A More Equal and Inclusive Europe? The European Gender Equality Policy and the EEC/EU Enlargements
A More Equal and Inclusive Europe? The European Gender Equality Policy and the EEC/EU Enlargements

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to interweave issues concerning the five enlargements of the EEC/EU with the history of the Gender Equality Policy, which has become over the time one of the so-called “horizontal policies” of the EU. After all, equality between men and women is a fundamental principle of the European law that applies to all aspects of life in society, starting from the workplace. The essay is divided into three parts: the first one focusing up to the “Europe of the Twelve”, a period in which attention was still heavily concentrated on employment aspects; the second part analysing issues related to the Fourth enlargement, when the accession of Sweden and Finland - with Austria in 1995 – was crucial for the “revolution” of the Nineties, better known with the expression of gender mainstreaming; the third, and last part, highlighting problems emerged during the Fifth enlargement process to the Central and Eastern European Countries.

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