Women's policy networks and the European Union

It has been suggested that women's preferred methods of working are cooperatively based, enable support, and sharing of experience and empowerment in social and policy arenas. Thus, women are suffused with the concept and methods of networking. However, the study of networks and networking in policy influence and development has not considered women's experience of the concept and practice of networking. Policy network analysis tends to concentrate on policy areas that traditionally exclude women's interests. The European Union (EU) is increasingly concerned to encourage networks' influence in the policy sphere. Its record in the field of equality legislation and implementation shows it to be more sympathetic to the needs of women to enable them to participate in the public sphere. This paper considers whether women's policy networks are exploiting the opportunities offered by the EU, and attempts to consider the barriers to greater participation of women's networks in the EU policy process.