The declaration was crafted under the Slovenian presidency of the Council of the European Union. It aims to fully acknowledge gender mainstreaming as a horizontal principal and work to advance progress in six priority areas, such as gender equality in research careers, mutual learning between governments, and Gender Equality Plans, among others.

The declaration’s six priority areas are as follows:

1. Ensure fair, open, inclusive and gender equal career paths in research, and consider intersectional perspectives on gender inequalities.
2. Facilitate mutual learning opportunities through form-follows-function robust governance.
3. Employ existing and newly developed tools, such as Gender Equality Plans, to facilitate systemic institutional change and remove institutional barriers.
4. Address and counteract gender-based violence.
5. Support active monitoring and evaluation to ensure continuous improvement; and
6. Leverage synergies to enhance gender equality achievements within the European Research Area, but also within complementary fields such as the European Higher Education Area, Cohesion policy funds, innovation ecosystems, as well as in international cooperation.