Tracing the Europeanization of Greek Employment Policy with Regard to Gender Equality Promotion: Following the ESF Money?

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of the EES on GEP with regard to gender equality promotion. This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section discusses the content of GEP before the introduction of the EES, arguing that gender equality promotion in the GEP was absent, first, because it was neglected by the Greek elites and political system, and second, because of the underdevelopment of the Greek welfare state. The second section examines the reforms promoting gender equality in employment policy after the introduction of the EES, arguing that it was only after 2001 that there was a substantial policy change in GEP with regard to gender equality promotion, which can be traced in two areas: (i) expanding training and start-up subsidies to women and (ii) expanding care facilities to promote the reconciliation of work and family life. The third examines the EES’s influence on domestic employment policy with regard to gender equality promotion, focusing on two areas: gender mainstreaming (GM) and dedicated equality measures in employment policy (reconciliation of work and family and pay gaps). It is argued that the EES impact on GEP occurred through the ESF conditionality (3rd Europeanization pathway). In other words, Greek policymakers did not change their views nor use the EES to empower themselves to promote a pre-existing agenda. This is deduced from the fact that they were obliged to adapt and conform to the ESF’s regulations on gender equality in order to keep receiving the ESF funds.