“Free to be yourself in the EU”: the von der Leyen Commission and LGBTIQ equality in the Eastern Partnership countries

In the first-ever European Commission strategy on LGBTIQ equality von der Leyen refers to “a Union of equality” or “a Union where you can be who you are and love who you want – without fear of recrimination or discrimination.” With this document, the EU once again confirmed that it should also be seen as a “Union of liberal values,” including sexual and gender equality. By the second decade of the 20th century, centrality of LGBTIQ rights to the so-called ‘European values’ has been recognized globally, while not necessarily seen as something positive. Nevertheless, the EU has had certain success with LGBTIQ rights promotion in European Neighborhood, namely, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, including the ratification of the Istanbul Convention that sparked so much controversy in some EU Member States. Does this mean that the power the EU possesses to promote human rights norms works more efficiently for states with membership aspiration? The paper examines the recent changes in the situation with LGBTIQ rights in candidate or candidate-to-be countries and the role the Commission played. Drawing on theories of norm diffusion the paper argues that political conditionality may still have potential for human rights promotion while it also has its limitations. In proving this claim, the paper proceeds as follows. First, it starts with the brief overview of the role the EU played in LGBTIQ rights promotion. Second, it discusses political conditionality as the core accession mechanism and examines how it was applied to LGBTIQ rights issue during the 2000-s’ Enlargement. The paper then focuses on the actions taken lately by the Commission regarding the situation with LGBTIQ rights in the European Neighborhood. It concludes with the discussion of the implications of the findings for sexual and gender equality in the region.