All too often religion is largely ignored as a driver of identity formation in the European context, whereas in reality Christian Churches are central players in European identity formation at the national and continental level. Christian Churches in European Integration challenges this tendency, highlighting the position of churches as important identity formers and actors in civil society. Analysing the role of Churches in engaging with two specific EU issues - that of EU treaty reform and ongoing debates about immigration and asylum policy - the author argues that Churches are unique participants in European integration. Establishing a comprehensive view of Christian Churches as having a vital role to play in European integration, this book offers a substantial and provocative contribution both to our understanding of the European Union and the broader question of how religious and state institutions interact with one another.

This book examines the relationship between the Czech Republic and the European Union (EU). The authors examine the Czech Republic's road to EU membership in 2004 and assess how EU accession has affected or changed the Czech Republic, including its domestic politics, governing institutions and public policies. It also examines how the Czech Republic has behaved as an EU member state, addressing the questions: What are the Czech Republic's interests in the EU and how has it sought to influence EU policymaking? How have Czech interests and behaviour been shaped by the country's position as: a new member state; a small member state; a relatively poor member state; and a post-communist member state? The book also addresses the Czech Republic's preparations for assuming the EU presidency in January 2009, and evaluates the actual conduct of the presidency. Although a case study of a single member state, this book sheds light on a number of broader points or issues pertaining to the EU and its member states. It contributes to academic debate and knowledge about the EU and European integration, including the debates on Europeanization and the role of small states in the EU. This book will of interest to students and scholars of the European Union, European politics and Post-Communist politics.

Southern Europe has been the EU region most exposed to the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis with consequences for national party systems and political stability. The 2014 European Parliament elections took place at a crucial time for Europe and Southern European societies more generally. This book analyses the Euroelections in Southern Europe, asking whether these followed the usual pattern of low-stimulus contests or whether the crisis context raised the bar. Country chapters on Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta investigate the background of the elections, the electoral campaign and the rise of Euroscepticism. The linkage between governments' economic performance, the Europhile or Eurosceptic stances of political parties, and their electoral performance are at the core of the analysis in each chapter. The findings reveal that the political and electoral consequences of the economic crisis have not fundamentally challenged the second-order character of the 2014 European Parliament elections in Southern Europe. However, electoral behaviour exhibits some indications of a more critical contest in which the EU divide becomes more significant and polarising in determining voting choices. This book was previously published as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Based on an analytical evaluation of both the weaknesses and strengths of the Italian political system, Italy in the European Union is the first book to offer a detailed and comprehensive description of Italy's contribution to European Union policy-making. The contributors to this volume systematically explore the role played by Italian institutional and noninstitutional actors in several decision-making processes. They show how Italian institutional actors define and promote national policy preferences that are compatible with those of the other European member states. However, the book functions on two levels: it is both a nuanced picture of Italy's role in the EU and a study of the EU as it has been transformed by subsequent waves of enlargement. In a compound polity of twenty-seven member states the formation of stable hegemonic coalitions is implausible-the concept of national interest, which still informs much of the literature on the EU, is logically and empirically unusable in many EU policy realms. Combining empirical investigation and theoretical analysis, this book is indispensable for scholars, students, and practitioners who study or observe Italian politics. It is also necessary for those who want to understand the transformation of European politics and the European Union's increasing development as a compound polity. Contributions by: Marco Brunazzo, Maurizio Carbone, Sabrina Cavatorto, Vincent Della Sala, Alessia Dona, Sergio Fabbrini, Paolo Foradori, Giorgio Giraudi, Renata Lizzi, Simona Piattoni, Paolo Rosa, Stefano Sacchi, Alberta M. Sbragia, Daniela Sicurelli, and Luca Verzichelli

This book analyzes the social legitimacy deficit of the European Parliament (EP) in the United Kingdom and Greece. It does so by considering it, partially, a communication deficit, and by addressing the relevant inadequacies of its communication and media relations performance. Following this approach, the book identifies and critically analyzes the problems that the European Parliament is facing in communicating and portraying itself to news websites in the United Kingdom and Greece, and offers potential solutions to the issues presented. The book provides an initial comparison of the scale of the problems that the EP is facing in its communication and media relations performance in Greece and in the United Kingdom, focusing on a number of prominent, carefully selected, impartial or pro-European websites. The failures of the EP to secure adequate levels of visibility on these websites automatically signify serious basic weaknesses in its communication strategy. This book identifies those weaknesses, their causes, and presents solutions on how to solve them. Therefore, this book is a must-read for students and scholars of political science and media communication, as well as policy-makers and practitioners interested in a better understanding of the European Parliament's social legitimacy and communication deficit.

