Gender equality and EU enlargement - a discursive approach

Abstract: The European Union (EU) is a gender equality actor growing in importance. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of gender equality in the EU context by examining the EU enlargement process. The study takes a discursive approach to gender equality and is guided by the question: What is the meaning of gender equality in the EU enlargement context? Using critical frame analysis, the key documents of the current, sixth wave of EU enlargement are examined. The study shows that gender equality has a narrow meaning in the EU enlargement context as it is limited to concerns about formal rights, gender-based violence and increasing female participation on the labour market and in political bodies. Gender equality is represented as something that can be created through legislation. There is little evidence of the policy of gender mainstreaming that the EU is officially committed to. The role of men in gender equality is absent from the documents analysed, instead gender inequality is represented as a problem for women. Therefore, the gender power relations remain unchallenged in the EU enlargement context.