European union gender regulations in the east: The Czech and polish accession process

East European Politics and Societies

Volumn 20, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 101-125

  Anderson, Leah Seppanen ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Czech Republic; Equal opportunities; European Union; Poland

Indexed keywords

EID: 32044458449     PISSN: 08883254     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0888325405284314     Document Type: Article

References (92)

1. For an example from the Czech case see Věra Kuchař ová and Aleš Kroupa, "Demographic and Social Structure," in Aleš Kroupa and Martin Mácha, eds., Human Development Report: Czech Republic 1999 (Prague, Czech Republic: Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs, 1999), 64.
2. For an overview of women's mobilization in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, see Elzbieta Matynia, "Finding a Voice: Women in Postcommunist Central Europe," in Abrita Basu, ed., The Challenge of Local Feminisms: Women's Movements in Global Perspective (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995);
3. and Tanya Renne, ed., Ana's Land: Sisterhood in Eastern Europe (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1997).
4. Julia S. O'Connor, Ann Shola Orloff, and Sheila Shaver, States, Markets, Families: Gender, Liberalism and Social Policy in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 202-3.
5. Susan Gal and Gail Kligman, The Politics of Gender after Socialism: A Comparative-Historical Essay (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000), 11.
6. European Commission, "Annual Report on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union 2002" (Brussels: European Commission, 2003).
7. O'Connor, Orloff, and Shaver, States, Markets, Families.
8. Gal and Kligman, Politics of Gender, 105.
9. For more on the ILO, UN, and equal opportunities, see Anne-Sophie Divanon, "Treaties and Conventions on Women's Rights" (Luxembourg: European Parliament, Directorate-General for Research, 1999);
10. and Dolores Morondo, "The Situation of Women in Hungary, Poland the Czech Republic," in Women's Rights Series (Luxembourg: European Parliament, Directorate-General for Research, 1998).
11. For elaboration of these perceived benefits, see Milada Anna Vachudova, "The Leverage of International Institutions on Democratizing States: Eastern Europe and the European Union," (Florence, Italy: European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre, 2001);
12. and David L. Ellison, "Divide and Conquer: The EU Enlargement's Successful Conclusion?" (Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, 2-5 September, 2004). Ellison argues, however, that although negotiators from East Central Europe (ECE) states perceived these to be the benefits, the end result of EU-ECE state negotiations has resulted in a net loss, in economic terms, for the new members.
13. Ellison, "Divide and Conquer," 8-9.
14. Detailed descriptions of the development of EU equal opportunities policies can be found in Catherine Hoskyns, Integrating Gender: Women, Law and Politics in the European Union (London: Verso, 1996);
15. James Caporaso and Joseph Jupille, "Gender Equality Policy and Domestic Structural Change," in Maria Green Cowles, James Caporaso, and Thomas Risse, eds., Transforming Europe: Europeanization and Domestic Change (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001)1;
16. and Nicole Richardt, "What Difference Can the European Union Make? Gender Equality Policy in the United Kingdom and Germany Compared" (Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, September 2-5, 2004).
17. Caporaso and Jupille, "Gender Equality Policy," 23;
18. and Richardt, "What Difference Can the European Union Make?" 8.
19. Divanon, "Treaties and Conventions on Women's Rights," 40.
20. Victoria García Muñoz, "Women's Rights and the Treaty of Amsterdam on European Union," (Luxembourg: European Parliament, 1998), 30-43;
21. and Richardt, "What Difference Can the European Union Make?" 9.
22. Although when adopted, Ireland and the United Kingdom were the only member countries without such a provision; Linda Hantrais, Social Policy in the European Union (New York: St. Martin's, 2000), 127.
23. Hantrais, Social Policy in the European Union, 121;
24. and European Commission, "Annual Report from the Commission: Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union" (Bussels: European Commission, 1999).
25. Divanon, "Treaties and Conventions on Women's Rights," 42.
26. European Commission, "Annual Report from the Commission," 28.
27. European Commission, "Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union" (Brussels: European Commission, 2000), 24.
28. European Commission, "Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union: Annual Report 2000" (Luxembourg: European Communities, 2001), 24.
29. European Commission, "Annual Report on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union 2002," 3.
