“The Power of One”: Honoring the Gender Equality Contributions of Éliane Vogel Polsky (1926-2015)

Best known  for her  successful litigation of the Defrenne cases, which established the binding  character of Article 119 (Treaty of Rome) across all European Community  member-states,  Éliane  Volgel Polsky can be  characterized as  ”the Mother of EU gender  equality policies.”  As Éliane Gubin nonetheless  testified in her  biography (Éliane  Vogel-Polsky: A Woman of Conviction), her  contribution  to women’s rights extended well beyond the  equal pay campaign. This round-table will address the  broader ramifications of this legacy,  ranging  from her equal pay/equal pension cases, to the evolution of  EU-internal equality strategies, the expanding role of the European  Court of Justice and, ultimately,  to new approaches to “parity democracy” as reflected in various  quota debates.