% of the chief executives at Europe’s largest listed companies are female.[5]
At the ECB, we more than doubled the share of female senior managers between 2013 and 2019 and are now aiming to raise this share further to 40% by 2026.
So let’s choose to challenge the way we lead and bring more diversity into our boardrooms, parliaments and governments. Sharing the work at home more equally and opening up more career paths for women will empower women to contribute even more to society, get involved in politics and become the voice for so many who need to be heard.
Let’s proceed to succeed so that we emerge from this pandemic together as a stronger, more equitable and more sustainable society.
This blog post appeared as an opinion piece in the following publications: Kurier (Austria), De Tijd and L’Echo (Belgium), Sigmalive.com (Cyprus), ERR (Estonia), Helsingin Sanomat (Finland), L’Opinion (France), Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (Germany), LiFO.gr (Greece), Irish Independent (Ireland), Corriere della Sera (Italy), Delfi.lv (Latvia), LRT (Lithuania), Times of Malta (Malta), Diário de Notícias and Jornal de Notícias and Dinheiro Vivo (Portugal), Denník N (Slovakia), and El Confidencial (Spain).

Compliments of the European Central Bank.
The post Christine Lagarde | Choose to challenge women’s roles at home, at work and in our society first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

March 8, 2021 | Keynote Speech by Chief Economist Gita Gopinath at the Inaugural Dr. Hansa Mehta Lecture |
Hello everyone.
Thank you for your generous introduction, La Neice, and also thank you to the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations and the United Nations Academic Impact for inviting me to speak at this event today.
It is a tremendous honor to deliver the inaugural lecture in memory of Dr. Hansa Mehta – an Indian freedom fighter, an educator, a policy maker, and above all, a champion of women’s rights. We have Dr. Mehta to thank for ensuring that the Indian constitution enshrines gender equality. We have Dr. Mehta to thank for correcting and replacing the phrase “All men are born free and equal” in the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights with “All human beings are born free and equal.”
It therefore befits Dr. Mehta’s legacy that we are gathered virtually today at the United Nations on International Women’s Day. And as an Indian woman, I am especially grateful for the opportunity to honor Hansabehn, on whose strong shoulders I and many others stand.
We are meeting amidst a global health and economic crisis which threatens to roll back years of hard-won economic and social gains for women. Women have been affected disproportionately by the pandemic because they work predominantly in sectors such as
restaurants and hospitality that have been hit hardest by the lockdowns, and as the main caregivers at home they have had to drop out of the labor market as schools closed. In developing countries, women are over-represented in the informal sector where they face lower pay, less job security and lower social protection. In these countries, girls have dropped out more from school to help in households. And further, recent reports from the United Nations highlight a disturbing fact that violence against women and girls has intensified since the outbreak of the pandemic.
These disparities worsen already-large gender gaps that persisted before the crisis. While there have been successes over the past few decades as women pushed the boundaries on educational attainment, economic and political participation, and broke through the glass ceiling to lead countries, corporations, and international organizations, there is much more than needs to be done to achieve gender equality.
Globally, only 55 percent of women are engaged in the labor market as opposed to 78 percent of men. In 72 countries, women are barred from opening bank accounts or obtaining credit. Women continue to earn about 50 percent less than men for the same type of work, and they represent only 25 percent of parliamentarians.
The moral case for gender equity is very clear. Today I will emphasize that we at the IMF have strived to make the point that the economic case for gender equity is also very clear.
As you are aware the IMF has been promoting policies to support growth and stability for more than 70 years. We assess the economic health of our member countries, provide policy advice and essential financing as the global lender of last resort. In just this pandemic we have provided financial assistance to 85 countries, in addition to debt relief for our poorest members.
With all this on our plate, why do we as an institution also care so deeply about women’s empowerment and inclusive growth? We care about it not only because it is a moral imperative, but because gender empowerment is critical for the economic wellbeing of both men and women, and for societies as a whole. Empowering women, through improving access to health, education, earning opportunities, rights and political participation, can be an economic game changer for any country. A wealth of research at the IMF, at the United Nations, other international organizations and academic institutions supports this assertion.
