Bundestag Newsbrief for the Week: Political Discussions and Decisions
In a concerted effort to promote gender equality and improve access to education, international partnerships and initiatives are focusing on strengthening education systems for girls and women. This push is particularly significant for marginalized groups, including those in conflict and fragile contexts.
Key commitments include promoting gender-responsive policies and curricula, investing in teacher training, ensuring schools are safe and free from gender bias and violence, and engaging communities to challenge patriarchal norms. The aim is to prepare girls for future job markets by closing STEM education gaps, while multi-sectoral approaches addressing health, safety, and digital skills are also highlighted. Enhanced international cooperation is crucial to scale these efforts [1][3][5].
Despite the importance of closing the gender gap in education for sustainable development, progress remains slow. Ongoing challenges include sexual violence, unequal unpaid care work burdens, and underrepresentation of women in leadership roles. The estimated projections suggest gender equality goals remain distant without accelerated action [5].
In Germany, social welfare challenges have been highlighted by Human Rights Watch. Burdensome application processes for child benefits and the stalled proposal for a universal child basic income disproportionately affect children and low-income families. Precarious employment, often low-paid and insecure, predominantly impacts women, reinforcing gender inequality in the labor market and social protection coverage [2].
At the EU level, while no detailed new tax justice initiatives are described in the recent 2025 results, member states like Romania pursue gender equality through national strategies aligned with EU recommendations. These efforts form part of a broader EU agenda to reduce gender disparities in employment and education, which indirectly links to tax justice by seeking economic empowerment and fairer labor market conditions for women [4].
In the EU, an EU directive will be issued to significantly harmonize the various sanctions regimes across the bloc. The list of serious criminal areas where the EU can set minimum penalties is being expanded to include sanctions violations. A new fine will be introduced, along with a new electronic identification procedure, to prevent people from declaring their support under false names [6].
In Germany, the federal government is taking action to make the BAföG (Federal Training Assistance Act) crisis-proof in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government's bill implements the corresponding provisions of an EU regulation regarding the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) into national law [7]. The federal government's Gigabit Strategy aims to have half of all households and businesses in Germany access to a fiber optic connection for fast internet by 2025 [8].
Operators of digital platforms will be required to provide German tax authorities with all information on incomes generated by providers in Germany under the directive. The relief volume for the Inflation Compensation Act will amount to more than 12 billion euros in 2023 and increase to 18 billion euros in 2024 [9].
In a move to lower the voting age for European elections, a draft bill by the federal government will be discussed in the Bundestag this week to lower the voting age for European elections to 16 [10]. The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) regulation is being simplified, and a responsible contact point will be created for initiative organizers [11]. New transparency rules will apply for financial support of ECI [12].
The draft provides for families to be specifically supported through increases in the basic allowance and child allowance, as well as a uniform increase in child benefit to €237 per month for the first, second, and third child [13]. The federal government's bill on the 28th BAföG Amendment Act allows for a so-called emergency mechanism to be activated to significantly expand the BAföG for a limited time if the student job market collapses [14].
The climate crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and rising food prices due to Russia's unlawful attack on Ukraine have exacerbated the situation in the Global South. The future publication of laws electronically in the Federal Law Gazette will replace the existing Bundesanzeiger with a unified, electronic Federal Law Gazette [15]. The minimum age for supporting an ECI can be set at 16 years by member states [16].
References:
[1] Education Cannot Wait: https://www.educationcannotwait.org/ [2] Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/ [3] UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI): https://ungei.org/ [4] Government of Romania: https://www.gov.ro/ [5] UN Women: https://www.unwomen.org/ [6] European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/ [7] Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection: https://www.bmjv.de/ [8] Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action: https://www.bmwk.de/ [9] Federal Ministry of Finance: https://www.bmf.de/ [10] Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community: https://www.bmi.bund.de/ [11] European Parliament: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/ [12] European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/ [13] Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs: https://www.bma.bund.de/ [14] Federal Ministry of Education and Research: https://www.bmbf.de/ [15] Federal Government: https://www.bundesregierung.de/ [16] European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/
Finance ministries could collaborate with education departments to invest in programs that aim to close the gender gap in education, particularly focusing on girls and women in conflict and fragile contexts. Such projects might include improving curricula to promote gender equality, expanding STEM education, or supporting teacher training to ensure schools are safe and free from gender bias.
In the context of digital transformation, educational institutions could partner with tech companies to develop accessible online learning platforms that cater to the needs of both general users and those seeking self-development, ensuring that opportunities for education and self-improvement are available to all without discrimination.
