Sisterhood and Solidarity? Women's Organizations in the Expanded European Union

European Union (EU) accession has been a highly ambivalent and contradictory process both for women’s mobilization and networking, and the introduction of gender equality policies in the new member states. While EU membership gave women’s NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe better access to EU institutions and EU funding, it also resulted in a loss of financial support from previous donors. Some, in general bigger, organizations benefited from these changes, whereas smaller groups now struggle. Furthermore, although accession offered women’s movements political opportunities to put pressure on their governments, the adaptation to EU regulations is characterized by top-down reforms and the unequal compliance of national governments.