Facing internal and external crises, the European Union and the African Union have revitalized their inter-regional cooperation. This article theorizes inter-regional norm dynamics and explores how, in times of crises, gender equality norms are shaped in inter-regional relations between the African Union and the European Union.

The question is all the more relevant because gender equality is shaped very differently in the European Union and the African Union policies. The African Union has adopted a rather holistic understanding of gender equality, while the European Union approach is constrained by a market-making logic.