The EU-Intersectionality Framework: Unpacking Intersectionality in the EU's 'Union of Equality' Policy

In recent years, the concept of intersectionality has become embedded in the policy discourse of the European Union (EU). Despite earlier observations that intersectionality was not on the agenda, the concept has gained significant prominence in the EU policy context since the past few years. However, several authors have noted a lack of engagement with both original and contemporary literature on intersectionality and stressed the need to carefully examine how intersectionality is taken up in EU policy. To contribute to this effort, the authors propose a new ‘EU-Intersectionality' framework to trace and analyse intersectionality in EU policy, capturing core elements central to its transformative potential. The resulting framework sheds light on how intersectionality has fared within EU policy contexts. Specifically, it asks which dimensions of intersectionality are captured, and which parts are left behind. We illustrate the framework by analysing the EU's ‘Union of Equality’ strategies on anti-racism, gender equality, LGBTQ equality, Roma equality and the rights of persons with disabilities. We conclude that the EU-Intersectionality framework allows to dissect the varied and conflicting ways in which intersectionality is operationalised within EU policies - while some aspects are in line with the original ideas behind the concept, aim to be transformative and further social justice, other aspects seem to maintain the status quo or even exacerbate existing inequalities.