This paper applies a gender lens to contribute to the critique of the political economy of austerity focusing specifically on the impact of austerity measures on the position of equality in the process of European integration, thus providing insights into the normative underpinnings of European governance. The article explores the role of institutions in supporting core values (e.g. equality) in times of crisis, when the dominant political narrative has become blind to social politics. This contribution will highlight the highly gendered impact of current, supposedly neutral policies and will argue that institutional blindness to differential gender impact of austerity is indicative of gender ideologies that assume women's participation in the official labour market is secondary and transient. Support, or not, for equality between men and women, particularly at a time of economic downturn or austerity, thus becomes a reflection of aptitudes toward a particular gender model.
