Gender-inclusive priority setting in EU competition law enforcement

The paper analyses how the substantive and procedural aspects of priority setting could implement considerations of gender equality and guarantee women’s equal market participation.
Despite the EU’s robust constitutional framework and its horizontal clauses, gender equality remains an invisible issue in EU competition law.
Notwithstanding the potential of priority setting rules and practices as a tool to combat inequality, currently they do not explicitly implement considerations of gender equality in the EU.
Gender-sensitive indicators could be embedded across the priority setting rules and practice cycle.
Four aspects of priority setting are particularly suitable for the consideration of gender equality: agenda setting, the substantive criteria guiding prioritization, conducting ex-post impact assessment of priority setting decisions, and the procedure in which prioritization decisions are being taken.
The paper proposes to draft a new Recommendation on priority setting within the framework of the European Competition Network (ECN), nudging competition authorities to base their priority setting rules and practices on criteria based on sustainable, inclusive growth with a strong focus on gender equality.