The Trio Presidencies of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia adopted a joint 18-month presidency programme for the period between 1 January 2007 and 30 June 2008, in which they defined the strategic framework, priority areas and programme tasks.  

The framework of the Trio’s activities in the gender equality field was presented by the European Pact for Gender Equality, with which the European Council in March 2006 undertook to promote gender equality at European and national levels. The activities also followed the goals and measures of the European Commission’s Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men, 2006-2010.

The Trio countries defined their commitments, guidelines and activities in priority areas in two Trio declarations:

• the Trio Presidency Declaration “Towards Gender Equality in the European Union” signed at the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Gender Equality and Family Affairs in Bad Pyrmont, Germany, on 15 May 2007;

• the Trio Presidency Declaration – the Supplement “Towards Gender Equality in the European Union – in the context of the Lisbon Strategy” signed at the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Gender Equality in Lisbon, Portugal, on 4 October 2007.  

The Trio Presidency also committed that at the end of the 18-month presidency they shall assess and evaluate the achievements and good practice of the joint work and the contribution to the gender equality promotion. All this is summarised in the document:

• Outcome of the Trio Presidency “Towards Gender Equality in the European Union”, which was first introduced at the meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality on 24 June 2008 in Brussels.