Self-Negating Policies and Polities

Abstract

The core question of this book was straightforward. What role, if any, does the EU have for Member States in defining, maintaining, constructing, or remedying sex discrimination? In exploring the EU’s policies pertaining to equal pay and equal treatment, GM and decision-making, sexual violence and same-sex marriage, the answers were anything but simple. They can be summarized briefly: in general, the EU has played a role, albeit limited, in defining and even maintaining sex discrimination. It has accomplished this through decades of sometimes-contradictory legislative and funding initiatives, court rulings, and other institutional studies and statements—a majority of which emphasize that remedies for discrimination must begin at places of work, with Member States expected to assume responsibility for their implementation. The qualifiers in the previous sentences such as “limited” and “sometimes” recognize that there are marked differences between the Member States. Further, not all anti-discrimination policies are the same, and opportunities for positive social change are difficult to discern because principled consistency has not been a hallmark of the EU, much less of the Member States.