Dr. Berit Ebert presents paper on gender equality in the EU at 2026 EURINT conference in Romania

On May 16, 2026, Dr. Berit Ebert presented her paper "Agency through integration: the Single Market, fundamental rights, and the reshaping of gender norms in the EU" at the 2026 EURINT conference, "The EU's future: cohesion in an age of inequalities," convened by the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania. Ebert examined the relationship between EU market integration, fundamental rights, and gender norms within the European Union.

The presentation explored how two landmark developments in European integration—the establishment of the Single Market in 1993 and the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights into binding EU law in 2009—have shaped not only economic governance but also the legal and social conditions for gender equality.

CJEU case law, including Coman (C-673/16), Mirin (C-4/23), Deldits (C-247/23), and Shipov (C-43/24) were analyzed as examples of how the Internal Market in combination with EU fundamental rights provisions can destabilize traditional gender norms and expand recognition for diverse identities across Member States. At the same time, these cases also reveal the limits of gender equality and Internal Market regulation with a direct impact on individual agency, social cohesion, and political credibility of both the EU and its Member States. Ebert argued that the EU's and its Member States' capacity to uphold fundamental rights is increasingly important not only for social cohesion but also for the Union’s political credibility and normative influence on the global stage.

Post Date: 06-29-2026