This volume presents a theory of constitutionalization as well as comparative analyses and case studies to underscore the claim that the European integration process itself engenders a democratic self-healing mechanism. There exists a consensus among academics, politicians, and the public that the European Union suffers from a 'democratic deficit'. But how can it be resolved? This book deals with two core areas central for the development of the liberal-democratic constitutional state: the extension of the powers of representative assemblies and the institutionalization of human rights. The European Union has made remarkable progress in these two areas over the past half century. Whenever a planned step of European integration through transfers of sovereignty threatens to undermine domestic standards of parliamentary control and human rights standards, political elites in the member states regularly mobilize to counteract these developments. The proponents of the Union's 'constitutionalization' regularly invoke democratic and human rights norms shared by all members of the European Union to successfully exercise moral pressure on the sceptics of further constitutionalization. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

Two decades on from the start of the Singing Revolution, and five years on from the Baltic States entry to the European Union, the time is ripe to take stock of Estonia s remarkable transition from Soviet Republic to EU member state and address the challenges - some new, some ongoing - and uncertainties that have arisen following the country s entry to the EU.

This book locates the post-accession period within the broader sweep of post-communist transition and diagnoses the problems facing Estonia as the global economic downturn takes hold and a new mood of pessimism reigns in Central and Eastern Europe. Until recently, Estonia enjoyed an international reputation as an emerging high-growth tiger economy and reform pioneer, not least in the sphere of IT. This economic success story, however, masked the continued problematic political and social legacies of the Soviet period, including the issue of ethnic integration, which again hit the headlines following riots in Tallinn in April 2007.

This fully up-to-date appraisal - the first in English - covers all of the key issues, and will appeal to specialists in Baltic and Central and Eastern European politics and society, as well as to anyone with an interest in European integration more generally.

This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Baltic Studies.

Nature and agriculture both shape the European countryside and one of the main challenges for the years to come will be to strengthen their interaction for the future development of rural areas. In this valuable and highly topical book, the authors demonstrate how economics and ecology can play a critical role in maintaining and sustaining this relationship.The book identifies the dilemmas facing European agriculture and explores their economic and ecological consequences. The authors believe a better understanding of these problems will be crucial in recognising the potential options for the future role of agriculture and nature policy and will guide the identification of suitable policy instruments. They highlight current threats to the relationship between agriculture and nature - such as abandonment and intensification - and demonstrate how these problems can be resolved by a rational policy mix. The book also provides extensive empirical evidence from four case studies and concludes by scrutinising the major changes in market conditions and the Common Agricultural Policy which could upset this important but fragile balance between agriculture and nature. Providing a state-of-the-art overview of current thinking on the relationship between agriculture and nature in the context of EU policy, this book will be welcomed by policymakers and those studying and working in the fields of agricultural and resource economics, geography, and agri-business.

This book examines just what the European Union is, in the context of the ongoing structural transformation of the global system. The author develops an integrated approach to global transformations, drawing on geopolitics, political geography, international relations, economics, economic and political history, political economy and macro-sociology to discuss how this supra-state organisation, that shares and pools the sovereignty of some of the wealthiest states of the modern world, makes sense. The book:

• Interprets the ongoing transformation of west European public authority in the context of the global geopolitical economy of competition, cooperation and conflict
• Examines the consequences of west European integration for the global system in a longue-dur?e perspective, developing a new, geopolitical dialect within world-systems analysis, sharpening some of the conceptual tools developed by its paradigm-setters.
• Develops a new conceptualization for the EU's global geopolitical strategy, which the author describes this strategy as the elasticity of size

Developing a deeper understanding of global social change and west European strategies of global advantage-maintenance and power-management, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Politics, International Politics, International Relations Theory and Globalization Studies.

The new edition of this accessible introduction to the history of the European Union (EU) has been fully revised and updated to reflect the significant changes within the EU over the past decade. Revealing the politics beneath the surface, national rivalries and changing positions behind events, meetings and treaty negotiations, the text:

• provides a thematic history of European economic and political integration in its economic, military, monetary and political contexts
• outlines the major schools of thought regarding the causes and motives for European economic integration including the theories of Lipgens, Haas and Milward
• considers the economic and political reasons for establishing supranational organisations
• evaluates the impact of the collapse of communism on the EU, its policy implications and member states? responses
• contains new and updated material on the Euro, enlargement of the EU, the constitutional debate, EU economic, monetary and foreign policies and other key recent developments.

Ideal introductory reading for those new to the study of the EU seeking a concise and up-to-date account of the political and economic development of the EU, Origins & Development of the European Union is essential for all students of European politics, European history and those looking to gain a thorough understanding of contemporary politics.

