The EU's Gender Equality Policies from the Perspective of Policy Frame Analysis

Abstract

This article deals with the political problematisation of gender inequalities in the context of the European Union's gender equality policies on a supranational level. Based on the concept of transnational advocacy networks (TAN), the fi rst part of the article presents the European Women's Lobby and units at the European Commission dealing with gender equality policies as two key actors in TAN that promote gender equality issues within the structures of the EU. The article then moves on to describe policy frame analysis as an approach to analysing the way in which the gender inequalities addressed by these actors are politically problematised in three policy documents connected to the European Commission's 'Roadmap for Equality between Women and Men 2006-2010'. The analysis focuses on the main frames in these documents that legitimise the existence of an independent policy fi eld concerned with gender equality at the EU level and discusses the ramifi cations of these frames for the promotion of gender equality; for example, how certain policy measures might lead to different outcomes when promoted within different frames.