ABSTRACT
Is gender mainstreaming in European Union (EU) politics applied with an integrationist or an agenda-setting approach? This question is explored with reference to the EU constitution-making process, which includes both the European Constitutional Convention, held from February 2002 to July 2003 as a preparation for the 2004 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), and its product, the Constitutional Treaty (CT). The adoption of either of the two approaches to gender mainstreaming affects the process in different ways. An “agenda-setting” approach may have a stronger impact on the decisionmaking structures and process, as it aims at reorienting the mainstream political agenda from a gender perspective. By contrast, an “integrationist” approach may achieve a formal introduction of gender mainstreaming but not an effective implementation of it in policy practice, as it does not aim at challenging existing policy paradigms (Jahan 1995).
