Framing the ‘Social’ in the European Parliament: the European Pillar of Social Rights and Party Politics

The idea of strengthening the social acquis of the European Union was one of the main goals of the Juncker Commission, in order to reinforce the monitoring of social and employment issues in the European Semester process. In this context, the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) has been an attempt to streamline and reinforce protection and promotion of social rights in the EU. The EPSR represents a comprehensive, albeit unclear in terms of legislative content, initiative that covers multiple aspects of social inclusion, (in)equality, and employment issues. The European Parliament has been taking an active role in the debate on the social dimension. However, there is a dearth of research on the Social Rights Pillar, especially from a feminist political perspective. The paper aims to contribute to and complement the mainstream literature about the struggles over the social and economic dimensions of EU policy. The research question is how gender creates lines of contestation and consensus between and within the EP’s political party groups. How are ‘social’ arguments gendered and what are the struggles between the political groups with regards to the EPSR? The paper uses a critical framing and discourse analysis methodology to explore the ways that ‘social issues’ are framed by political groups in the EP. I analyse textual material including EP resolutions and reports and supplement the material with interviews with Members of the EP and their staff. The paper takes into account the political and symbolical salience of EP initiatives, which have been increasing, to show the content and discursive impact of the frames of meaning that policy-makers use with reference to the ‘social dimension’. The paper examines the gender dimension of social policy as one of the most crucial lines of contestation when it comes to the Social Pillar in the EP.