The patent disconnection between the institutions of the European Union and the citizens of Europe has been widely attributed by political leaders and scholars to a 'communications gap', that is, to the way EU affairs are mediated by the media, and to the apparent lack of interest by national elites in conveying the importance of Europe. This book challenges this 'mediation theory' and suggests instead a cultural and systemic explanation for the distant and bureaucratic character of the European Union. Apportioning the blame for the communication gap to the media and national politicians neglects two real deficits which prevent Europe from enjoying a vibrant public sphere: a deficit of domesticisation, a popular disconnection with the idea of the EU, and a deficit of politicisation with European politics, it being difficult to categorise as through traditional methods of 'left vs. right'. This book suggests that popular disengagement with the EU is a consequence of the fact that Europe as a cultural community is an interdependent continent rather than a nation and that, as an political institution, the EU is a pseudo-confederation full of anti-publicity bias, elite-driven integration, corporatism and diplomacy. The result is a book that is an essential read for students and scholars of political communication and of the European Union.

Decisive rejection by French and Dutch voters in 2005 forced the EU to abandon the Constitutional Treaty agreed the previous year. Yet by the end of the 2007, contrary to all expectations and after an intergovernmental conference essentially devoid of substantive negotiation, EU leaders had agreed and signed the Treaty of Lisbon containing the bulk of the Constitutional Treaty's substantive reforms. How did this latest treaty come about? Why did events move so quickly in 2007? Who were the key actors and what methods did they use to enable a treaty to be drawn up and agreed in such a short period of time? This book explores the unique process that saw EU leaders hastily agree a lengthy and detailed mandate for the intergovernmental conference. In doings so, it highlights the pivotal roles played by the German Council Presidency and key institutional actors in paving the way for and securing agreement among EU leaders on the new treaty.

FULLY UPDATED Arron Banks enjoyed a life of happy anonymity flogging car insurance in Bristol until he dipped his toes into the sharkinfested waters of politics and decided to plunge right in. Charging into battle for Brexit, he tore up the political rule book, sinking £8 million of his personal fortune into a mad-cap campaign targeting ordinary voters up and down the country. His anti-establishment crusade upset everyone from Victoria Beckham to NASA and left MPs open-mouthed. Lurching from comedy to crisis (often several times a day), he found himself in the glare of the media spotlight, fending off daily bollockings from Nigel Farage and po-faced MPs. From talking Brexit with Trump and trying not to embarrass the Queen, to courting communists and wasting a fortune on a pop concert that descended into farce, this is his honest, uncensored and highly entertaining diary of the campaign that changed the course of history.

This distinctive empirical account analyses security cooperation in the domain of inter-regionalism, identifying the emergence of the African Union (AU) as a regional actor and its implications for contemporary EU-Africa relations.The book considers the opportunities and constraints of trying to create something new from an existing EU-Africa institution, by focusing on two cases of building the capabilities of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). Examining institutional interactions and decision-making processes between the European Union (EU) and the AU, it provides revealing new insights based on extensive fieldwork and original interviews with European and African officials. Addressing the prospects of true equality, partnership and local ownership, Haastrup explores the potential for the transformation of EU-Africa relations.This comprehensive and up-to-date account of security cooperation will appeal to scholars in international relations, comparative regionalism, international security and European Union and African Studies.

As the European Union has evolved, it has also begun to address policy questions which are closer to the very heart of the state. From cooperation in Justice and Home Affairs, originally conceived as the third pillar of European cooperation, has emerged the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (AFSJ). A unique aspect of policy in this area is the desire to integrate the internal and external dimensions of this policy area. One of the tensions in this policy area has been balancing the protection of fundamental rights and increasing security. The first part of this book focuses on the institutional relations of policymaking in AFSJ, both within member states and between member states, in particular the issues of national executive control, national parliamentary scrutiny and peer review across the member states with regard to AFSJ. The second part focuses on specific policy areas which are part of AFSJ. Two chapters highlight the tension found in this policy area between security and human or fundamental rights, the first related to data retention and the second on policing external borders. The final two chapters are concerned with data exchange among European countries and transatlantically with the US, and the interface between AFSJ and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The chapters contained in the book were presented at the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Dutch national parliament (Tweede Kamer), making it of interest to scholars and practitioners alike.

EU foreign policy has long been considered the exclusive domain of member states. This book challenges such conventional state-centered wisdom by analyzing the influence of the Brussels-based EU officials in the sensitive area of security and defense. It asks why the member states have delegated important functions to the EU and continues to examine how EU civil servants affect the planning and conduct of civilian and military operations.
Using multiple case studies and unique insights from over a hundred interviews, this book shows how everyday security policy is made in practice. Whether it concerns the deployment of uniformed personnel to Aceh, Bosnia, Chad or Kosovo, the EU officials in the Council and the European External Action Service shape outcomes and make a difference. This book will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners of EU foreign policy.

