Sweden has since the membership of the European Union established a new Discrimination act and this thesis aim is to discuss if the EU could be a factor that influenced Sweden to that change. This is done through a discussion of how the EU is mentioned in the preparatory works. Preparatory works are used by the Swedish government in policy making before deciding on a new law and is to give a better understanding to the theoretical background and how the policy-making process deals with the effects of the EU policy at national level. To help explain how the EU could be an influential factor the theory of Europeanization and State-feminist theory are applied. These theories are also discussed further on the role norm entrepreneurs’ play and how they use the EU as an opportunity structure. Through the theory of Europeanization it is explained how the he EU directives have been implemented without any adoptational problems and with Sweden meeting the goals of the directives, national legislation has been developed further. Through the governmental bills, signs show that the EU can be a factor of influence in national legislation in Sweden. It has not, however, been stated that the changes of the acts to the current Discrimination act is done by effects of the European Union.

[pt] Esta pesquisa busca estudar o papel da Suécia como empreendedor normativo da política externa feminista, por meio de um mapeamento histórico dos acontecimentos domésticos e de teorias sobre difusão de normas. Com este intuito traçamos os acontecimentos e atores internos que influenciaram o país a partir da segunda onda do feminismo, até a declaração, em 2014, que seu governo e sua política externa seriam feministas. Avaliamos, por meio das teorias de Finnermore e Sikkink, e Bjorkdal sobre o ciclo de vida da difusão de normas, se a forma como a política externa feminista foi lançada e divulgada reforça, ou não, o papel da Suécia como empreendedor normativo na esfera global. Observa-se, com base na forma em que a política é apresentada – um manual, em múltiplos idiomas, com forte estratégia de promoção e divulgação –, que ela surge com o intuito de influenciar outros Estados e atores a adotarem uma visão em prol da igualdade de gênero e assim consegue provocar o debate e dar visibilidade à pauta. Avaliamos que a norma em questão se encontra em estágio de disseminação e que ainda há amplas possiblidades e desdobramentos para a internalização do conceito política externa feminista, pois este encontra-se em pleno desenvolvimento. / [en] This research studies Sweden s role as a norm entrepreneur for feminist foreign policy, through an analysis of the country s historical feminist movement, its domestic events and based on diffusion of norms theories. To do this, we analyze the events and internal actors that influenced Sweden, starting from second-wave feminism, until 2014 when the country announced that its government and foreign policy would be feminist. We then assess, by means of theories on the life cycle of norm diffusion by Finnermore and Sikkink, and Bjorkdal, whether the way Sweden launched and disseminated its feminist foreign policy reinforces, or not, the country s role as a norm entrepreneur in the global scenario. We observe, based on the way in which the policy is presented – as a manual, in multiple languages, with a strategic promotion and dissemination plan –, that it arises with the intention to influence other States and actors to adopt the feminist perspective. By doing this, Sweden incentivizes the debate on gender equality and gives it visibility. We conclude that the norm in question is still being disseminated and, therefore, that there are ample possibilities for developments in terms of the internalization of feminist foreign policy on a global scale, as the concept is still in development.