Gender equality and the state: a review of objectives, policies and progress in the European Union

This article aims to map recent developments in the areas of gender equality and gender mainstreaming within the European Union (EU). It begins with coverage of feminist debates in the 1990s on the role of the EU in making progress in the area of gender equality across member states. It then looks at developments in the European employment strategy (EES) and Lisbon Strategy. Following this, the article analyses the extent to which the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) and objectives on gender equality have resulted in a convergence or divergence in policy frameworks and outcomes across member states. This article focuses on three sets of state responses to EU gender objectives in UK and Sweden, each crucial in terms of gender equality. These are the employment rates of men and women, childcare provisions and reconciliation of work and private life, and the gender pay gap. Despite seeming pressure through soft regulation for a convergence of gender equality across EU27, major points of divergence still exists based on historical legacies of welfare state provision and gender politics, within specific nation states.