As countries around the world struggle to grow their economies—grappling with ageing populations, and buffeted by trade shocks, social unrest, weather-related disasters and now, the worst peacetime crisis in a century–tapping into the huge potential of women is unambiguously a win-win for both women’s empowerment and inclusive global economic growth.
I will elaborate next on how gender equity can lead to inclusive and stronger global economic growth, and the role governments, the private sector and international organizations should play in empowering women.
First, gender equity in the labor market can deliver significant gains to national income. Our research has shown that if women were to participate in the labor force to the same extent as men, national income could increase significantly. For example, by as much as 5 percent in the United States, 9 percent in Japan and as much as 15 percent in countries with the lowest female labor force participation rates. With female labor force participation falling in many countries during the pandemic, targeted policies such as hiring subsidies may be needed to swiftly bring about the reintegration of female workers’ into the labor force.
As several countries face headwinds to growth from an aging population and shrinking labor force, raising female labor force participation can be a part of the solution. We have estimated that in Japan, for example, raising female labor force participation rates to the levels of Northern Europe could boost GDP growth by up to 0.4 percentage points in the transition years. And in a country like Canada, where female labor force participation is already quite high, the impact of employing more highly educated women could boost labor productivity by up to 0.4 percentage points per year.
Second, better economic opportunities and equal pay for women not only lowers gender inequality but also lowers income inequality. Moving from a situation of perfect gender inequality to perfect gender equality is estimated to be equivalent to lowering income inequality from levels prevailing in Venezuela to those in Sweden. As we have shown, lower income inequality in turn brings with it higher and more durable growth.
Third, women’s empowerment enhances economic resilience. Recent IMF staff research has made a strong case that more women leaders in finance would not only reduce existing gender employment gaps in the corporate sector, but also strengthen bank stability. This work finds that higher share of women on banks’ board of directors and banking supervision boards are associated with greater financial sector resilience, lower probability of insolvency, and greater profitability.
As women globally account for less than 20 percent of board seats in banks and banking supervision agencies, and account for fewer than 2 percent of bank CEOs, this suggests tremendous room to achieve greater financial sector resilience while also increasing banking sector profitability.
There is rigorous evidence that when women are in leadership positions it enhances the lives of other women. For example, in 1993, India started reserving a fraction of village council leadership positions for women. As a consequence, in villages with a female leader there was a significant rise in parents’ aspirations for their daughters, the gender gap in adolescent educational attainment was erased, and girls spent less time on household chores. This policy also weakened stereotypes about gender roles in the public and domestic spheres.
To summarize, the empowerment of women is an important channel by which we can obtain stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient growth. This takes me to the next question: what needs to be done? To be clear, responsibility for this must be shared by governments, the private sector, and international organizations.
A natural place to start is with governments which can use fiscal policy to assist with the advancement of women in education, health, financial inclusion and economic empowerment. Gender budgeting can ensure that tax and spending policies transparently and adequately include provisions for women’s access to opportunity in education and the workplace. IMF research has found that higher spending on childcare has contributed positively to female employment in the Czech Republic, Poland and Norway. Flexible working arrangements, such as those established in Japan, have also been shown to reduce gender gaps in labor force participation.
Well-designed workplace regulations that protect women under the law—including parental leave policies that encourage greater parity between men and women, flexible work arrangements, access to affordable childcare and health services, as well as the equitable treatment of women in courts and protection against violence—have all been shown to significantly raise women’s participation in economic activity. Governments can also reform tax policies that penalize secondary earners—who is most often a woman—to encourage women to join the labor force. Studies have found that reforming secondary earner taxation and boosting tax incentives for part-time work has helped support female employment and raise labor force participation in countries from Korea to Norway to the United Kingdom.
