EU Countries Comparison

Eye-catching is the very weak institutionalisation of gender policies.

There are only very weak state institutions for gender equality, the overall responsibility lies with the Ministry for Justice, Dialogue and the Family. A National Commission for the Promotion of Equality was only established in 2004.

Luxembourg has adopted numerous EU gender equality directives. The public debates and political strategies are hard to follow.

During its short history, the state of Latvia experienced vast cultural, political and economic changes. In such turbulent times, gender equality was not at the top of the political agenda. However, gender equality issues gained more attention following the EU accession.

What is striking about Irish gender and gender equality policy is its high differentiation at the institutional level. Numerous state institutions are dedicated to equality policies.

Greece is going through an unprecedented economic and social crisis that impacts on both the private and the public life of men and women.

Before the process of political transformation at the end of the 1990s, gender equality was not an issue or was, unlike today, not an object for analysis. Gender equality simply meant having both women and men in full-time employment.

From 2000 onwards and before EU accession, Bulgaria was a “model pupil” in terms of legislation, guidelines and the establishment of work groups at the ministerial level.