The 'Community Method': Obstinate or Obsolete (Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics)

Sixty years after its invention, the operational system of the European Union remains little-understood. The 'Community Method' provides a comprehensive empirical analysis of the functioning and achievements of the EU. Europe is said to be in crisis. National leaders can seem to be more concerned with domestic issues than with identifying options which serve the interests of all European states, and a decade of institutional debate has not provided European citizens with a clear sense of direction. The European Union is often slow to respond to the crises with which it is faced and the quality of its responses has been called into question. Sixty years after its invention, the operational system of the European Union still remains little-understood. This book provides a comprehensive empirical analysis of its functioning and achievements. The purpose of the volume, which includes contributions from leading scholars, is twofold. First, it aims to improve our understanding of the operation of the 'Community method,' shedding new light on its successes and failures. Secondly, it discusses to what extent the EU of today can be said to still be operating according to this model Cover......Page 1 Series page......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 List of Tables......Page 8 List of Figures......Page 9 Preface......Page 10 Contributors......Page 12 Part I Introduction......Page 14 1 The ‘Community Method’ at Sixty......Page 16 2 Is the Community Method Still Viable?......Page 29 Part II The Community Method at Work......Page 54 3 Law-Making in the Shadow of Judicial Politics......Page 56 4 The European Parliament and the Community Method......Page 73 5 Conflict Resolution in the Council by Linkage of Commission Proposals......Page 89 Part III Alternatives to the Community Method......Page 102 6 The Political and Security Committee: A Case Study in ‘Supranational Intergovernmentalism’......Page 104 7 Deviations from and Alternatives to the Community Method in Justice and Home Affairs......Page 131 8 Is the Open Method of Coordination an Alternative to the Community Method?......Page 148 Part IV Revisiting the Debate on New Modes of Governance......Page 162 9 In the Shadow of Hierarchy: Governance as a Tool of Government......Page 164 10 Social Europe: Why Hard Law Remains Important......Page 179 11 The ‘Governance Turn’ Revisited......Page 199 Conclusion: Obstinate or Obsolete?......Page 212 Bibliography......Page 218 Index......Page 240 Introduction The Community Method at Sixty / Renaud Dehousse Is the Community Method Still Viable? / Giandomenico Majone II. The Community Method at Work / Law-Making in the Shadow of Judicial Politics / Susanne K. Schmidt / The European Parliament and the Community Method / Olivier Costa Conflict Resolution in the Council by Linkage of Commission Proposals / Thomas König and Dirk Junge III. Alternatives to the Community Method The Political and Security Committee : a Case Study in 'Supranational Intergovernmentalism' / Jolyon Howorth Deviations from and Alternatives to the Community Method in Justice and Home Affairs / Jörg Monar Is the Open Method of Coordination an Alternative to the Community Method? / Jonathan Zeitlin IV. Revisiting the Debate on New Modes of Governance In the Shadow of Hierarchy : The Community Method as an Instrument of Government / Laura Cram Social Europe: Why Hard Law remains Important / Philippe Pochet The 'Governance Turn' Revisited / Laurie Boussaguet, Renaud Dehousse and Sophie Jacquot Conclusion : Obstinate or Obsolete? / Renaud Dehousse.