EU policy-making has steadily incorporated gender equality as an important factor for the optimal functioning of democracies and market economies. Nonetheless, few studies have incorporated a comparative perspective to assess the Europeanization of LGBT+ Equality. This study examines the role of the European Union in driving domestic policy change in Spain and other three Member States from different backgrounds in political, social and cultural terms - Poland (Eastern), Finland (Nordic), and Italy ...
EU policy-making has steadily incorporated gender equality as an important factor for the optimal functioning of democracies and market economies. Nonetheless, few studies have incorporated a comparative perspective to assess the Europeanization of LGBT+ Equality. This study examines the role of the European Union in driving domestic policy change in Spain and other three Member States from different backgrounds in political, social and cultural terms - Poland (Eastern), Finland (Nordic), and Italy (Southern Europe). Drawing on several datasets, this paper concludes that micro, meso, and macro factors have transformed Spain from a “consumer” of policies towards a “producer” within the the EU. In this sense, the factual and normative value of the acquis communitaire (mixed rational-sociological approach) and the rational use of these inputs by domestic actors to achieve strategic objectives (consequential approach) appear to be the main causal mechanisms behind this process. These findings open the way for new avenues of research regarding EU policy-making, and normative questions such as democratic legitimacy and the founding values of the Union, as well as implications for policies such as the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).
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