“A Union of Equality” – A New Doctrine for the European Union?

In this paper, we argue that the “Union of Equality” programme developed by the von der Leyen Commission can be understood as an explicit political doctrine, that is a set of integrated representations about the world and its future – in this case, ideas about European integration as a process, and the European Union as a political system. A political doctrine also embodies a vision of and a discourse about the world, as well as an orientation for action, and a means of forging an identity. It ultimately focuses on power. Conceptualizing the “Union of Equality” as a comprehensive political doctrine allows us to address three key research questions relating to the doctrine and its implementation during von der Leyen’s five-year mandate (2019-2024): What is the nature of the doctrine, its core features and goals? How does the doctrine translate into administrative engineering, with which policy instruments? How has the polarization of equality issues, along with new opponents and anti-gender politics impacted the doctrine’s content and its application? To answer these questions, we provide a qualitative analysis of documentary and interview sources. First, we assess the main tenets that structure and constitute the Union of Equality doctrine; next we focus on the methods and bureaucratic architecture developed to sustain the programme; we then assess the role of context and the political crises that have disrupted the mandate and its agenda. We conclude with a discussion on the sustainability of the “Union of Equality” beyond the von der Leyen Commission.