This panel session lays the groundwork for a research agenda on the genesis and transformations of a transnational field of expertise on gender equality and discrimination against minorities within the EU polity. The working hypothesis is that there is such a thing as a transnational field that cuts across EU policy issues on gender, disabilities, aging, sexual orientation, ethnic minorities, etc. The panel ambitions are to map out the dynamics of this field, in particular the production and circulation of expert knowledge, policy tools and legal norms on gender and minorities in Europe. By bridging across disciplines and sub-fields, this panel will aim at tracking down the emergence of a specific frame at the EU level regarding these policies, thereby bringing together objects that are usually addressed separately by European studies literature. Each paper will particularly examine, in context, competitions among agents over legitimacy for the most « appropriate » cognitive tools or the most « efficient » approach. More broadly, discussions will explore how political uses of social sciences and European law have historically conditioned the development of meta-narratives on “social” Europe.