How do individual legislators in the European Parliament (EP) make decisions on the wide variety of policy proposals they routinely confront? Despite a flourishing literature on the European Union's only directly elected institution, we know surprisingly little about the micro-foundations of EP politics. Who Decides, and How? seeks to address this shortcoming by examining how individual legislators make policy choices, how these choices are aggregated, and what role parties and committees play in this process. It argues that members of the EP lack adequate resources to make equally informed decisions across policy areas. Therefore, when faced with policy choices in policy areas outside their realms of expertise, members make decisions on the basis of perceived preference coherence: they adopt the positions of their expert colleagues in the responsible EP committee whose preferences over policy outcomes they believe to most closely match their own. These preferences are difficult to determine, however, which is why legislators rely on a shared party label as stand-in for common preferences. This results in cohesive parties, despite the inability of EP parties to discipline their members.
Who Decides, and How? relies on the respective strengths of quantitative and qualitative data to shed new light on the inner workings of the EP. It illustrates how legislators make broadly representative decisions under conditions of resource scarcity, informational uncertainty, and problematic policy preferences, and how structurally weak EP parties can act in an internally cohesive and externally competitive manner when carrying out their policy commitments to Europe's citizens.

Leading scholars in discourse analysis and European foreign policy join forces in this book, marking a real breakthrough in the literature. Not only do they offer original perspectives on European foreign policy, but they bring together various theories on foreign policy discourses that remain too often isolated from each other. This theoretical diversity is clearly reflected in the book's four-pronged structure: Part I - Post-structuralist Approaches (with contributions from Thomas Diez, Henrik Larsen and Beste Isleyen); Part II - Constructivist Approaches (with contributions from Knud Erik Jorgensen, Jan Orbie, Ferdi de Ville, Esther Barbe, Anna Herranz-Surralles and Michal Natorski); Part III - Critical Discourse Analytical Approaches (with contributions from Senem Aydin-Duzgit, Amelie Kutter, Ruth Wodak, Salomi Boukala and Caterina Carta); Part IV - Discursive Institutionalist Approaches (with contributions from Ben Rosamond, Antoine Rayroux and Vivien A. Schmidt). The volume is the first full-length study on how to apply different discourse analytical approaches and methodologies to European foreign policy. The paperback edition makes for a unique selling point as a course text.

Leading scholars in discourse analysis and European foreign policy join forces in this book, marking a real breakthrough in the literature. Not only do they offer original perspectives on European foreign policy, but they bring together various theories on foreign policy discourses that remain too often isolated from each other. This theoretical diversity is clearly reflected in the book's four-pronged structure: Part I - Post-structuralist Approaches (with contributions from Thomas Diez, Henrik Larsen and Beste Isleyen); Part II - Constructivist Approaches (with contributions from Knud Erik Jorgensen, Jan Orbie, Ferdi de Ville, Esther Barbe, Anna Herranz-Surralles and Michal Natorski); Part III - Critical Discourse Analytical Approaches (with contributions from Senem Aydin-Duzgit, Amelie Kutter, Ruth Wodak, Salomi Boukala and Caterina Carta); Part IV - Discursive Institutionalist Approaches (with contributions from Ben Rosamond, Antoine Rayroux and Vivien A. Schmidt). The volume is the first full-length study on how to apply different discourse analytical approaches and methodologies to European foreign policy. The paperback edition makes for a unique selling point as a course text.

This book provides the first comprehensive review of the European Union's role in military conflict management beyond its borders and makes an important contribution to debates on the EU's role in global security governance. The EU has launched five military operations within the framework of its Common Security and Defence Policy with the explicit purpose to help manage violent conflicts beyond its borders. This book develops a definition and a set of criteria for success in military conflict management and applies this new analytical framework in a comparative case study of the five EU military operations undertaken in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and the Central African Republic. Having evaluated their success the book goes on to explore the conditions under which military conflict management operations conducted by international organizations are successful and explores the implications of its findings for the future theory and practice of military conflict management. The European Union and Military Conflict Management will be of interest to students and scholars of security studies, conflict studies, European Union politics and foreign policy and global security governance.

This book explores the drivers of the EU's recent forays into peace- and state-building operations. Since the Union's European (now Common) Security and Defence Policy (ESDP/CSDP) became operational in 2003, the EU has conducted more than 20 civilian and military operations that broadly served to either deter aggression in host countries, and/or to build or strengthen the rule of law. This sudden burst of EU activity in the realm of external security is interesting from both a scholarly and a policy perspective. On one hand, institutionalised cooperation in the field of foreign, security and defence policy challenges the mainstream in IR theory which holds that in such sovereignty-sensitive areas cooperation would necessarily be limited. On the other hand, the sheer quantity of operations suggests that the ESDP may represent a potentially significant feature of global governance. In order to understand the drivers behind CSDP, EU Foreign Policy and Crisis Management Operations analyses the policy output in this area, including the operations conducted in the CSDP framework. Up until now, many studies inferred the logic behind CSDP from express intentions, institutional developments and (the potential of) pooled capabilities. By mining the rich data that CSDP operations represent in terms of the motives and ambitions of EU governments for the CSDP, this book advances our understanding of the framework at large. This book will be of much interest to students of European Security, EU policy, peacebuilding, statebuilding, and IR.

