The European Commission announced in April 2021 the new eligibility criteria for the Horizon Europe program. Among the new features, one is the Gender Equality Plan: from 2022, a Gender Equality Plan (GEP) will be required for public bodies, research organizations and higher education institutions established in a EU country or an associated country, and will have to meet specific requirements.

This new regulation is a reminder that gender equality is now a political priority for the European Commission and, therefore, a transversal priority in Horizon Europe program (Article 7 (6) and Recital 53 of the Framework Regulation, Articles 2(e) and 6(3)(e) of the Specific Program) [1, 2, 3]. Indeed, despite the progress made in Horizon 2020 and ERA, a gender disparity in research and innovation persists, as shown in the She Figures 2018 [4] and the ERA Progress Report [5].

To address this GEP requirement, self-declaration from the proposal submission stage is now required (for all participant categories). The GEP will additionally be included in the validation process of the participating entity (based on the self-declaration).