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With the rise of the sustainable trade movement, greater scrutiny has been placed on the disparate impacts that trade has on women. As a result, gender-sensitive trade policy has become increasingly common, with countries such as Canada, Uruguay, and Chile calling for independent gender-focused chapters in free trade agreements. While many gender provisions in trade agreements remain couched in aspirational language, the trend towards more detailed, concrete commitments suggests the need for a mechanism of enforcement to motivate adherence and accountability to these commitments.
This Note examines whether legal harmonization requirements are effective as a tool to enforce gender equality commitments in trade agreements. In particular, the piece focuses on the use of harmonization provisions in individual Association Agreements signed between the European Union and Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. The Agreements require the partner nations to harmonize domestic legislation with select European Union gender equality and antidiscrimination directives. The analysis finds that the harmonization requirements are only moderately successful in influencing the adoption of gender equality and antidiscrimination legislation. Nevertheless, legal harmonization may still play a valuable role in mainstreaming gender as a key part of trade negotiations, paving the way for gender-sensitive trade policy in years to come.
