A systematic policy of promoting equality between men and women is one of the backbone principles of European regional policy and is absolutely imperative in the relevant EU regulations. Nonetheless, the pursuit of equality is only limitedly feasible in the European regional policies. This applies in particular to the European regional fund ERDF, which finances investments and is rightly deemed the most important fund.

In this study, 43 EU regional programmes from nine European nations were examined in detail in terms of whether or not and in what way they make allowance for the promotion of equality in reference to the ERDF regional fund. Seven fields (regional analysis, strategy, specific gender projects, mainstreaming, linkage to horizontal objectives, institutional provisions and evaluation) were reviewed in terms of their gender contents - on the basis of the criteria established by the Commission itself. In terms of its specific objectives, methodology and depth of analysis, this study is without precedent to date. The results could not have been more negative.