European Union: Power And Policy-making (routledge Research In European Public Policy)

This innovative and lively book draws upon recent and ongoing research on the EU policy process and utilizes theoretical concepts from both international relations and public policy studies. The contributors are some of the best-known writers on European politics and policy making. Their contibutions offer accessible and stimulating introductions to the key insitutions of the EU, providing the reader with a detailed knowledge of how policy is made and implemented. Jeremy Richardson, Sonia Mazey, Laura Cram, Guy Peters, David Judge, David Earnshaw, Geoffrey Edwards, Vincent Wright, Daniel Wincott, Mark Franklin, Michael Keating, Gerda Falkner, Mike Smith, Gia Social Sciences Book Cover 1 Title 4 Contents 5 List of tables 8 Notes on contributors 9 Preface 10 Policy-making in the EU: Interests, ideas and garbage cans of primeval soup 14 The development of the European idea: From sectoral integration to political union 35 Integration theory and the study of the European policy process 51 Agenda-setting in the European Union 72 A maturing bureaucracy? The role of the Commission in the policy process 88 From co-operation to co-decision: The European Parliament's path to legislative power 107 National sovereignty vs integration? The Council of Ministers 138 The national co-ordination of European policy-making: Negotiating the quagmire 159 European elections and the European voter 198 The logic of organisation: Interest groups 211 By-passing the nation state? Regions and the EU policy process 227 Enlarging the European Union 244 The EU as an international actor 258 A European regulatory state? 274 Eroding EU policies: Implementation gaps, cheating and re-steering 289 Index 306 The contributors offer stimulating introductions to the key insitutions of the EU, providing the reader with detailed knowledge of how policy is made and implemented. European Union is a superbly accessible textbook.