This discerning book examines EU migration and asylum polices in times of crisis by assessing old and new patterns of cooperation in EU migration management policies in the scope of third-country cooperation. The case studies explored reveal that there has been a clear tendency and strategy to move away from or go outside the decision making rules and institutional principles enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty to advance third country cooperation on migration management. It explores the implications of and effects of the adoption of extra-Treaty instruments and patterns of cooperation in the light of EU rule of law and fundamental rights principles and standards. The book, examines the ways in which the politics of migration crisis and their patterns of cooperation and legal/policy outcomes evidenced since 2015 affect and might even undermine EU's legitimacy in these policy areas. Constitutionalising the External Dimensions of EU Migration Policies in Times of Crisis will be a key resource for academics and students focussing on EU Law and migration more specifically. Timely and engaging, it will also appeal to policy- makers, legal practitioners and international organisation representatives alike.

This volume is timely in that it explores key issues which are currently at the forefront of the EU's relations with its eastern neighbours. It considers the impact of a more assertive Russia, the significance of Turkey, the limitations of the Eastern Partnership with Belarus and Moldova, the position of a Ukraine in crisis and pulled between Russia and the EU, security and democracy in the South Caucasus. It looks at the contested nature of European identity in areas such as the Balkans. In addition it looks at ways in which the EU's interests and values can be tested in sectors such as trade and migration. The interplay between values, identity and interests and their effect on the interpretation of europeanisation between the EU and its neighbours is a core theme of the volume. -- .

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.

Thoroughly updated, this extensive reference source provides in-depth information on all matters relating to the European Union (EU): the financial crisis affecting the eurozone is covered in depth, including details of recent developments such as the EU's emergency funding mechanisms and the new 'fiscal compact'; progress regarding the recent and future expansion of the Union is addressed; and the EU's legal and social frameworks, the environment and external relations are discussed. Key Features: an up-to date chronology of the EU from 1947 to present an A-Z section contains definitions and explanations of organizations, acronyms and terms, and articles on each member state. Comprising over 1,000 entries, terms listed include: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; General Court; Europol; European Capital of Culture; regional policy; and Single Euro Payments Area introductory articles written by experts on the EU provide an overview of the policies and activities of the EU. Essay subjects include: the euro crisis; enlargement; and migration and asylum policy a directory of principal names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and internet addresses of all major European Union institutions and their official bodies. This information is supplemented by summaries of important treaties; details of information sources in the EU; and details of EU-level trade and professional associations. Users will also find details of MEPs and the political groups and national parties contributing to the European Parliament a statistical survey gives tables covering: population, employment, agriculture, energy and mining, industry, finance, trade, transport and communications, tourism, health and welfare, and education across the EU This title will prove valuable to academic and public libraries, politicians and government agencies and the media, as well as to all those in need of accurate and reliable information on the European Union.

This book provides a comprehensive account of the extent to which policies and institutions of the European Union (EU) spread across different contexts. Are the EU's attempts to transfer its policies and institutions to accession and neighbourhood countries sustainable and effective? To what degree do other regions of the world emulate the EU's institutional features, what are the mechanisms of, and conditions for, their diffusion? Chapters deal with Europeanization in the new EU member states, particularly in Romania and Bulgaria, in current accession candidates, i.e. the Western Balkans and Turkey, as well the Eastern (Southern Caucasus) and Southern Neighbourhood (Israel and the Maghreb). In addition, authors investigate the diffusion of EU policies and institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The authors place Europeanization studies in the wider context of research on transnational diffusion, and examine the relevant mechanisms and processes, including incentives and capacity-building, socialization and learning as well as functional and normative emulation. Finally, the book discusses what conditions lead to the successful diffusion of European institutions and policies, such as domestic incentives, degrees of (limited) statehood, regime type, and power (a)symmetries. This book was originally published as a special issue of West European Politics.

