Gendering the Institutional Landscape: The von der Leyen Commission’s Relations to the European Parliament and Council

Interinstitutional relations are a central feature of EU policy-making and governance. Yet, they have not been studied from a gender perspective. This paper analyses the inter-institutional relations between the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen and the European Parliament, the European Council, and the Council of Ministers from a gender perspective. These relations are key for implementation of the vision of “A Union of Equality”. Providing a novel way of understanding the gendered nature of these inter-institutional relations, the paper compares and contrasts both the institutional and individual levels of the EU’s institutional triangle, including the nomination and election of Ursula von der Leyen in the Spitzenkandidaten procedure, the contested relations between the Council and Commission, as well as the relations between the Commission and Parliament in the context of gender+ equality and European policy-making.