Promoting gender equality or co-opting feminism? Comparing actors in the European Parliament

The European Parliament has established itself as a promoter of gender equality among European Union institutions. Yet, recent research has drawn a more nuanced picture pointing to the struggle over gender equality between different actors in the institution. Still, many facets of this struggle remain unexplored. This article links to the debate on the co-optation of feminism to shed further light on the opposition to gender equality in the European Parliament which appears in a pro-feminist guise. Analytically focusing on the meso- and micro-level, it applies a comparative research design, comparing political groups, national affiliation and individual Members of the Parliament. The results reveal further divisions among political groups, while highlighting the role of individual parliamentarians as driving forces of opposition. Crucially, they suggest the growing importance of right-wing, women MEPs in co-opting gender equality discourses.