ABSTRACT
The European Union’s (EU) social and employment policy and gender equality policy intersect in some important respects (Lahuerta and Zbyszewska 2018). Both policy areas fell under the general heading of ‘Social Policy’ (Title III) in the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1958, meaning that gender equality policy was initially a field of European social policy (Abels 2011). Under this heading, Article 117 EEC Treaty provided the overarching basis for actions in the social policy field, stipulating that as well as resulting from the action of establishing the Common Market, policy could be adopted through the ‘approximation of legislative and administrative provisions’. Article 118 EEC Treaty stipulates that ‘it shall be the aim of the Commission to promote close collaboration between Member States in the social field’. Article 119 EEC Treaty laid down a legal ‘principle of equal remuneration for equal work as between men and women workers’. The articles on social policy merely allowed for ‘close cooperation’ between member states and gave the Commission the authority to gather information ‘by means of studies, the issuing of opinions, and the organising of consultations’ (Article 118 EEC Treaty) on any actions that might be needed. Article 119 EEC Treaty (today Article 157 TFEU) did not specify action to achieve pay equality but established a non-discrimination principle which could be challenged through the courts. Thus, from the beginning, social policy and gender equality policy derived from the same policy domain but with different logics of policy action.