This book examines the political, economic and social issues that are at the heart of the debate on the future of the European Union. Various experts address the questions of the role of the European Parliament and democratic control; the reform of the public sector; citizenship; crime and criminal justice; common foreign and security policy; East West trade; the communications revolution; regional inequalities; unemployment; demographic change and health policy. Recommendations are made for the consideration of the current IGC.

European External Action provides a critical assessment of the practice of EU diplomacy in a key site of Africa-European relations and the global development industry - the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. It analyses how the EU positions itself through its newly established diplomatic corps, the European External Action Service (EEAS), and how it is perceived as a collective geopolitical actor by its external cooperation partners. Going beyond existing studies on EU policy making in Brussels and African-European relations more generally, this book explores in a novel way the conduct of external relations and perceptions of the EU - abroad. Based on institutional ethnography within the EU Delegation in Nairobi and research affiliation with the University of Nairobi, as well as interviews with leading individuals of Kenyan-European interaction, it analyses the practices, processes and perceptions through which EU diplomacy is enacted and realised in a strategic node of global North-South relations. In light of the EU's claim as a key partner for developing countries and its ambition to be a major player in global politics, European External Action thereby speaks not only to wider debates on the EU's role as a global and development actor, but also provides new insights in the internal dynamics and the making of external agency in and through EU diplomacy.

This provocative and thoughtful book critically examines the major issues facing Europe today and makes policy proposals for the future.The Future of Europe focuses on the main policy areas where European leaders must take decisions over the coming years. The issues discussed include the EC's policies for enlargement, greater depth, economic and monetary integration, foreign affairs, defence and citizenship rights. The author, Peter Coffey, offers a considered assessment of the move towards European integration, praising the achievements but also expressing concern about the lack of democratic control in the EC and its inability to co-ordinate its economic, monetary and foreign policies. European union, he argues, must be a selective coming together 'a Europe a la carte' if the rights of the individual are to be reconciled with the necessity of creating a common front in selected critically important areas. Written in an accessible and informative style, this key policy book introduces students, teachers and others to the central economic, social and political issues facing present-day Europe.

To many, the rejections of the Constitutional Treaty by Dutch and French voters in 2005 came as a shock. However, given the many tensions and the many unresolved issues it was quite unsurprising. The challenges facing the Constitutional debate go to the core of the European integration process as they have to do with the terms on which to establish a post-national political order. This book deals with four themes which make up the main sources of the 'constitutional crisis': The problem of the rule of law in a context of governance beyond the nation state The problem of the social deficit of the Union The problem of identity and collective memories The problem of institutionalizing post-national democracy. These themes constitute the unfinished agenda of the European integration process. Law, Democracy and Solidarity in a Post-national Union is based on the efforts of a collection of top scholars in the fields of Law, Political Science, Sociology and Economics, and will appeal to students and scholars of political science, the European Union and European studies.

The Annual Review, produced in association with JCMS, The Journal of Common Market Studies, covers the key developments in the European Union, its member states, and acceding and/or applicant countries in 2012. * Includes a keynote contribution by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, alongside specially commissioned articles by Gerda Falkner, Paul de Grauwe & Yuemei Ji, Christian Lequesne and Iveta Radicova * Contains analytical articles and keynote contributions written by leading experts in their respective fields covering political, economic and legal issues * The most up-to-date and authoritative source of information for those engaged in teaching and research or who are simply interested in the European Union * Includes an invaluable guide to EU documents and publications - and the various websites of the EU - together with a chronology of key events