What would it mean for the EU to be a legitimate body, and where do our ideas on this question come from? In this award winning book, Claudia Schrag Sternberg explores some of the most significant questions surrounding the legitimacy of the European Union. Specifically, The Struggle for EU Legitimacy traces the history of constructions and contestations of the EU's legitimacy, in discourses of the European institutions and in public debate. Through an interpretive, non-quantitative textual analysis of an eclectic range of sources, it examines both long-term patterns in EU-official discourses and their reception in member-state public spheres, specifically in the German and French debates on the Maastricht and Constitutional Draft Treaties. The story told portrays the history of legitimating the EU as a never-ending contest over the ends and goals of integration, as well as a balancing act - which was inescapable given the nature of the integration project - between 'bringing the people in' and 'keeping them out', and between actively politicising and deliberately de-politicising the stakes of EU politics. Schrag Sternberg suggests that continuous contestation is not only a defining feature of this history, but a source of legitimacy in its own right.

Comitology is the most important form of multi-level governance in the European Union. Member State and Commission actors together create roughly 2,500 executive acts per year, amounting to about half of all European laws together. But to what degree is this unknown and invisible committee system being held to account for its decisions? This book for the first time addresses accountability in truly multi-level terms. It looks at accountability foreseen in the constitutional setup of the comitology system, as well as at how this plays out in practice at the European level and within national governments. Controlling Comitology combines findings from different levels of government, and analyses a plurality of data sources including interviews, survey data of committee participants and their superiors, legislative databases and meeting documents. The book argues that accountability has steadily improved over time, but also that unexpected gaps have emerged. This books is important reading for student and scholars of comitology as well as accountability and law-making in the European Union.

LGBT rights have become increasingly salient within the EU enlargement process as a litmus test for Europeanness. Yet, the promotion of these norms has provided a fulcrum for political contestation. Based on this observation, this book interrogates the normative dimensions of the EU enlargement process, with special reference to LGBT politics. Reconceptualising Europeanisation, Coming in argues that the EU enlargement is a process of negotiated transformation in which EU policies and norms are (re)defined, translated, and transformed. Empirically, it analyses the promotion of and resistance to LGBT equality norms in Serbia's EU integration process, but moves beyond policies to also inquire the impact of the negotiated transitions on lived experiences. Overall, the book raises important questions about the politics of Europeanisation, its political and social consequences, as well as to what we consider as progress. -- .

The role of civil society organisations in Brussels is debated. Some view them as representatives of their members and thus as legitimising agents for policy-making in the European Union. Others see them as being elitist and out of touch with their membership bases, therefore ill-suited to promote democracy at the EU level. Taking civil society organisations in the EU s external relations as an example, Meike Rodekamp submits these controversial views to a reality check. Interviews with representatives of civil society organisations in Brussels and their member organisations in the EU show that the Brussels offices have not lost contact with their members. However, member organisations differ substantially in their participation in internal decision-making processes, which raises doubts about the legitimacy gains through civil society participation in EU policy-making.

The EU and Immigration Policies: Cracks in the Walls of Fortress Europe? explores how and why the EU and its member states define immigration policies. A comparison of EU negotiations on five EU immigration directives reveals interests of actors in EU integration and whether common policies aim at a restriction or expansion of immigration to the EU. The findings of the study suggest that some legal migration policies deviate to a certain extent from increased restrictions. Some member states were required to adapt their national laws to a more expansive EU policy. EU immigration policies actually define cracks in the walls of the 'Fortress Europe'. This development reflects a shift in immigration policy preferences among European countries from the late 1990s and early 2000s. The EU Commission used this window of opportunity and its power in policy framing to push member states toward EU integration. The author shows how the EU level could become the policy venue for member states' strategies on immigration regulation.

The first enlargement was one of the most divisive and politically charged events in the history of the present-day European Union.
French opposition to British membership meant that London had to wait more than a decade at the Community's door. Other countries, including Denmark and Ireland, whose requests for membership were tied to the coat-tails of the British applications, had to endure a similar wait. This book focuses on the early history of the EU and in particular the role played by the European Commission, an institution whose aim was to gain influence over the Community's agenda and to shape its policies, including the issue of enlargement. Enlarging the European Union explores the Commission's interaction with the member states and the applicant countries between the years 1961 and 1973 and also the Commission's attempts to gain and wield influence over the first enlargement round.