30. Heather Grabbe, "Europeanisation Goes East: Power and Uncertainty in the EU Accession Process," in K. Featherstone and C. Radaeilli, eds., The Politics of Europeanisation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).
31. European Commission, "Annual Report from the Commission," 28.
32. Alena Heitlinger, "The Impact of the Transition from Communism on the Status of Women in the Czech and Slovak Republics," in Nanette Funk and Magda Mueller, eds., Gender Politics and Post-Communism: Reflections from Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (New York: Routledge, 1993).
33. "Scénář Sociální Reformy," in Martin Potůček, ed., Křižovatky České Sociální Reformy (Prague, Czech Republic: SLON, 1999).
34. See also the companion Plan for Economic Reform, discussed in Marie Čermákova, Hana Hašková, Alena Křiž ková, Hana Mařiková, and Martina Musilová, Relations and Changes of Gender Differences in the Czech Society in the 90's (Prague, Czech Republic: Institute of Sociology of Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2000), 23 n. 14.
35. In January 1998, the Tošovsky interim government assumed power after the conservative Civic Democratic Party's government resigned due largely to several political scandals. New elections were held in June 1998 and the Social Democrats formed a minority government with Civic Democratic support.
36. See Nicole Watson and Ursula Lindenberg, eds., Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (Bucharest, Romania: Open Society Foundation, 2002). For the legislative debate on this portion of the law,
37. see Czech Parliamentary Minutes, 7 April, 2000.
38. Watson and Lindenberg, eds., Monitoring the EU Accession Process, 139, 145-48
39. ; and Čermákova et al., Relations and Changes of Gender Differences, 57.
40. Charlotte Bretherton, "Gender Mainstreaming and the EU Enlargement: Swimming against the Tide?" Journal of European Public Policy 8:1(2000): 66-69.
41. As quoted in Morondo, "The Situation of Women," 25.
42. Watson and Lindenberg, Monitoring the EU Accession Process, 362, 370-71, 387, 375-78, 384, 411.
43. O'Connor, Orloff, and Shaver, States, Markets, Families.
44. Elzbieta Sawa-Czajka, "Women's Organizations in Poland after 1989," Polish Political Science Yearbook 24 (1994): 134-35;
45. and Bretherton, "Gender Mainstreaming" 66.
46. Eleonora Zielińska, "Between Ideology, Politics, and Common Sense: The Discourse of Reproductive Rights in Poland," in Susan Gal and Gail Kligman, eds., Reproducing Gender: Politics, Publics, and Everyday Life after Socialism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000), 35;
47. and Bretherton, "Gender Mainstreaming" 67.
48. Sharon L. Wolchik, "Reproductive Policies in the Czech and Slovak Republics," in Gal and Kligman, Reproducing Gender,
49. and Hana Hašková and Marta Kolářová, "Women's Non-governmental Organisations and Women's Groups in Left- and Right-Wing Social Movements," in Hana Hašková and Alena Křížková, eds., Women's Civic and Political Participation in the Czech Republic and the Role of European Union Gender Equality and Accession Policies (Prague: Institute of Sociology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2003), 45-57.
50. In 1996, the Gender Studies Center received funds from Open Society Fund to found a joint program, Society, Men and Women from the Perspective of Gender, geared toward public education on the important of gender equity. This increased the Center's public platform and resources. Eva Vešinová -Kalivodová, ed., Společnost Muži a Ženy z Aspektu Gender (Prague, Czech Republic: Open Society Fund Praha, 1999).
51. Ann Graham and Joanna Regulska, "Expanding Political Space for Women in Poland," Communist and Post-Communist Studies 30:1(1997): 70.
52. Sawa-Czajka, "Women's Organizations in Poland after 1989."
53. Watson and Lindenberg, Monitoring the EU Accession Process, 162.
54. Kuchařová and Kroupa, "Demographic and Social Structure," 64.
55. For evidence based on public opinion, see chapter 3 of Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Morris, Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change around the World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
56. See also Joan O'Mahony, "The Catholic Church and Civil Society: Democratic Options in the Post-Communist Czech Republic," in John T. S. Madeley and Zsolt Enyedi, eds., Church and State in Contemporary Europe: The Chimera of Neutrality (London: Frank Cass, 2003), 186-87;
57. and Jan Spousta, "Changes in Religious Values in the Czech Republic," Sociologický Časopis/Czech Sociological Review 38:3(2002): 348-55.
58. Wolchik, "Reproducing Gender."
59. Linda J. Cook and Mitchell A. Orenstein, "The Return of the Left and Its Impact on the Welfare State in Poland, Hungary and Russia," in Linda J. Cook, Mitchell A. Orenstein, and Marilyn Rueschemeyer, eds., Left Parties ana Social Policy in Postcommunist Europe (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1999), 83-85, 91;
