The article investigates the negotiation process which led to the resolution on Gender equality in EU’s foreign and security policy in the European Parliament in 2020. The authors analyse the characteristics of the negotiation process and asks why the outcome was so progressive, considering the criticism of the concept of gender equality among some party groups (and member states).
The findings demonstrate that the negotiation process was mainly of a cooperative character and that right-wing populists contested the resolution through text (amendments) and orally in plenum, rather than through active participation in the committee negotiations. The progressive outcome can also be explained by engaged individuals, acting as norm entrepreneurs, through the two Green rapporteurs in the committees that handled the resolution, and through the consensus-oriented organisation culture in the European Parliament.