An enlarged European Union introduces new opportunities for ethnic remixing, bringing fears over potential minority return and even sovereignty in some cases. How does a border-effacing EU impact territory subject to ethnic cleansing? Why is potential minority return considered a security threat in some recently 'unmixed' areas, but not others?
"Ethnic Cleansing and the European Union" offers the first multi-case analysis of ethnic remixing in an expanding EU. The book's two major theoretical innovations include an explanatory frame elucidating variation in Central Europe, the Balkans, and Cyprus, and an analysis of repeated minority removal for conflict resolution purposes in the early- to mid-twentieth century. Tesser argues that the Western-dominated international community's earlier endorsement of separation brought potent after-effects: incentives for ethnic cleansing and the politics of ethnic remixing in an enlarging EU.
This book will appeal to all scholars interested in the European Union, Nationalism, Forced Migration Studies, and International Relations.

This book offers a novel contribution to the study of post-Cold War European defence. Interdisciplinary in approach, it uses the insights of EU law to assess the utility of existing theoretical accounts of European defence cooperation.Dyson and Konstadinides link legal and IR scholarship to undertake a detailed exploration of the structural factors which facilitate and hinder closer cooperation in the field of defence. Exploring the explanatory power of Neorealism, they focus on the balance of threat as a driver of the European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This book critiques the assumption inherent in governance accounts of CSDP that a transition from the 'sovereign' to the 'functional' will be possible in this policy area.European Defence Cooperation in EU Law and IR Theory sheds new light on the factors underpinning the development of the CSDP and the potential for more extensive cooperation in trans-Atlantic relations. The capacity of legal analysis to provide important empirical insight and of international relations theory to enrich legal scholarship by contextualizing it within its political context, makes this book of great relevance to scholars from both disciplines.

This book provides a detailed examination of the complex negotiation processes surrounding intergovernmental conferences in the European Union. Since the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and its 'appendix', the Treaty of Nice in 2002, any reform of the constitutional framework of the European Union experiences formidable difficulties. By presenting an extensive study of the Intergovernmental Conference of 1996/7 prior to the Treaty of Amsterdam, the authors argue that these negotiations reveal major challenges of European integration. They contend that multi-level negotiations require an appropriate coordination of informal administrative networks and the empowerment of administrative leadership, with these factors significantly shaping the dynamics and outcomes of negotiations. Through these findings, this book lays down the foundation for future evidence-based support and evaluation of multilateral negotiations, and delivers new insights on decision-making within the European Union. It draws on advanced statistical methods and network analysis. European Union Intergovernmental Conferences will be of interest to students and researchers of political science, sociology, administrative science, business and management studies, international law and European law.

European countries work together in crisis management, conflict prevention and many other aspects of security and defence policy. Closer cooperation in this policy arena seems to be the only viable way forward to address contemporary security challenges. Yet, despite the repeated interaction, fundamental assumptions about security and defence remain remarkably distinct across European nations. This book offers a comparative analysis of the security and defence policies of all 27 EU member states and Turkey, drawing on the concept of 'strategic culture', in order to examine the chances and obstacles for closer security and defence cooperation across the continent. Along the lines of a consistent analytical framework, international experts provide case studies of the current security and defence policies in Europe as well as their historical and cultural roots.

With the increasing prominence of fundamental rights within the EU it increasingly interferes in the core competence of the Council of Europe. This book traces the EU and the Council of Europe relationship in the field of human rights - marked by mutual interferences and overlap - and explores which factors trigger cooperation or conflict between the two organizations. Investigating the cases of data protection, the fight against terrorism, challenging Roma discrimination, the Memorandum of Understanding and the Fundamental Rights Agency through the lens of an implementation literature and management studies-perspective, this book contends that the biggest threat to interorganizational cooperation is organizational self-interest, despite a shared policy outlook. The book furthers the agenda set by the literature in this field by providing a new theoretical framework and an in-depth empirical study of two main actors in the field of human rights protection in Europe from a political science perspective.

The relationship between civil servants and politicians is as fascinating as it is complex with their mutual interdependence requiring to cooperate despite the ever-present risk of tension and conflict. For reasons of efficiency it is important that the civil service has a certain degree of independence and detachment from the political process. The requirement of democratically legitimate and accountable decision-making however demands control at the political level.This comparative study focuses on the changing relations between civil servants and politicians in the European Union in the last two decades. As well as national case studies this book also looks into politico-administrative relations in supranational institutions such as the European Commission and the European Parliament.

