Post-Accession Compliance with EU Gender Equality Legislation in Post-Communist New Member States

Abstract

This paper analyses the transposition of EU legislation on gender equality at the workplace in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia, as well as the enforcement powers of their national equality institutions. It does not find significant differences between post- and pre-accession compliance. Overall compliance can be considered good in Hungary, Lithuania, and Slovenia, while it is considerably worse in the Czech Republic – both pre- and post-accession. As an explanation for these variations in legal transposition and enforcement bodies, the paper finds two equifinal paths towards correct transposition of EU gender equality legislation and strong enforcement bodies: either the absence of high adjustment costs, or the combination of strong social democratic governments and NGOs with special expertise in EU gender equality legislation.

Keywords: acquis communautaire, Czech Republic, directives, enlargement, gender policy, Hungary, implementation, Lithuania, NGOs, non-discrimination, post-Communism, Slovenia, political science