Can the euro area survive without a more centralized economic policy? What lessons can be drawn from Economic and Monetary Union about new modes of policy-making in the European Union? Have euro area members spoken with one voice on the international stage and what does this mean for the European Union's ambitions to be a global actor in its own right? This book explores these three key questions through an in-depth analysis of euro area governance from the launch of the single currency in 1999 to the sovereign debt crisis of 2010. Drawing insights from the study of European Union politics, comparative political economy and international political economy, it examines: Economic and Monetary Union's break from the Community method of policy-making; the European Central Bank's ambivalence about the pursuit of ever closer union; the Eurogroup's rise and fall as a forum for economic policy coordination; the interplay between national fiscal institutions and the stability and growth pact; the broad economic policy guidelines' failure to apply peer pressure; the European Union's influence within the G20 and the International Monetary Fund at the height of the global financial crisis; euro diplomacy towards China and other rising powers; and current debates about the fate of EMU and the reform of euro area governance in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The book's conclusions challenge claims that the euro area is in crisis because of its decentralized approach to decision-making alone and the corollary that the euro can be saved only through a further transfer of sovereignty to the supranational level.

Linking Citizens and Parties addresses familiar questions about political representation: Are parties responsive to their core supporters or to the public in general? Do parties that adopt centrist policy positions benefit in elections? Does proportional representation encourage party extremism? These fundamental questions about democracy are paired with the empirical observation of Western European democracies during the last thirty years. The study highlights the pathways (mainstream and niche) through which citizens' political preferences are expressed by their political parties. It concludes with a positive evaluation of these democracies as their citizens have access to at least one, and possibly both niche and mainstream pathways.

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

EU Cohesion policy accounts for a major share of the EU budget and is central to economic and social development in many European countries. This book provides a comprehensive and theoretically-informed analysis of how Cohesion policy has evolved over time, in particular the budgetary and policy dynamics of the 2007-13 reform. In the context of the budgetary politics of the EU, the book examines the process by which the reform of Cohesion policy has been shaped; it identifies the key factors that explain the allocation of funding, assesses the roles of the Member States, European Commission and European Parliament, and tests whether the process and outcome are consistent with the expectations of EU decision-making and integration theories. Based on extensive, EU-wide research over a ten-year period, the book provides new insights into both the process and outcomes of EU policy reform. Presenting original research in an accessible format, this book will be of interest to scholars as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of European integration and policy studies.

The book examines the integration of European trade union movement and explores the prospects for European or transnational solidarity among workers. Contrary to much existing research and despite national differences, Gajewska examines how trade unions cooperate and the forms in which this cooperation take place. Drawing on four case studies illustrating experiences of Polish, German, British, Latvian and Swedish trade unions in various sectors and workers' representatives at a multinational company, this book investigates the conditions under which trade unions and workers formulate their interests in non-national / regional terms, and analyzes the character, limits and potentials of solidarity in a transnational context. Seeking to generate a new theory of European integration of labour and to contribute to sociological approaches on the European integration and Europeanization of society, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, European integration, labour/industrial relations, trade unionism and sociology.

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.

Turkey's accession to the European Union is undoubtedly one of the Union's most contested potential enlargements. The narrative that dominates the debate surrounding this issue primarily relates to problems such as a lack of respect for fundamental human rights in Turkey, the Kurdish question and the continuing stalemate concerning northern Cyprus. This book looks at these issues, but also proposes that a review of Turkey's experience with the EU in its numerous incarnations suggests that these concerns may mask a deeper disquiet. Whilst there are several questions that Turkey must address, particularly in the area of human rights guarantees, the concerns which raise debates regarding Turkish membership are not issues that are unique to Turkey. Turkey's EU experience also raises fundamental questions about religion and the EU project that have greater implication than simply Turkish accession. Through the lens of the Turkish example, this book addresses these broader questions, such as the nature of European 'identity', Europe's Christian past, the limits of pluralism and the fundamental question of religion in the European public sphere. This book will be of great interest to those engaged in research on European law and politics at undergraduate or postgraduate level. It is also aimed at academics with an interest in human rights and the European Union and with a regional interest in Turkey.

It is through a gradual evolution, rather than by grand design, that the somewhat fragmented economic policies of the EU now appear to be heading towards a rather more robust and coherent economic governance. EU Economic Governance and Globalization considers the following crucial question as the EU enters its final stage of institution-building; will the economic institutions of the EU push ahead to reform its rigid national economies and open them up to globalization and international competition?Focusing on telecommunications, air transportation, currency competition, taxation, eastern enlargement and transatlantic relations, the contributors to this book question whether EU standards, regulatory regimes, and policies are flexible enough to bring about a dynamic and open economy. This book will be of interest to scholars of European and regional studies and international political economy, as well as policy analysts and policymakers.

This book analyzes the effects of European Union membership conditionality on institutional reforms in Eastern Europe, building on concrete examples from four sectors in Albania and Macedonia, two postcommunist countries that have yet to join the EU. The author discusses the theory of "consociational democracy," often considered the key to stabilizing deeply divided countries, and reapplies it on the international stage to argue for how the EU can better direct democratization.

