EU internal security concerns such as migration, police and judicial cooperation are today part of EU foreign policy. This book shows how those concerns dominate the EU agenda towards Mediterranean countries. Adopting a rational-choice institutionalist approach, it explores EU policy and the strategic choices made after the 2011 Arab revolts.

This edited collection brings together distinguished scholars across a range of academic disciplines to explore how the European Union engages with culture. The book examines the ways in which cultural issues have been framed at the EU level and the policies and instruments to which they have given vent.

The attitudes of European citizens towards the EU and its institutions before and after their respective countries integration into the Eurozone is an exceptionally important yet entirely understudied topic. Mapping perceptions of Europeans towards the EU from the outside before their accession and from the inside following their integration provides a crucial barometer for Political Scientists to analyse and understand the popularity and levels of satisfaction with the EU amongst the European population at large. In the first book of its kind, Simona Guerra uses data on the popularity of the EU in Central and Eastern before and after accession to explore how and why determinants of support change. In doing so, she also bridges the gap between Eastern and Western analyses on patterns of support for and oppositions towards EU integration. This book is important reading for students and scholars of European integration and the European Union at large.

Resulting from an interdisciplinary dialogue between philosophy, political science and International Relations about Europe as a political community this volume rethinks the European political project beyond the rigid opposition between universalism and particularism approaching Europe as a space of the exposure of differences to each other.

The EU's 'social dimension' today is a product of the ideology of the 1990s. Its employment field is directed to increase the employability of workers and the adaptability of labor market regimes. The book argues that this social-liberal approach is best explained with a set of ideas strategically advanced by 'thought communities' in the policy process. It traces the success of this new approach in the debates among academic experts and policy-makers in the mid-1990s, the decisions leading to the adoption of the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the establishment of the approach in the policy field between 1997-2007. The author explores the processes through which ideas came to matter in the policy process. At every stage, the claim that ideas played a predominant role is strengthened by addressing the most viable alternative explanations such as institutional constraints set by Economic and Monetary Union and the preferences of political leaders.

In 2004 the European Union and NATO each added ten new member states, most from the post-communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe. In order to prepare for membership, these countries had to make many thousands of institutional and legal adjustments. Indeed, they often tried to modernize in just a few years, implementing practices that evolved over many decades in Western Europe. This book emphasizes the way that policy elites in Central and Eastern Europe often 'ordered from the menu' of established Western practices. When did this emulation of Western practices succeed and when did it result in a fiasco? Professor Jacoby examines empirical cases in agriculture, regional policy, consumer protection, health care, civilian control of the military, and military professionalism from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, and the Ukraine. The book addresses debates in institutionalist theory, including conditionality, Europeanization, and external influences on democratic and market transitions.

The book examines the economic crisis in the European Union and its consequences for European integration and the member states. Discussing the provisions introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, from the effects of macroeconomic monitoring to the restraints produced by the Fiscal Compact, it offers an analysis of the European Union's current situation and the effects of the measures adopted to manage the crisis, also making reference to how Europe is perceived by its citizens. Moreover, the chapters offer thoughts on the European integration process, in particular the effects that the policies adopted to tackle the crisis have had on the economic and financial sovereignty of the member states. This detailed examination of the situation of the EU between the Treaty of Lisbon and the Fiscal Compact is characterized by an original multidisciplinary approach that offers an articulate reflection on the criticalities that affect the actions of both European and national institutions.

The integration of the European Union may well be a worthwhile enterprise bringing many economic and social advantages, but integration faces many obstacles, from attachment to nationalism to opposition to a federal governmental system. Feld examines how the European Union countries arrived at their current situation and the prospects for further strengthening of ties. Feld contends that, given appropriate leadership in some EU member states, more and more citizens may begin to realize the advantages that flow from an effective combined effort, including a common currency capable of bringing extensive economic and social benefits to the EU population. As Feld maintains, the shape of future developments will depend on the number of added EU members and their economic and sociological histories. A work of value to students and researchers involved with the political and economic integration of Europe.

This book provides a detailed study into whether Ministers in the Council vote the same way as Members of the European Parliament if they are from the same national party. The author explores the voting behavior of national representatives at the EU level, and this analysis is combined with insights from interviews with practitioners to shed light on the influence of national parties in the legislative process of the EU. This influence is found to be limited, as ministers in the Council and Members of the European Parliament submit to the constraints in their respective institutions rather than strictly voting along party lines. The study enhances our knowledge not only with regard to the role of national parties at the EU level, but also concerning the inter- and intra-institutional decision-making processes in the European Union. This book will particularly be of use to scholars and upper-level students interested in EU studies, legislative behaviour, and party politics.

This book consists of a collection of essays that deal with glocalization in Europe, including the idea of Europeanization as glocalization. The contributors deal with a range of topics including migration, media, football, beauty, Christianity, democracy and the European Union.

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.

This book analyses the ongoing reform of the European economic union in the light of the new objective of 'stability of the euro area as a whole' in Article 136(3) TFEU. On the basis of the relevant legal sources, it qualifies this objective as the obligation to preserve the existence of the monetary union, the establishment of which was an EU goal laid down in Article 3(4) TEU. While to date the objective has been achieved through fiscal and macroeconomic consolidation in the member states and the activation of stabilisation mechanisms in cases of emergency, the book argues that full stability requires a better system of economic governance, either through a process of partial fiscal centralisation or the return to a more efficient and sustainable market discipline of public finances. It also analyses the concrete legal challenges these raise, including compliance with the conferral principle, the longstanding democratic deficit of the governance and the balance between financial solidarity and fiscal responsibility.

