European Union Family Values: Ideologies of "Family" and "Motherhood" in European Union Law

This article argues that European Union law, and particularly the jurisprudence of the European Court of justice, has reproduced and thereby legitimated a traditional ideology of the “family” and “motherhood”. This ideology limits the potential of the European Union's sex equality laws to bring about real change in the lives of women and men, as well as restricting the scope and entitlement of European Union rights, excluding those who fall outside this normative vision of “family.” Furthermore, as the European Union contemplates ever more competence in the family policy and family law fields, it is of considerable concern that it may be this ideology of “family” that provides the normative foundation for further developments in this area.