Governments must also take concrete actions to level the playing field for women. In many regions of the world, a key obstacle to women’s empowerment are outdated legal, regulatory and institutional impediments—all of which are in the hands of governments to reform. In more than 100 countries, women encounter at least one legal impediment to their participating in the economy. In some countries, women do not have the legal right to open bank accounts, sign contracts, own property, or initiate legal proceedings without a husband’s consent. 75 percent of countries in Francophone Africa have regulations restricting women’s employment and 12 countries in the Spanish-speaking countries have decrees prohibiting female employment in some sectors. In half of the countries we studied, when legal impediments to women undertaking economic activities were reduced, their labor force participation rose by at least 5 percentage points in the following 5 years.
We know that it takes only a few strong but persistent voices to change these inequities – it happened in India, with Dr. Hansa Mehta, who helped pushed through the Sarda Act that forbade child marriage, championed better educational opportunities for girls, and put in place personal law reforms.
There is a role for the private sector as well. To start with, businesses can promote gender equity by ensuring equal pay for equal work. Even where governmental regulations do not mandate it, firms can take the initiative to put in place work-life policies that support women’s labor force attachment including through mentoring and leadership opportunities, flexible schedules, travel and childcare subsidies, and zero tolerance towards workplace harassment.
It is estimated that in developing countries, 70 percent of women-owned businesses are under-served by financial institutions, as a result of which women entrepreneurs run smaller enterprises, earn less than male peers and are more likely to fail. This is a financing gap—as well as a lost business opportunity—in which the financial industry can step up to aid women’s financial inclusion.
And finally, we at the international organizations also have a role in this endeavor. The United Nations has declared gender equality among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”) to achieve inclusive growth by 2030. At the IMF, we have increased our emphasis on women’s empowerment through training, technical advice, and peer-learning workshops with country authorities. I am also proud to note that we at the IMF have worked hard to diversify our leadership, successfully raising female directorship to over 30 percent, appointing the IMF’s second consecutive female Managing Director, and its first female Chief Economist. Gender equality is an aspect of the job I take very seriously and during my tenure I have increased the number of women in leadership positions in my own Department.
Let me now conclude by saying that this crisis has demonstrated the excellent contributions of women as leaders, as health professionals, as first-responders, as care givers. Yet women have been hit disproportionately hard by this crisis, and we still have a distance to go to get to gender equality. While much remains to be done, I am confident we will continue to make important progress towards the empowerment of women everywhere in the world.
Some 100 years ago this was the dream of a woman from a small town in India who we are honoring today. I hope this generation’s leaders and policymakers will take every opportunity they get to honor Dr. Hansa Mehta’s legacy through urgent and determined action for greater gender equality.
Thank you.
Compliments of the IMF.
The post IMF | Women’s Economic Empowerment and Inclusive Global Economic Growth: COVID-19 and Beyond first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, the Commission published its 2021 report on gender equality in the EU, that shows the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women. The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities between women and men in almost all areas of life, both in Europe and beyond, rolling back on the hard-won achievements of past years. At the same time, gender equality has never been so high up on the EU’s political agenda, and the Commission has made significant efforts to implement the Gender Equality Strategy, adopted one year ago. To better monitor and track progress in each of the 27 Member States, the Commission is launching today a Gender Equality Strategy Monitoring Portal.
Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, said today: “Women are at the frontline at the pandemic and they are more affected by it. We can’t afford sliding back; we must continue to push for fairness and equality. This is why EU has put women at the heart of recovery and obliged Member States to include gender equality in investments funded from Recovery and Resilience Facility.”
Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, added: “Despite the disproportionate impact on women’s live due the COVID-19 crisis, we need to use this situation as an opportunity. We are determined to strengthen our efforts, continue progressing and not allow a backlash on all the gender equality gains made”.
COVID-19 impact on women
Today’s report highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a major challenge for gender equality:

Member States recorded a surge in domestic violence: For example, the number of reports on domestic violence in France increased by 32% during the first week of the lockdown, in Lithuania by 20% in the first three weeks. Ireland saw a five-fold increase in domestic violence orders and Spanish authorities reported an 18% rise in calls during the first fortnight of confinement.

Women were at the frontline tackling the pandemic: 76% of healthcare and social-care workers, 86% of personal care workers in health services are women. With the pandemic, women in these sectors saw an unprecedented rise in workload, health risk and challenges to work-life balance.

Women in the labour market were hit hard by the pandemic: Women are overrepresented in sectors that are worst affected by the crisis (retail, hospitality, care and domestic work), because these jobs cannot be done remotely. Women also had more difficulties re-entering the labour market during the partial recovery last summer 2020 with employment rates rising by 1.4% for men but only by 0.8% for women between the second and the third quarter 2020.

Lockdowns have significant impact on unpaid care and work-life balance: Women spent, on average, 62 hours per week caring for children (compared to 36 hours for men) and 23 hours per week doing housework (15 hours for men).

A striking lack of women in COVID-19 decision-making bodies: A 2020 study found that men greatly outnumber women in the bodies created to respond to the pandemic. Of 115 national dedicated COVID-19 task forces in 87 countries, including 17 EU Member States, 85,2% were made up mainly of men, 11.4% comprised mainly women, and only 3.5% had gender parity. At the political level, only 30% of health ministers in the EU are women. The Commission’s task force for the COVID-19 crisis is led by President von der Leyen and includes five other Commissioners, three of whom are women.

Despite the challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis, the Commission made significant efforts to move forward with the implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy over the past year. In order to track progress more effectively across the EU, the Commission launched today the Gender Equality Strategy Monitoring Portal. A joint project developed by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the portal will allow to monitor individual EU Member States’ performance and compare that performance among the 27 Member States.
Background
The Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, adopted one year ago, is based on a vision for a Europe where women and men, girls and boys, in all their diversity, are free from violence and stereotypes and have the opportunity to thrive and to lead. It sets out key actions for the 5-year period and commits to ensure that the Commission will include an equality perspective in all EU policy areas.
In the past year, the Commission has stepped up fight against gender-based violence with the first-ever EU victims’ rights strategy and announced a proposal to combat gender-based violence (public consultation is open here). The proposal for a Digital Services Act, adopted in December 2020, clarifies platforms’ responsibility and contributes to address online violence.
The Commission has taken action to encourage women’s participation in the labour market. The Action Plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights puts gender equality at its core and establishes, amongst others, ambitious targets for women’s participation in the labour market and the provision of early childcare. On 4 March, the Commission put forward pay transparency measures to ensure equal pay for women and men for equal work.
In the Digital Education Action Plan and Updated Skills Agenda, the Commission announced a range of actions ensuring that girls and young women are equally present in ICT studies and digital skills development.
A gender equality perspective was also included into the next EU budget. Moreover, the new Recovery and Resilience Facility under the NextGenerationEU requires Member States to explain how their national recovery plans will contribute to promoting gender equality, thus helping to ensure a gender-responsive recovery in the EU.
In the past year, the Commission continued to support initiatives tackling gender stereotypes through its funding programmes, including the EU’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship programme. The Commission also strengthened gender equality outside of the EU by presenting, in November 2020, the new Gender Action Plan (GAP III) for 2021-2025, an ambitious agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment in EU external action.
Today, the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) published a report on the Covid-19 pandemic and intimate partner violence against women in the EU. Full details can be found in their press release.
Compliments of the European Commission.
The post International Women’s Day 2021: COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge for gender equality first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

March 01, 2021 | WASHINGTON |
The Office of the United States Trade Representative today delivered President Biden’s 2021 Trade Agenda and 2020 Annual Report to Congress, detailing a comprehensive trade policy in support of the Administration’s effort to help the U.S. recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and build back better.
The President’s agenda will create millions of good-paying jobs and support America’s working families by tackling four national challenges: building a stronger industrial and innovation base so the future is made in America; building sustainable infrastructure and a clean energy future; building a stronger, caring economy; and advancing racial equity across the board.
The President wants a fair international trading system that promotes inclusive economic growth and reflects America’s universal values. Trade policy must respect the dignity of work and value Americans as workers and wage-earners, not only as consumers. The President’s trade agenda will restore U.S. global leadership by combatting forced and exploitative labor conditions, corruption, and discrimination against women and minorities around the world.
Through bilateral and multilateral engagement, the Biden Administration will seek to build consensus around trade policies that address the climate crisis, bolster sustainable renewable energy supply chains, level the playing field, discourage regulatory arbitrage, and foster innovation and creativity.
The full report can be viewed here.
A fact sheet outlining key highlights of the report is available here.
Background:
The 2021 Trade Policy Agenda and 2020 Annual Report of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program are submitted to the Congress pursuant to Section 163 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.
Compliments of the Office of the United States Trade Representative. 
The post USTR | Biden Administration Releases 2021 President’s Trade Agenda and 2020 Annual Report first appeared on European American Chamber of Commerce New York [EACCNY] | Your Partner for Transatlantic Business Resources.

