Small decisions? The European Commission and the transformation of the role of legal expert groups: the case of gender equality and non-discrimination
(2020) Journal of Common Market Studies — Vol. 58, n° 3, p. 545-561 (2020)
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- Abstract
- The European Equality Law Network (EELN) was founded in 2014. It resulted from the merger of two gender equality and non-discrimination expert groups. The creation of the EELN may appear as a simple decision to rationalize the landscape of expert groups. The objective of this article is to show how this merger indicates important transformations regarding the role of expert groups and legal expertise in the field of EU equality policy. This seemingly small decision participates in a larger process of change. The legal experts and the Commission are no longer partners developing together the equality policy. The members of the EELN are seen merely as service providers. The article isolates three main explanatory factors: the role of the policy sector; the role of the regulatory and enforcement politics of the Commission; the role of policy instruments in the framework of the Commission’s managerial turn during the 2010s.
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Citations
Jacquot, S. (2020). Small decisions? The European Commission and the transformation of the role of legal expert groups: the case of gender equality and non-discrimination. Journal of Common Market Studies, 58(3), 545-561. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12987 (Original work published 2020)