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The ever‐declining role of gender equality in the European Employment Strategy
Author(s) -
Smith Mark,
Villa Paola
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
industrial relations journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.525
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1468-2338
pISSN - 0019-8692
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2338.2010.00584.x
Subject(s) - gender mainstreaming , gender equality , position (finance) , member states , banner , political science , inclusive growth , soft law , european union , sociology , economics , economic policy , gender studies , law , geography , poverty , international law , archaeology , finance
This article analyses the changing position of gender in the European Employment Strategy (EES) since its 2005 relaunch. Overall, we find a picture of mixed progress towards gender equality goals across Member States. There is evidence of the EU soft law approach leading to positive developments as the use of targets in conjunction with Country‐Specific Recommendations and Points‐to‐Watch have had some influence in promoting gender equality policies among Member States. However, the weakened position of gender mainstreaming in European‐level initiatives has led to gender being marginalised or ignored in national and EU policy responses to the crisis. The prominence of gender has declined further in the 2010 revision of the EES under the 2020 banner. This introduces new risks as the emphasis on gender equality falls further down the list of priorities in the streamlining of the Lisbon Process.