Delivering Public Goods Through Law: The European Union as an Agent of change to Gender Equality Legislation in Poland
Delivering Public Goods Through Law: The European Union as an Agent of change to Gender Equality Legislation in Poland

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to outline the scope and character of the changes introduced to the Polish legal system with respect to gender equality as a result of the accession of the Republic of Poland to the European Union (EU) in 2004. Analysis concentrates on selected EU and Polish legal acts, as well as doctrine and statistical data. Reference is made to relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and Polish courts. This paper seeks to draw out the fact that, if not for the nature of the EU as supranational organization that results in the legal obligation of its Member States to implement EU antidiscrimination law under the scrutiny of the competent international court (the CJEU), changes to the Polish legal system in the area of gender equality would have taken longer to implement, or may not have been made at all. The paper takes into consideration that the EU plays a key role in promoting gender equality as a public good, including beyond its borders, supporting third countries in achieving tangible gender equality results. In this respect, the EU’s actions help to promote gender equality as “shared global priority.”

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