Gendering the EU Institutions: Structures, Policies and Practices of the European Parliament

Abstract

EU institutions have undergone significant changes in the last 10-15 years. The Eastern enlargement has resulted in institutional changes, decision-making procedures have been modified with the Lisbon Treaty, and the responsibility for gender equality policies have been reshuffled. Most recently the economic crisis and the results of the EP elections have impacted the potential scope for gender equality policies. The consequences of these changes for the EP relate, among other things, to the (ideological) composition of the Parliament, the increased role of its committees, as well as the power conferred to it. Taking an institutionalist approach to the study of the EP, the panel addresses changes and continuities in recent years from a gender perspective. It asks how and why the EP, as an institution, is gendered and what the gendered impacts of recent changes are when it comes to the structures, policies and practices of the EP.