The effects of the Eastern enlargement, the biggest so far, are still felt across the European Union (EU). Many warned the EU was about to overreach the limits of its integration capacity. More than a decade later, this book presents a broad-based and systematic evaluation of the 2004-2007's enlargement and its impact on the EU. In contrast to widespread scepticism, our results show that the EU's integration capacity has been strong. Credible accession conditionality and pre-accession assistance have had a positive impact on democracy, governance capacity, and economic transformation, at least before accession. After accession, EU institutions have proven resilient. Eastern enlargement has not affected negatively the legislative capacity of the EU. It has not led to a deterioration of compliance and implementation of EU law either; initial differentiated integration has quickly returned to normal levels. This generally positive assessment stands in stark contrast with increasing public opposition to future EU enlargements. We identify some less known sources of such opposition: the lack of communication and political debate about enlargement between EU leaders and their citizens. Public opposition undermines the credibility of EU conditionality, which is crucial for having a positive impact on neighbouring countries in the future. The chapters in this book originally appeared in a special issue in the Journal of European Public Policy.

In this volume an international cast of contributors analyze and discuss the role of societal actors in European integration from the creation of the present-day European Union in 1958 to the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Based throughout on newly accessible sources the authors discuss a variety of societal actors from political parties to business groups and civil society organizations demonstrating the scope and limits of their role in European polity-building and policy-making before the Maastricht Treaty, with an outlook on the period since then. This is an important text for students and Scholars of European Studies, European Union Politics and contemporary History.

The Dynamics of EU External Energy Relations examines the behaviour of the European Commission in EU external energy relations paying particular attention to the dynamics existing between the Commission and the member states. It examines the Commission as a constrained policy-entrepreneur trying to expand its power, budget and competences, yet frustrated by member states protective of their national sovereignty. Analysing the Commission as agent and the member states as its principals, the book proposes a more nuanced examination of behaviour where the agent tries to satisfy its own interests but is still responsive to the preferences of the principals. Using a wide range of original primary and secondary data, the book argues that EU external energy relations reflect the dynamics of the relations between the Commission and the member states. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Union studies and politics, EU energy and foreign policy, and more broadly to European politics and international relations.

What do citizens say about Europe? Before the crisis of 2008 citizens in Britain, France and Francophone Belgium were 'overlooking' Europe by ignoring it in favour of globalisation, economic flows, and crises of political corruption. Innovative focus group methods allow analysis of the nature of their reactions and positions, and demonstrate how euroscepticism is a red herring. Instead they articulate indifference to and ambivalence about Europe contrasting with activists who engage in conflict about European issues. The analysis shows national and social differences. French projection contrasts with British exteriorisation and Belgian incorporation. The social gap is not a matter of deficits: workers have real arguments about issues close to home while managers show more concern about European politics.This book is part of the qualitative turn in European studies and both complements and challenges established knowledge on European attitudes.

This book examines EU discourses on Turkey in the European Commission, European Parliament and three EU member states (France, Germany and Britain), to reveal the discursive construction of European identity through EU representations of Turkey. Based on a poststructuralist framework that conceptualizes identity as discursively constructed through difference, the book applies Critical Discourse Analysis to the analysis of texts and argues that there are multiple Europe(s) that are constructed in talks over the enlargement of Turkey, varying within and between different ideological, national and institutional contexts. The book discerns four main discourse topics over which these Europe(s) are constructed, corresponding to the conceptualization of Europe as a security community, as an upholder of democratic values, as a political project and as a cultural space. The book argues that Turkey constitutes a key case in exploring various discursive constructs of European identity, since the talks on Turkey pave the way for the construction of different versions of Europe in discourse.

This volume outlines the content of the main treaties that form the 'constitutional' basis of the European Union and analyses changes in these over time. The EU has expanded its policy scope and taken in many more members transferring powers to common supranational institutions in a way seen nowhere else in the world.

Collective identity, the emotionally powerful sense of belonging to a group, is a crucial source of popular legitimacy for nations. However efforts since the 1990s to politically support European integration by using identity mechanisms borrowed from nationalism have had very limited success. European integration may require new, post-national approaches to the relationship between culture and politics. This controversial and timely volume poses the logical question: if identity doesn't effectively connect culture with European integration politics, what does? The book brings together leading scholars from several of the disciplines that have developed concepts of culture and methods of cultural research. These expert interdisciplinary contributors apply a startling diversity of approaches to culture, linking it to facets of integration as varied as external policy, the democratic deficit, economic dynamism and the geography of integration. This book examines commonalities and connections within the European space, as well as representations of these in identity discourses. It will be useful for students and scholars of sociology, geography, anthropology, social psychology, political science and the history of European integration.