Introduction: Aim and Scope of the Book and Its Structure

The introduction lays out the two main aims pursued by the research carried out in the book, its methodology, and its structure. One aim is to investigate how implementation and compliance with norms and policies relating to equality and non-discrimination adopted in the course of EU enlargement could be improved and the likelihood of sustainability (or continuation) of reforms after enhanced accession be enhanced. The central hypothesis is that conditionality is not able to achieve these goals and that reflexive governance is the mode of governance most conducive to an effective and sustainable implementation of the equality acquis through its emphasis on cooperation between all relevant actors and a reflexive learning process. A case study on Croatia has revealed that the lack of consistent and transparent monitoring, as well as insufficient attention to the pooling of results and learning from successes and failures, are among the elements of reflexive governance that have not yet been sufficiently developed. The second aim of this research is, therefore, to make a contribution to both these issues. On the basis of a comparative review of transposition and practical implementation of selected parts of the RED and the EED in EU Member States, it identifies good practices and challenges in the implementation and enforcement of the selected policy options. Drawing from this, indicators are proposed, on the basis of which the progress in the transposition and practical implementation of the EU acquis in the field of equality and non-discrimination can be evaluated.