In 1981, the newly elected socialist government of France announced a septennat. The decentralization reforms, known as the Deferre Reforms after the then Minister of the Interior and Decentralization, have changed the politico-administrative landscape of France. This volume asks what changes - if any - occurred and looks at the implications for French public policy-making.

A key textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students of contemporary European politics, European Union: Power and policy-making 4th edition offers a comprehensive and accessible analysis of the European Union policy process. Intended to advance understanding of the EU as a now mature and ongoing policy system, this book addresses the central issues relating to the distribution of power and influence in the European Union including: Theoretical perspectives The roles of key institutions in the processing of policy problems Different channels of representation The EU as a policy-making state Written by a distinguished group of international scholars, this new edition will also appeal to the worldwide community of researchers on the EU. New to this edition: New chapters on The Politics of Multispeed Europe, The Distribution of Power Among Institutions, EU Agencies, Covert Integration in the European Union, and Political Representation and Democracy in the EU. New authors and theoretical approaches on many topics such as differentiated integration, opt-outs and multi-speed integration, negotiation and coalition building, the interplay of judicial and legislative policy-making, power distribution, agency behaviour, integration by subterfuge, the democratic deficit fully updated data and content throughout Jeremy Richardson is joined by a co-editor, Professor Sonia Mazey, for the fourth expanded edition of this highly regarded textbook on the EU. Jeremy Richardson is an Emeritus Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, UK, and Adjunct Professor at the National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is also Founder and Co-editor of the Journal of European Public Policy Sonia Mazey is a Professor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the College of Business and Law, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and formally a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, UK

A key textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students of contemporary European politics, European Union: Power and policy-making 4th edition offers a comprehensive and accessible analysis of the European Union policy process. Intended to advance understanding of the EU as a now mature and ongoing policy system, this book addresses the central issues relating to the distribution of power and influence in the European Union including: Theoretical perspectives The roles of key institutions in the processing of policy problems Different channels of representation The EU as a policy-making state Written by a distinguished group of international scholars, this new edition will also appeal to the worldwide community of researchers on the EU. New to this edition: New chapters on The Politics of Multispeed Europe, The Distribution of Power Among Institutions, EU Agencies, Covert Integration in the European Union, and Political Representation and Democracy in the EU. New authors and theoretical approaches on many topics such as differentiated integration, opt-outs and multi-speed integration, negotiation and coalition building, the interplay of judicial and legislative policy-making, power distribution, agency behaviour, integration by subterfuge, the democratic deficit fully updated data and content throughout Jeremy Richardson is joined by a co-editor, Professor Sonia Mazey, for the fourth expanded edition of this highly regarded textbook on the EU. Jeremy Richardson is an Emeritus Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, UK, and Adjunct Professor at the National Centre for Research on Europe, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is also Founder and Co-editor of the Journal of European Public Policy Sonia Mazey is a Professor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the College of Business and Law, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and formally a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, UK

Nuffield European Studies Series editors: Joachim Jens Hesse and Vincent Wright This series provides students and teachers in the social sciences and related disciplines with interdisciplinary and comparative works dealing with significant political, economic, legal, and social problems confronting European nation-states and the European Community. It will comprise both research monographs and the edited proceedings of conferences organized by the Centre for European Studies at Nuffield College, Oxford. The role of interest groups in the formulation of EC policy is a central aspect of the development of the European Community. This book is unique in providing both an academic analysis of the system and an insider's view of how lobbying actually works. The first part examines the consequences of the increasing transference of power to Brussels in terms of the EC policy process, the activities of the Commission of the EC as an `adolescent' bureaucracy, and the behaviour of interest associations at national and European level. Subsequent chapters look in detail at the wide range of interest groups involved in lobbying, including business, industry, the financial sector, and voluntary organizations. The combination of contributions from academic specialists and practitioners, including Commission officials and interest group leaders, will make this book uniquely interesting as a study of a key area of the evolving European policy process. Contributors: Lynn Collie, Martin Donnelly, Dick Eberlie, Wyn Grant, Brian Harvey, Robert Hull, Grant Jordan, Jeffrey Knight, Andrew McLaughlin, James Mitchell, Jean-Pierre Peckstadt, Jane Sargent