The European Union's market integration project has dramatically altered economic activity around Europe. This book presents extensive evidence on how trade has increased, jobs have been created, and European business has been reorganized. However, changes in the economy have been accompanied by dramatic changes in how people from different societies interact. In this book Neil Fligstein argues provocatively that these changes have produced a truly transnational-European-society.
The book explores the nature of that society and its relationship to the creation of a European identity, popular culture, and politics. Much of the current political conflict around Europe can be attributed to who is and who is not involved in European society. Business owners, managers, professionals, white-collar workers, the educated, and the young have all benefited from European economic integration, specifically by interacting more and more with their counterparts in other societies. They tend to think of themselves as Europeans. Older, poorer, less-educated, and blue-collar citizens have benefited less. They view the EU as intrusive on national sovereignty, or they fear its pro-business orientation will overwhelm the national welfare states. They have maintained national identities. There is a third group of mainly-middle class citizens who see the EU in mostly positive terms and sometimes-but not always-think of themselves as Europeans. It is this swing group that is most critical for the future of the European project. If they favor more European cooperation, politicians will oblige. But, if they prefer that policies remain wedded to the nation, European cooperation will stall. Written in anaccessible style this is a major new interpretation of the drive to European integration and essential reading for all those with an interest in the topic.

This book provides a comprehensive portrait of how international responsibility of the EU and the Member States is structured under the EU's international investment protection agreements. It analyses both the old regime as represented by the Energy Charter Treaty and the new regime as represented by the new EU investment treaties, such as CETA, TTIP, the EU-Singapore Agreement and the EU-Vietnam Agreement. The international responsibility of the EU, being a "special" international organisation, is in and of itself an important and challenging topic in public international law. However, in the context of international investment law, and especially with regard to the emerging new EU investment treaties, the topic is largely unexplored and represents new terrain. The book promotes the development of law in this area and provide a springboard for further research. The book puts forth the thesis that the determination of the EU or a Member State as respondent in a dispute under the new EU investment treaties has a substantive effect on the respondent's international responsibility. The international law effects of the respondent determination will surely be one of the central topics in future debates on the new EU investment treaties. The book further compares the EU regulation that allocates financial burdens between the EU and the Member States arising out of international investment disputes with the only other genuinely existing allocation system in federal states to date, namely that of Germany. The book finally reveals many shortcomings of the new EU responsibility regime in international investment law and provides some suggestions on how they can best be remedied.

This volume focuses on multilateralism in the 21st century and examines how, and how effectively, the EU delivers on its commitment to effective multilateralism. Presenting results generated by MERCURY, an EU research programme into multilateralism, this book addresses a central research question: does the EU deliver on its commitment to effective multilateralism? Globalisation has created powerful new incentives for states to cooperate and has generated renewed interest in multilateralism. While a large body of work exists on multilateralism as a concept, it continues to be ill-defined and poorly understood. This book sheds new light on 21st century multilateralism by exploring conceptual approaches as well as generating innovative, empirical knowledge on its practice. Research on EU external relations has increasingly focused on the concept of 'effective multilateralism'. Yet, the application of this concept as a guiding principle of EU foreign policy in non-security policy areas has rarely been examined. This book explores whether the EU is pursuing effective multilateralism in specific policy areas, including trade, climate change and conflict resolution, and distinct geographical and institutional settings, both internal to the EU and in specified regions, international organisations (IOs) and bilateral partnerships. This book offers evidence-based, actionable policy lessons from Europe's experience in promoting multilateralism. The European Union and Multilateralism in the 21st Century will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, international organizations, and European Union politics and foreign policy.

This book offers an accessible, coherent and comprehensive analysis of the recent, contemporary and future challenges and possibilities facing Denmark in the European integration process. The book traces the formal as well as the informal ways of influence and adaptation in Denmark's relations with the European Union. In doing so, it also offers a contribution to our understanding of Europe as a differentiated political arena. Topics covered include: Identifying the challenges and opportunities of Danish EU membership, via the policies pursued by Denmark in Europe. The ways in which Denmark adapts to the European integration process . Consequences of EU integration for citizen rights, democracy, policy coordination and implementation efficiency. Denmark and the European Union will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union and integration politics.

This book considers the extent to which EU cohesion policy and related pre-accession instruments are contributing to the development of more compound polities in south east Europe and, specifically, promoting multi-level governance. In this respect, there are two points of departure: the first is the argument that the EU is a highly compound polity that tends to pull member (and candidate) states in this direction; the second is the considerable literature that links EU cohesion policy to the promotion of multi-level governance. Following this, we have chosen a range of south east European states whose period of engagement with the EU generally differs: Greece, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, F.Y.R. Macedonia and Turkey. The case studies reveal that EU cohesion policy has created more compound polities but that system-wide multi-level governance remains weak and central governments are still prominent. However, there are interesting and potentially important developments in relation to particular features of multi-level governance, not least in states whose engagement with the EU in this sphere is relatively new. This book was published as a special issue of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.