This book examines lobbying in EU foreign policy-making and the activities of non-state actors (NSAs), focusing on EU foreign policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It sheds light on the interactions between the EU and NSAs as well as the ways in which NSAs attempt to shape EU foreign policies. By analysing issues that have not yet received systematic attention in the literature, this book offers new insights into lobbying in EU foreign policy, EU relations surrounding the conflict and the EU's broader role in the peace process. The book will be of key interest to scholars and students of political science, international relations, EU politics, EU foreign policy-making, Middle East studies and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The dramatic results of the 2014 European Parliament elections have highlighted the European Union's urgent need for a review of the scope and purpose of its social objectives and for a reordering of European priorities. This book advocates a radical and original alternative to the current philosophy that determines the set of rules for the awarding of EU public procurement contracts. It calls for a reordering of the EU's economic and social priorities. In doing so, it advocates for a social dimension to be placed at the core of public procurement, which could elicit a social model of integration in the EU in which the European citizen is the key actor. This is achieved through an analytical approach as well as concise and contextualised explanations relating to free trade theories, poverty and public interest theories. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of the European Union, political theory, and EU law.

In a moment where the EU is facing an important number of challenges, there is growing interest in understanding how parties influence the way Europe evolves as a political issue, notably how parties structure domestic competition over European issues and they mobilise sentiments in referenda over European integration . This book examines the views of national parties towards the European Union and the different facets of a supranational citizenship. It provides an in-depth investigation into the variations to the cross-national patterns in ten countries, including old and new member states and different EU regions. Using original and innovative concepts, data and research techniques the authors: Explore whether parties formulate specific positions and preferences on the most particular aspects of the EU process. Investigate whether the party's stance could be inserted into more pro-European, or more Eurosceptical attitudes. Illustrate patterns of party contestation of the EU issues in the member states and explains these patterns in the light of the main theoretical arguments. Making an important contribution to party attitudes towards the EU and the Europeanisation of party politics, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, sociology, comparative politics, government and party politics

The current political, economic and financial crises facing the EU reveal a deeper cultural, indeed spiritual, malaise - a crisis in 'the soul of Europe'. Many observers are concluding that the EU cannot be restored to health without a new appreciation of the contribution of religion to its past and future, and especially that of its hugely important but widely neglected Christian heritage, which is alive today even amidst advancing European secularization. God and the EU offers a fresh, constructive and critical understanding of Christian contributions to the origin and development of the EU from a variety of theological, national and political perspectives. It explains the Christian origins of the EU; documents the various ways in which it has been both affirmed and critiqued from diverse theological perspectives; offers expert, theologically-informed assessments of four illustrative policy areas of the EU (religion, finance, environment, science); and also reports on the place of religion in the EU, including how religious freedom is framed and how contemporary religious actors relate to EU institutions and vice versa. This book fills a major gap in the current debate about the future of the European project and will be of interest to students and scholars of religion, politics and European studies.

Europe Unbound provides an analysis of the enlargement of the European Union and examines from both a theoretical and a political approach issues such as: * Where does Europe end? * Should Europe's borders be open or closed? * How does the evolution of territorial politics impact on the course of European integration? This book draws upon such diverse fields as History, Sociology, Political Science and International Relations and contains contributions from an international range of respected academics.

This ground-breaking volume provides a new perspective on the EU's foreign policy and offers a reconstruction of EU research that extends beyond narrow-minded concepts of 'power' and 'actorness'. Focusing on two intertwined research questions, it presents a more sustainable base for studying EU foreign policy: What is the EU's foreign policy quality in terms of 'actorness' and 'power' compared to other types of actors in international relations and global politics? What factors influence the EU's foreign policy performance in comparison to states and international organizations? This guiding principle and application of a 'grounded theory' or 'heuristic case study' approach allows the book to deliver a structured comparative analysis of EU foreign policy, comparing findings across policy fields, different legal foundations and respective policy modes of governance. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of European Union studies, European Union foreign policy studies, international relations, and security policy studies.

The accession of Croatia to the EU marked the end of a long and arduous period of transition. Croatia had to meet significantly higher criteria than previous states with suspicion and concerns among existing members about further enlargement increasing. Meanwhile initially strong public support in Croatia declined as inconsistencies in EU policy, entry criteria and problems caused by the economic crisis all combined with fears about the loss of national identity and the ability to realize national interests. The successful Croatian accession to the EU in 2013 shows that, despite concerns on both sides, the EU continues to have meaning and significance and that membership remains highly desirable. Through nine mutually interrelated chapters the contributors speak not only about the political and social situation in Croatia, but also prospects for the European Union itself.