International Women’s Day, March 8, marks a year from the start of widespread lockdowns in response to COVID-19. As an IMF blog warned back in July, women have borne the economic and social brunt of the pandemic. With many governments preparing budgets for the next fiscal year, we now have a golden opportunity to counter this inequity. We offer a starter kit for gender budgeting to help countries focus resources on women, and ensure future budgets are better for them than previous ones.
Government actions work
Examples abound of the disproportionate impact of lockdown policies on women and girls: one million Japanese women left the labor market when the pandemic hit, while labor force participation by men changed far less. In Chile, 76 percent of women reported spending more time on domestic chores since COVID-19 began. Mexico saw a 53 percent increase in emergency calls related to violence against women. The Malala Fund estimates that 20 million girls in developing countries may never return to the classroom after pandemic-related school shutdowns.
Bad as this is, it could have been even worse but for government actions. The UN’s COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker shows countries enacted nearly 1,000 policy measures to address challenges related to gender. These include paid leave for women, job protection measures, more flexible work, and income/in-kind support for the vulnerable households.
IMF research concludes these measures work. They increase women’s employment which, in turn, improves economic well-being for all. Such policies should be built upon. Failing to do so risks long-term scarring that will cement women’s disadvantage and harms the prospects for recovery.
Gender budgeting—a guide
But adopting such policies is only half the battle. Their impacts can be further amplified as part of a coherent gender strategy that is based on need, effectively designed, aligned with the budget process, and monitored and evaluated to improve implementation. This is the essence of gender budgeting.
Gender budgeting brings the powerful tool of national budgets to bear on gender inequalities. It integrates gender into the policies and processes of public financial management.
While strengthening gender budgeting is a continuous and long-term investment, we lay out an actionable toolkit—no matter a country’s previous experience—to jumpstart the process.
The starter kit
First, assemble evidence to assess the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on women and girls. A response without a sense of the size or location of the problem is like throwing a dart in the dark. How are the country’s female-dominated sectors faring? Do women rely more heavily on scaled-back public services?
Presenting the evidence in a single document, such as a Gender Needs Assessment, can focus efforts. UN-Women shows it can be done quickly. In just one month, at the start of the pandemic, the agency performed a Gender Needs Assessment in Ukraine based on phone and online surveys.
Better by design
This evidence can be used to focus policy responses. However, the best policy intention in the world cannot overcome poor policy design. Gender Impact Assessments can strengthen that design by assessing the proportion of female beneficiaries, and potential barriers to access—in Austria and Canada, they are now part of all new budget proposals.
Such assessments can also highlight unintended gender bias. For example, a wage subsidy scheme might leave out informal sector workers—often predominantly female—or a tax policy could discourage women from working.
Allocating resources
Third, it is crucial to allocate sufficient resources to gender policies to transform goals into action. The IMF has supported increasing allocations towards women. For example, the IMF’s Egypt program included measures to support higher budget allocations for targeted cash transfers (many to women), and to improve public childcare services.
As governments prepare budgets for next year, anchoring gender policy goals through Budget Circulars and Gender Budget Statements ensures sufficient resources are channeled to these goals. An added benefit: they also provide confidence and transparency to the public. Philippines’ 2021 Budget Circular incorporates priority policy areas, including in health, nutrition, and social protection, that support women.
Track and evaluate
Finally, track expenditures and evaluate impacts. Tracking gender-focused funds in the budget, light-touch policy evaluations, and gender performance audits can provide timely feedback to course correct where needed, and ensure that policies are working. For example, Sierra Leone’s real-time audits effectively responded to the Ebola epidemic and highlighted issues in drug distribution and duplicated payments.
The IMF remains deeply committed to gender equality and has worked with 113 member countries on implementing budgetary practices, allocations, and tax policies to promote gender equality. Since the start of the pandemic, over 55 countries have invested in gender budgeting training with the Fund.
Almost all countries have gender equality goals, but an IMF survey finds only half have legal frameworks to carry them out. Only a quarter use established practices such as Gender Budget Statements and Gender Impact Assessments.
Some countries have already implemented gender budgeting, while others are novices, but all have room for improvement. Recovery from the pandemic is an opportunity to accelerate progress and reap the dividends.
Compliments of the IMF.
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