Successive EU treaties may have instituted a common framework for fighting racial discrimination and intolerance across Europe, but it is a framework that masks the significant differences that arise as a result of national context: for example, pre-existing national anti-racist policies and legislation; the degree of success, character and development of anti-racist movements as well as the political, socio-economic and cultural context in which these policies and movements arise. The aim of this book is to provide an understanding of these different national contexts by exploring the nature of anti-racist movements in six different EU member states and their relationship to political institutions and policy-making, while also reflecting on the impact of the new European sphere of decision-making. Drawing on extensive primary research involving interviews with movement and policy actors at the national and EU level, the book sheds light on the nature of racism and responses to it across Europe, analysing the impact of Europeanisation of policy-making on the sector, and exploring north-south and east-west differences and patterns of convergence.

Macro-regional strategies seek to improve the interplay of the EU with existing regimes and institutions, and foster coherence of transnational policies. Drawing on macro-regional governance and Europeanization, this edited volume provides an overview of processes of macro-regionalization in Europe displaying evidence of their significant impact.

This book assesses the instruments and measures geared towards determining the EU's relations with it's neighbours. These are channelled on the one hand by the enlargement policy focusing on the Western Balkans and on the other hand by the neighbourhood policy which will enable the integration of Central and Eastern European neighbouring countries without offering membership. Both of these policies have strong local and regional effects in the EU's neighbouring countries. However, little attention has been paid to the perceptions of and impact of these policies in the neighbouring countries themselves. By presenting theoretical contributions and empirical case studies drawing on qualitative and ethnographic fieldwork, this book provides new insights that will be of great interest for students, researchers and practitioners in the fields of Geography, Sociology, Political Science and European Studies.

In this timely volume, the ongoing, dramatic economic and geopolitical changes in NAFTA and the European Union are examined. Gianaris pays particular attention to the potential for stronger economic cooperation between North America and Western Europe. This unique book deals with similarities in economic organizations and related fiscal and monetary policies as they affect trade and financial transactions between these regions, and provides a detailed examination of trade and investment relations, capital flows, and currency realignments as well as transatlantic joint ventures. In addition, it deals with problems of privatization, employee participation, closer integration, and the challenge of enlarging NAFTA to include other Latin American countries and the European Union to include Eastern Europe. Gianaris weaves together a historical framework with comparative studies of the nation-states of NAFTA and the European Union. He discusses structural changes and the main problems and developments in the relationships between NAFTA and the European Union as well as problems of mutual trade, investments, and joint ventures. A useful book for students, scholars, and investors with a broad range of interests in the American and European continents.

This book tells the inside story of Europe's first presidential campaign, the candidates, how they were chosen, the campaign trail, the TV debates and the tense negotiations which followed. It explains what led to this new way of choosing the Commission president and what it means for the future of the EU.

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.

Moving from the birth of Europe to the current crisis, this text questions the relevance of the Union today. Will Europe sink back into instability and rivalry? Is the sovereign debt crisis merely the beginning of intractable economic challenges? These pressing issues are addressed in a topical portrait of a Europe in decline.

Critics like to depict the European Union as undemocratic and unpopular, but their arguments are too often based on myths and misunderstandings. This does us all a disservice, and in this period of uncertainty about the future of Europe it is more important than ever that we have a firm grasp of the issues at stake. This powerful new book debunks the misconceptions surrounding the EU and makes a compelling and comprehensive case for the benefits of European integration. It shows how the EU has improved the lives of Europeans in countless ways, and how it has given Europe a powerful presence on the international stage. Guaranteed to illuminate as well as spark debate, this book will appeal to anyone who seeks to better understand what Europe means and why it matters.

How does policy-making trigger the institutionalization of steering capacities? This book investigates this question by tackling why the European Commission expanded competences that were intentionally limited to the specific pre-accession context prior the 2004/07 EU enlargement. Five cases studies trace the policy development from before to after enlargement. Based on a two-level functional explanation that links neo-functional and the arena of powers approaches, the author shows that member states tolerate far-reaching capacity expansions, but intervene actively if policies are expected to entail political clout that threatens to strengthen direct political relationships between the EU-level and citizens.

This comparative work examines the political and social context of interest groups in Malta and Ireland, two small island states at the periphery of an integrated continent. The author explores the impact of the European Union on their civil society's organizations and their gradual transformation at differing speeds and logics of Europeanization.

This volume provides a novel and relational sociological approach to the study of EU civil society. It focuses on the interactions and interrelations between civil society actors and the forms of capital that structure the fields and sub-fields of EU civil society, through new and important empirical studies on organized EU civil society.

What does political representation in the European Union look like? This volume argues that the transformation of representation in the EU is characterized by diversification processes, albeit with an uncertain ability to re-configure the link between representation and democracy.

This book explores the changing nature of party competition in four West European countries. It pays special attention to how different ideological positions give rise to contradictory cues when parties engage with atypical election issues like the EU and immigration.