ABSTRACT
European regional policy is strongly based on a threefold notion of cohesion: territorial, economic and social cohesion. The main means of implementing these policies lies in the financial instrument known as 'Structural Funds' which fund the spatial development of the EU. In times of limited public spending, the funding opportunities increase in importance for public budgets in cities and in regions. The funding opportunities are namely as European regional development funds (ERDF), European social funds (ESF) and the cohesion fund (CF). A state-of-the-art policy implementation would ask for equality goals in targets and priorities, actions and measures as well as in the implementation procedures for programme management. The direct impacts of gender equality policies in programmes and projects on groups of people are widely known and accepted by regional policymakers. Important strategy for raising awareness is to show the importance of system interventions and gender planning by linking the individual situation of groups of persons with structural and spatial inequalities.
