Governing the European economy

Book abstract:

This is one of three books that form the core of the Open University course 'Governing Europe'. Each book is designed to work as an independent text and as part of a complementary series for use by undergraduates. 'Governing the European economy' is particularly relevant for students of European economic integration and the nature of the European Union (EU).

The book aims to enable students to understand the nature and concept of governance in a European economic context; to review the economic history of the EU and the key economic relationships of the EU and the Member States; to distinguish between both 'de facto' and 'de jure' integrative and disintegrative processes; to examine competing ideas of a European 'regulatory order', 'market system' or set of 'self-organizing networks' to capture the characteristics of the contemporary European economy; and to consider questions raised by technological innovation and the environment to locate Europe within the changes and trends in the international and global political economy.

The ten chapters are designed to be read as a collective enterprise, however they can also be read separately since each offers a self-contained analysis of the topic under consideration. This should prove an important text for all students of European economic integration across politics, international studies, economics, geography, sociology and European studies.

The editor, Grahame Thompson, is Professor of Political Economy at the Open University.