Mid Sweden University

The European Union is regarded as one of the most progressive organizations in the gender equality policy area. Still, much remains to be done for the 27 countries which are part of the union. Previous research has found that national factors such as identity, culture and history constitute a big part of a country’s policy work while international gender equality indexes show that the Nordic countries excel in the field of gender equality. In this study, the impact of the European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategies in Sweden and Denmark is being studied from a top-down perspective. Based on new institutionalism, the development of gender equality policy is being studied and compared between Sweden and Denmark. The results show that even though the two Nordic countries share similar cultures and political systems, the equality gender policy work has developed differently, even though they work according to the same European strategies. This does not only confirm previous research, but it also challenges the so-called Nordic equality model, which is so often highlighted in international contexts.