60. and Anna Grzymała-Busse, Redeeming the Communist Past: The Regeneration of Communist Parties in East Central Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 136-37, 168-69.
61. Anna Titkow, "Polish Women in Politics: An Introduction to the Status of Women in Poland," in Marilyn Rueschemeyer, ed., Women in the Politics of Postcommunist Eastern Europe (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1998).
62. Barbara Łobodzińska, "Polish Women's Gender-Segregated Education and Employment," Women's Studies International Forum 23:1(2000): 65.
63. Timothy Byrnes, Transnational Catholicism in Postcommunist Europe (New York: Rowman & Littlefleld, 2001), 32-33;
64. and Stefania Szlek Miller, "Religion and Politics in Poland: The Abortion Issue," Canadian Slavonic Papers/Revue Canadienne des Slavistes 39:1-2(1997): 74.
65. Marek Jeziński, "After the Fall of the Right: Polish Parliamentary Elite between 1997 and 2001," Polish Political Science Yearbook 30(2001): 168, 172-73.
66. Watson and Lindenberg, Monitoring the EU Accession Process.
67. The opposition prevented this law from passing, making the extra weeks of leave optional and offering them to both men and women. Byrnes, Transnational Catholicism in Postcommunist Europe, 47-48.
68. Watson and Lindenberg, Monitoring the EU Accession Process, 372;
69. Bretherton, "Gender Mainstreaming" 67, 71;
70. and European Commission, 1999 Regular Report from the Commission on Poland's Progress Towards Accession (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 1999), 17.
71. Bretherton, "Gender Mainstreaming" 68;
72. and Watson and Lindenberg, Monitoring the EU Accession Process, 372, 424.
73. Watson and Lindenberg, Monitoring the EU Accession Process, 17;
74. and European Commission, "2002 Regular Report on Poland's Progress Towards Accession" (Brussels: European Commission, 2002), 85.
75. Občanská Democratická Strana, Svoboda a Prosperita: Volební Program ODS Volby 1992 (Prague, Czech Republic: Občanská Democratická Strana, 1992).
76. Ceská Strana Sociálně Demokratická, Společněs Vámipro Lepší Budoucnost (Prague, Czech Republic: Česká Strana Sociálně Demokratická, 1998).
77. "Otevřeny Dopis Předsedovi Vlády ČR," Feminismus.cz, 10 August, 1998;
78. and "Czech Women Battering Stone Wall of Politics," New York Times, 27 February, 2000.
79. Michaela Marksová-Tominová, "Rovné Přiležitosti Pro Muže a Ženy," Feminismus.cz, 20 July, 2001, available at http://www.feminismus.cz/fulltext.shtml?x=115178.
80. Ministerstvo Práce a Sociálních Věcí, Souhrnná Zpráva o Plnění Priorit a Postupů Vlády Pri Prosazování Rovnosti Mužů a Žen v Roce 1999 (Prague, Czech Republic: Ministerstvo Práce a Sociálních Věcí, 1999).
81. Czech Parliamentary Minutes, January 21, 2000.
82. For a review of this literature and an application of it to the East Central European and EU context, see Frank Schimmelfennig, "Introduction: The Impact of International Organizations on the Central and Eastern European States - Conceptual and Theoretical Issues," in Ronald H. Linden, ed., Norms and Nannies: The Impact of International Organizations on the Central and East European States (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002).
83. In 1998, the government also created a Subcommittee for Removing all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the only formal mechanism through which nonstate actors could participate in gender policymaking. Vlada České Republiky, Výbor pro Odstranění Všech Forem Diskriminace Zen (Prague: Vlada České Republiky, n.d.);
84. Čermákova et al., Relations and Changes of Gender, 32;
85. and "Výzva k Založení Výboru pro Rovné Přiležitosti," Feminismus.cz 2002, available at http://feminismus.cz/clanek.php3?ID=325.
86. "Summary Report on the Fulfillment of 'Government Priorities and Procedures in Enforcement of the Equality of Men and Women' in 2001," Resolution No. 486 (Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Prague, Czech Republic, 15 May, 2001), 5-6.
87. European Commission, Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the European Union: Annual Report 1997 (Luxembourg: European Communities, 1998), 12.
88. Ceský Svaz Žen, 2002, available from www.csz.cz/index.html.
89. Critics complain that the Czech government's equal opportunities agenda has been poorly communicated to citizens and its own ministries, resulting in half-hearted policy development and enforcement. Up through the first half of 2003, the Czech courts did not register any gender discrimination or equal treatment in employment case. Čermákova et al., Relations and Changes of Gender, 33;
90. Marksová-Tominová, "Rovné Přilež itosti";
91. Watson and Lindenberg, Monitoring the EU Accession Process, 153-54;
92. and Michaela Marksová-Tominová, "Gender Equality and EU Accession: The Situation in the Czech Republic," WIDE Information Sheet (Brussels: WIDE [Women in Development Europe], 2003).