ABSTRACT
EU actorness is an interaction between presence, opportunity and capability
(Bretherton 2002, 14) so this chapter analyses these three factors in a historical
and comparative perspective as far as the value of gender equality is concerned,
with special emphasis on enlargement and development, together with a reflec-
tion on the impact of EU gender equality mechanisms on the formation of
European identity. Gender equality policy was born in Europe through the
intellectual tradition of ‘women’s difference’. The EU is a young normative
power, which is slowly transforming itself from an economic community into a
post-national political actor (Manners 2000a; 2002). Its identity is based on
universal human values such as equality in order to overcome the difficulties of
diversity found in differing national traditions and lack of a common ‘European’
cultural tradition.