An Inside View of the CAP Reform Process is about EU decision-making, in particular for the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). From its formation in the 1960s through to 1992 the CAP was almost immune to change; but from 1992 a series of major reforms took place. Many authors have asked why and how this change came about, including academics writing from political economy and political science traditions, and EU officials themselves. With the benefit of Arlindo Cunha's intimate insider's knowledge, this book delves into the mysteries of the policy making process by assessing the MacSharry, Agenda 2000, and Fischler reforms, explaining how, and why, CAP reform became part of the political agenda, and the decisions that were taken. It focuses in particular on the role of the Commission and the Commissioner for Agriculture, the Council of Ministers and its Presidency, and the European Parliament. Drawing upon the economics and political science literatures as appropriate, the book adopts a heuristic political economy approach.
The MacSharry reform was much influenced by the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations, and the 2003 Fischler reform by the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. A Delphi survey of key decision-makers, assessing their perception of the drivers of policy reform, and an analysis of subsequent CAP reform, including the Health Check in 2008 and preparations for the post-2013 CAP review, round-off the discussion. The former EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Franz Fischler, contributes a Foreword.

In recent years, the failure of the constitutional process, the difficult ratification and implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, as well as the several crises affecting Europe have revitalized the debate on the nature of the European polity and the balance of powers in Brussels. This book explains the redistribution of power in the post-Lisbon EU with a focus on the European Council. Reform of institutions and the creation of new political functions at the top of the European Union have raised fresh questions about leadership and accountability. This book argues that the European Union exhibits a political order with hierarchies, mechanisms of domination and legitimating narratives. As such, it can be understood by analysing what happens at its summit. Taking the European Council as the nexus of European political governance, contributors consider council and rotating presidencies' co-operation, rivalry and opposition. The book combines approaches through events, processes and political structures, issues and the biographical trajectories of actors and explores how the founding compromise of European integration between sovereignty and supranationality is affected by the evolving nature of this new European political model which aims to combine cooperation and integration. The European Council and European Governance will be of strong interest to students and scholars of European studies, political science, political sociology, public policy and international relations.

This book examines the involvement of Portugal in the European integration process since the country signed the Accession Treaty in 1985. The volume elicits how Portugal has grasped opportunities and challenges emanating from its participation in the institutional, regulatory and political frameworks of the European Union (EU), as these have become more intricate as well as intrusive. It scrutinizes the adjustments and transformations that have taken place in Portuguese society, politics and economics as well as in the country's international relations, as engendered by its increasing enmeshment in the Community-building dynamics. It is divided into three main parts: * Part I focuses on the major changes within the domestic arena, notably on the political, economic and social fronts; * Part II addresses the adjustments that the Portuguese leadership had to make in order to secure the country's participation in key common policies and strategies; * Part III is centred on foreign policy and assesses and discusses the impact upon Portugal's international relations. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, EU studies, comparative politics and those with a strong interest in Portugal.

The EU is a supranational organization, whose reach and influence extends well beyond its member states, especially to the many states that have signed various forms of association agreement with it. This book asks whether qualifying states who have eschewed EU membership experience negative effects on their legal and political self-governing abilities, or whether they manage their independence with few such effects. It explores the idea that the closer the affiliation a non-member state has with the EU, the more susceptible to hegemony the relationship appears to be. In addition, the book provides an overview of the total range of agreements the EU has with non-member states. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of in EU/European studies, Scandinavian studies, European and comparative politics, international relations, and democratization studies.