The new edition of this accessible introduction to the history of the European Union (EU) has been fully revised and updated to reflect the significant changes within the EU over the past decade. Revealing the politics beneath the surface, national rivalries and changing positions behind events, meetings and treaty negotiations, the text: provides a thematic history of European economic and political integration in its economic, military, monetary and political contexts outlines the major schools of thought regarding the causes and motives for European economic integration including the theories of Lipgens, Haas and Milward considers the economic and political reasons for establishing supranational organisations evaluates the impact of the collapse of communism on the EU, its policy implications and member states' responses contains new and updated material on the Euro, enlargement of the EU, the constitutional debate, EU economic, monetary and foreign policies and other key recent developments. Ideal introductory reading for those new to the study of the EU seeking a concise and up-to-date account of the political and economic development of the EU, Origins & Development of the European Union is essential for all students of European politics, European history and those looking to gain a thorough understanding of contemporary politics.

This book builds a bridge between current research in space policy and contemporary European political studies by addressing developments in European space policy and its significance for European integration. It answers questions central to European studies applying them to the burgeoning field of EU space policy and takes an interdisciplinary approach, examining space policy in the light of a range of policy areas including common foreign security policy, technology policy, transport policy and internal market. Using a theoretical framework based around notions of neo-institutionalism to evaluate the evolving nature of space policy in Europe, the book provides clear insights into the development of the sector and the resulting developments made to the European political landscape. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of Space policy, EU studies/politics, European Studies/Politics, International Relations, Political Science, History Economics and Security Studies.

This book provides an empirical understanding of how EU-level defence industrial cooperation functions in practice. Using the Liberal Intergovernmental theoretical model, the book argues that while national economic preferences are an essential factor of government interests they only explain part of the dynamic that leads to the development of defence industrial policy at EU level. Moving beyond a simple adumbration of economic preferences, it shows how the EU's institutional framework and corpus of law are used by governments to reaffirm their position as the ultimate arbiter and promoter of national economic preferences in the defence industrial sector. To this end, the work asks why and how EU member state governments, European defence firms, and EU institutions developed EU-level defence industrial policy between 2003 and 2009. The book also analyses significant policy developments, including the establishment of a European Defence Agency and two EU Directives on equipment transfers and defence procurement. This book will be of much interest to students of EU policy, defence studies, security studies and International Relations in general.

Over the last twenty years, the role of national parliaments in EU affairs has gained considerable academic attention. Much of the literature, however, has focused on parliamentary scrutiny and control in EU affairs. What tends to be generally overlooked is that the parliamentary communication function is at least as important in EU politics as the control function. Democratic legitimacy depends on a vibrant public debate on political solutions and alternatives to allow citizens to make informed political (electoral) choices and to exercise democratic control. Within the EU, it is precisely the opacity of policy-making processes and the lack of public discourse that have been defined as core problems of democratic legitimacy. Here, parliaments have the potential to provide an ideal arena for the deliberation of important European issues and thus to help overcome the much-lamented distance between European policy processes and the citizens. Yet, despite parliaments' central relevance for the legitimacy of European politics, the parliamentary communication function remains so far under researched. The volume aims at filling this gap by providing both qualitative and quantitative comparative data on various communication efforts by national parliaments. This book was originally published as a special issue in the Journal of Legislative Studies.

This book examines accountability in the EU from different perspectives and considers whether EU citizens have real opportunities for holding decision-makers accountable. This book critically analyses five arguments which claim there are sufficient means for holding decision-makers to account in the Union. The authors examine:

• The argument that we should rethink the meaning of accountability in the EU context
• The claim that there is no accountability deficit in the EU because member states have the power to retrieve all delegated competencies
• The assertion that EU citizens have effective mechanisms for holding those responsible for legislative decision-making to account
• The contention that the arrangements that obtain at present for holding the executive power in the EU to account are acceptable
• The belief that the involvement of organised civil society can work as an alternative to traditional forms of accountability

The main conclusion is that the current institutional set-up and practice of decision-making in the EU is one that merely creates an illusion of accountability.

Using a strict framework focusing on the difference between formal mechanisms and actual opportunities for accountability, this highly coherent volume will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, especially those interested in the democratic foundations of the European political system.

