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• Summary of Contents
• Contents
• List of Illustrative Material
• List of Abbreviations
• Preface to the Eighth Edition
• 1 Setting the Scene: The ‘Crises’, the Challenges, and Their Implications for the Nature and Ope
• Introduction
• The Economic and Financial Crises and Challenges
• The Migration Crisis
• Towards Intergovernmentalism in EU Decision-Making Processes
• The EU’s Leadership Deficit
• Increasing Differentiation
• Brexit: A Major Fracturing
• The Increasing Role of, and Exercise of Power by, Germany
• The European Identity Challenge
• Rising Euroscepticism
• The Legitimacy/Democracy Challenge
• The EU’s (Declining?) Role and Influence in the International System
• Concluding Remarks
• Part I The Historical Evolution
• 2 The Post-War Transformation of Western Europe
• Historical Divisions
• The Post-War Transformation
• Explaining the Transformation, and its Nature
• Concluding Remarks: The Ragged Nature of the Integration Process in Western Europe
• 3 The Creation of the European Community
• The European Coal and Steel Community
• From the ECSC to the EEC
• The EEC and Euratom Treaties
• Concluding Remarks
• 4 The Deepening of the Integration Process
• Treaty Development
• Development of Policy Processes
• Development of Policies
• Concluding Remarks
• 5 The Widening of the Integration Process
• Enlargement via Enlargement Rounds
• Why Has the EU Been Willing to Enlarge?
• The Impact of Enlargements on the EU
• Concluding Remarks
• Part II The Evolving Treaty Framework
• 6 From Rome to Nice
• Up to the Single European Act
• The Single European Act (SEA)
• The Maastricht Treaty
• The Treaty of Amsterdam
• The Treaty of Nice
• Concluding Remarks
• 7 The Constitutional and Lisbon Treaties
• The Making of the Constitutional Treaty
• The Constitutional Convention
• The Intergovernmental Conference
• The Contents of the Constitutional Treaty
• Ratifying the Constitutional Treaty
• From the Constitutional Treaty to the Lisbon Treaty
• The Contents of the Lisbon Treaty
• Concluding Remarks
• 8 Treaties and the Integration Process
• Treaties and the Nature of European Integration
• The Making of EU Treaties
• Treaties That Do Not Apply in All of the Member States
• Concluding Remarks
• Part III The Institutions and Political Actors of the European Union
• 9 The Commission
• The College of Commissioners
• The Services
• The Commission’s Hierarchical Structure
• Decision-Making Mechanisms in the Commission
• Power Resources
• Responsibilities
• The Varying (and Declining?) Influence of the Commission in the EU System
• Concluding Remarks
• 10 The Council of the European Union
• Responsibilities and Functions
• Composition
• The Operation of the Council
• Concluding Remarks
• 11 The European Council
• Origins and Development
• Membership
• The European Council President
• Organisation
• Activities
• The European Council and the EU System
• Concluding Remarks
• 12 The European Parliament
• Powers and Influence
• Elections
• Political Parties and the European Parliament
• Composition
• Organisation and Operation
• Concluding Remarks: Is the EP a ‘Proper’ Parliament?
• 13 European Union Law and the EU’s Courts
• The Need for EU Law
• The Sources of EU Law
• The Content of EU Law
• The Status of EU Law
• The Court of Justice of the European Union
• Types of Cases Before the Courts
• The Impact and Influence of the Courts
• Concluding Remarks
• 14 Other Institutions
• The European Economic and Social Committee
• The Committee of the Regions
• European Agencies
• The European Investment Bank
• The European Central Bank
• The Court of Auditors
• 15 Interests
• Different Types
• Access to Decision-Makers
• Influence
• Concluding Remarks: Interests and EU Policy Processes
• 16 The Member States
• The Benefits and Costs of EU Membership
• Institutional and Policy-Making Arrangements Designed to Maintain the Confidence of the Member State
• Europeanisation
• National Orientations and Approaches
• Governments
• Parliaments
• Courts
• Subnational Levels of Government
• Citizens’ Views
• Political Parties
• Interests
• Which States Exercise Most Influence?
• Concluding Remarks
• Part IV Policies and Policy Processes of the European Union
• 17 Understanding EU Policies
• The Origins of EU Policies
• The Range and Diversity of EU Policies
• The Varying Extent of EU Policy Involvement
• The Varying Nature of EU Policy Involvement
• The Regulatory Emphasis
• The Patchy and Somewhat Uncoordinated Nature of EU Policies
• Concluding Remarks
• 18 Policy Processes
• Variations in EU Processes
• Factors Determining EU Policy Processes
• The Four Frameworks of EU Policy Processes
• Recurring Characteristics of EU Policy Processes
• The Efficiency of EU Policy Processes
• Concluding Remarks
• 19 Making and Applying EU Legislation
• The EU’s Legislative Procedures
• EU Legislation After Adoption
• Concluding Remarks
• 20 Internal Policies
• Establishing the Internal Market
• Macroeconomic and Financial Policies
• Functional Policies
• Sectoral Policies
• Concluding Remarks
• 21 Agricultural Policy and Policy Processes
• The Common Agricultural Policy in Context
• What is Special about Agriculture?
• How the Common Agricultural Policy Works
• The Impact and Effects of the Common Agricultural Policy
• Policy-Making Processes
• Management and Implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy
• Concluding Remarks
• 22 External Policies
• External Trade
• Foreign and Defence Policies
• Development Policy
• The External Dimension of Internal Policies
• The Consistency and Representational Problems
• Concluding Remarks
• 23 The Budget
• The Budget in Context
• The Multiannual Financial Frameworks
• The Value of and the Prospects for MFFs
• The Annual Budget
• Concluding Remarks
• Part V Conceptualising and Theorising
• 24 Conceptualising the European Union
• Difficulties in Conceptualising the European Union
• Three Key Concepts: Sovereignty, Intergovernmentalism, and Supranationalism
• Conceptualisations of the EU’s Political System
• Concluding Remarks
• 25 Theorising European Integration and EU Politics
• Theorising European Integration: Grand Theory
• Theorising the Functioning of the EU: Middle-Range Theory
• Using Differing Theoretical Approaches to Explain Decision-Making in a Particular Policy Area: Enlar
• Concluding Remarks
• 26 Present Realities and Future Prospects
• The European Union and the Changing Nature of the International System
• The Uniqueness of the European Union
• The Future of the European Union
• Chronology
• Guide to Further Reading
• Bibliography
• Index