This book analyses how domestic and European structures impact on national actors' identities, interests and foreign policy practices. Employing Norway as the case study area, the author uses this nation as an example to assess Europeanization and identity politics across the European Union (EU). Utilising an original and innovative approach called 'social constructivist fusion perspective', the author addresses Europeanization across several key factors. The author assesses the influence of the EU on 'half-way member countries', and the impact of identity politics and domestic structures, which factors contribute to or hinder Europeanization, and attempts to empirically measure Europeanization at the actor level. It analyses the impact of domestic and European structures on the identities, interests, attitudes and foreign policy practices of the Norwegian policy-makers. Whilst contributing to knowledge and literature on how constructivist approaches can be utilized in empirical studies of political elites, this book goes beyond theory to demonstrate that Europeanization is not only institutional, and provides evidence of the influence of identity politics. Europeanization, Integration and Identity will be or interest to students, scholars and policy-makers in the field of European Union politics, international relations, social constructivism and Scandinavian politics.

The role of national parliaments in EU matters has become an important subject in the debate over the democratic legitimacy of European Union decision-making. Strengthening parliamentary scrutiny and participation rights at both the domestic and the European level is often seen as an effective measure to address the perceived 'democratic deficit' of the EU - the reason for affording them a prominent place in the newly introduced 'Provisions on Democratic Principles' of the Union (in particular Article 12 TEU). Whether this aim can be met, however, depends crucially on the degree to which, and the manner in which, national parliaments actually make use of their institutional rights. This volume therefore aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the activities of national parliaments in the post-Lisbon Treaty era. This includes the 'classic' scrutiny of EU legislation, but also parliamentary involvement in EU foreign policy, the use of new parliamentary participation rights of the Lisbon Treaty (Early Warning System), their role regarding the EU's response to the Eurozone crisis, and the, so far under-researched, role of parliamentary administrators in scrutiny processes. This book was originally published as a special issue of West European Politics.

Written in response to violent conflict in many of the former socialist countries and unease about European integration in the West, this informative and contemporary book presents a multi-sectoral assessment of the future of the nation state in Europe.The 13 articles included in The Future of the Nation State in Europe offer a wide-ranging, insightful analysis by an international group of distinguished scholars who argue that the question of the nation state in Europe will remain one of the foremost issues confronting social scientists. Contributions by Paavo Vayrynen, Ernst Gellner, Aira Kemilainen and Jyrki Iivonen on the concept of 'nation state' and its definition, are followed by two historical articles by Giovanni Arrighi and Erik Allardt, the former discussing the development of historical capitalism while the later connects the question of the nation state to different forms of technology. Later essays deal with various contexts of the nation state, including articles by Jaan Kaplinski on the future of national cultures in Europe, by Ali Kazancigil on the effects of unification on the national state, by Allan Rosas on the decline of sovereignty in international law and by Raimo Vayrynen on the relationship between territory and nation state. The volume concludes by examining the effects of regional changes on ethnic developments in Europe with articles by Thomas Henschel on German unification, Risto Alapuro on Russian civil society and Mate Szabo on East European Political development. Offering perspectives drawn from history, sociology, anthropology, law and political science, this major volume will be welcomed by political scientists, commentators and all those concerned with questions of European statehood.

Few events over the past few decades have given rise to an amount of debate and speculation concerning the state of the European Union (EU) and the future of European integration as the economic and financial crisis that began in 2007. In spite of substantial media, policy-making and academic attention, the fundamental questions of why and how the euro area (EA) has remained not only intact but also expanded and integrated further during the crisis require deeper theoretical investigation. One needs to understand not only the economics but also the politics and institutions of the crisis. A lack of such an understanding is the reason why a number of observers, at least initially, had a hard time making sense of policy-makers' decisions (and pace thereof), including why the EA did not implode as some predicted. Economic theories provide a certain perspective for why the crisis occurred and what economic policies were and are needed to resolve it; however, they fail to capture the deeper roots and management of the crisis. In order to improve our understanding of a discussion that has oscillated between fears of EA disintegration on the one hand and the concrete advancement of integration during the crisis on the other, this special collection brings together leading scholars of European integration who apply key theoretical approaches - from liberal intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism to other prominent theoretical accounts that have been applied to European integration such as historical institutionalism, critical political economy, normative theory, and a public opinion approach - to the economic and financial crisis. The contributions seek to analyse, understand and/or explain the events that occurred and the (re)actions to them in order to draw conclusions concerning the applicability and usefulness of their respective theoretical perspectives. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.