This book explores the positions of small EU members in approaching external energy security, using Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia as case studies. It examines when small EU members support and when they oppose further development of cooperation at the European level in external energy security and argues that their preferences depend on their perceived ability to deal with the challenges of their energy policies. It finds that small EU members whose decision-makers believe that their states can successfully deal with these challenges do not support the deepening of European integration in external energy security as this would mean a loss of competences (and vice-versa), concluding that European integration is considered to be a response to perceived vulnerability. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and professionals in EU politics and foreign policy, energy policy and security, and more broadly to security studies, European politics and international relations.

Surveying the European Unionâ s evolution from the Rome Treaty to the present, The Emerging European Union captures the full story of Europeâ s ongoing integration, its changing identity, and its increasing importance as a global actor in the 21st Century. This textâ s concise but comprehensive overview of the history, institutions, and policies of the European Union lays out the major elements of the European integration and explain how the European Union functions. Emphasizing competing intergovernmental and supranational forces, this text explains the origins and future of the European Union as well as its political uniqueness.

The new edition of this best-selling text provides the most up-to-date single volume history of the European Union from its origins through to the present day. Fully updated and revised throughout, this is the ideal starting point for students and others wishing to read an accessible, readable and comprehensive account of the development of the EU. Topics new to this edition: The impact of the Euro and economic and monetary union. Analysis of post-9/11 splits in the EU over Afghanistan and Iraq, and debates on the New European security order and the threat posed by terrorism. The enlargement of the EU to 27 members and discussions over further expansion. The initial failure of the EU Constitutional Treaty. The growth in Euroscepticism across the continent. An engaging contribution to the understanding of the past, present and uncertain future of European integration, European Union is essential reading for all students of European history, European Union politics, and International Relations.

This edited volume sets out to explore the paradox that the European Union (EU) produces policies with strategic qualities, but lacks the institutions and concepts to engage in strategic reasoning and action proper.
The book has a two-fold agenda, exploring current EU external policies that are, or seem to be, linked to strategic priorities, and also studying the concept of strategy in the particular context of EU decision- and policymaking.
The volume first examines the character of the Union as a strategic actor at this stage of its development. It then explores the ability of the Union to act and otherwise influence both its periphery and the wider world, focusing in particular on how it is perceived by other actors. The final section comprises personal assessments by a group of contributors regarding the character of the union as a strategic actor in the present and future. When these are pieced together, a picture emerges of a European strategy in the making, albeit one that so far is modest and partial.
This book will be of interest to students of European Security, European Politics and IR.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the European Union is an increasingly dense transnational social and political space. More and more non-governmental organisations develop transnational links, which are usually more intensive within the EU, even if they often extend beyond its borders to the wider world.
This multi-disciplinary volume explores the importance of these structures, actors and relations for EU and European governance in the context of the theoretical debate about European integration in the social sciences. This book delivers:
theoretical chapters examining and discussing the main conceptual perspectives to studying the transnational EU to provide a current overview
empirical case studies of transnationalism in practice on transnational party, trade union and police cooperation to transnational education policy-making and transnational consensus-building in EMU governance.
This volume will be of great interest to students in social sciences, contemporary history and law.

This is a key reference text presenting the latest first-rate approaches to the study of European enlargement.

Developed and significantly expanded from a special issue of the leading Journal of European Public Policy, this new volume draws on the insights from the recently emerging theoretically-informed literature on the EU's eastern enlargement and complements these studies with original articles that combine a theoretical approach with comparative analyses.

These expert contributors focus on the broader theoretical debates and their implications for the enlargement of the EU, as well as placing the enlargement of the EU within the broader context of the expansion of international organisations and the study of institutions in international relations.

The EU policy process is dependent on negotiations as a mode of reaching agreements on, and implementing, common policies. The EU negotiations differ from traditional international negotiations in several respects and this book presents a detailed analysis of the processes while examining their distinguishing features.
The authors explore the variety of negotiation processes, the continuity and institutionalization of negotiation processes as well as the involvement of a variety of actors besides governments, often linked in informal networks. Going beyond the common distinctions based on issue-areas or the EU as negotiation arena as opposed to negotiating actor externally, the authors explore the impact of different stages in the policy process and the nature of the external negotiating partner.

The new edition of this best-selling text provides the most up-to-date single volume history of the European Union from its origins through to the present day. Fully updated and revised throughout, this is the ideal starting point for students and others wishing to read an accessible, readable and comprehensive account of the development of the EU. Topics new to this edition: The impact of the Euro and economic and monetary union. Analysis of post-9/11 splits in the EU over Afghanistan and Iraq, and debates on the New European security order and the threat posed by terrorism. The enlargement of the EU to 27 members and discussions over further expansion. The initial failure of the EU Constitutional Treaty. The growth in Euroscepticism across the continent. An engaging contribution to the understanding of the past, present and uncertain future of European integration, European Union is essential reading for all students of European history, European Union politics, and International Relations.

This book discusses the future of the European Union following the failure of the Constitutional and reform treaties, examining the transformations, dynamics and major issues facing present-day Europe.

Discussing key questions relating to the future of the European project, this book brings together leading academics and practitioners, including: Adrienne H?ritier, Jan Zielonka, Yves M?ny, Maurizio Cotta, Philippe Schmitter, ECJ Advocate General Miguel Maduro and former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox. These contributors provide provocative and innovative accounts of developments within the European Union, contrasting theoretical reflections with a more professional perspective based on first-hand experience in running European affairs. The contributions focus on three key challenges: enlargement, the end of the permissive consensus and the need for democratization of the European Union, considering questions such as:

• What does Europe represent to neighbouring countries and how is it addressing their expectations?
• How could a larger Union be governed efficiently?
• Are European citizens willing to delegate responsibility to their leaders to tackle European integration?
• Is it accurate to accuse the European Union of a "democratic deficit"?

Institutional Challenges in Post-Constitutional Europe will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, especially those with an interest in European integration/enlargement, constitutionalism, and democratization.

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.

The role of regions in the European Union has been frequently debated since the 1980s. This comprehensive book provides a thorough overview of the issue from a variety of perspectives, analysing regional governance and territorial dynamics in the EU and its member states. Focusing on the implications of the democratisation-regionalisation nexus, it argues that a 'Europe with the regions' may promote good governance and ameliorate the democratic deficits of the EU. The book's contributions offer a multidisciplinary approach to the study of governance in the EU and highlight the significance of regions and regionalisation for the EU's future. Through a combination of empirical, conceptual, theoretical and normative approaches, chapters address both intra-state and transnational developments to provide a fresh and exciting addition to the literature on new regionalism and democratic theory. Favouring a modest notion of a 'Europe with the regions' rather than the dominant maximalist vision, it embeds these developments in the ongoing debate about the future of the EU. Students and academics exploring regional governance and the EU will find this book's unique conclusions and crucial insights of great value. The book's distinct perspective on European governance will also be of benefit to policy-makers and EU think-tanks.

This clear and engaging text examines the process and politics of the European UnionOs OEasternO enlargement, beginning with its initial response to the 1989 revolution up through the Helsinki summit decisions of December 1999. Michael Baun explores such topics as the EUOs original decision to enlarge, the pre-accession strategy for prospective members, the key political decisions on launching and expanding the accession negotiations, and the actual progress of the negotiations. He also examines the EUOs efforts to reform its policies and institutions in advance of enlargement. Throughout, Baun weaves in understandable explanations of the complex multilevel process of EU decisionmaking. He concludes by considering the limits of enlargement and its consequences for the EUOs future development.

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 treaty framework of the European Union seems to be doomed to fail, evidenced by the decline of the Constitutional Treaty and by the current fate of the Lisbon treaty. By presenting an extensive quantitative study of the Intergovernmental Conference of 1996/7 prior to the Treaty of Amsterdam, the authors argue that these negotiations reveal the major challenges of European integration. Drawing on advanced statistical methods, 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 evaluations of negotiations and implementation studies, and delivers new insights on decision-making within the European Union.

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.

Brilliantly witty and full of irreverent fun, this is a tongue-in-cheek look at Europe by leading cartoonist Kipper Williams, whose work regularly appears in the Guardian and The Spectator. From Brussels red tape to tax-dodging corporations, from batty nationalists to plotting Europhiles, from Mrs Merkel to Her Majesty: Kipper Williams finds all the ingredients for comedy in the great Euro debate. He covers international events (Greece's financial troubles, the refugee crisis) and more local issues (the PM's rivalry with Boris Johnson and, of course, the 2016 referendum on Brexit), not to mention the more bizarre and ludicrous sides of the EU and British attitudes to our neighbours across the Channel.

In May 2004, eight former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe acceded to the European Union.

This new book examines the Eastern expansion of the EU through a tripartite structure, developing an empirical, conceptual and institutional analysis to provide a rounded and substantive account of EU enlargement, with new theoretical insights. The foreword is by written by Pat Cox, former president of the European Parliament.

John O'Brennan also explores:

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• why the EU decided to expand its membership
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• what factors drove this process forward?
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• how did the institutional environment of the EU influence enlargement outcomes?
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In this context he comprehensively covers the role of the European Council, Commission and Parliament.

This important volume will of great interest to students and scholars of European politics and European Union studies.