European governance. Views from the UK on democracy, participation and policy-making in the EU

Book abstract:

This book is published by the Federal Trust, whose aim is to enlighten public debate on federal issues of national, continental and global government.

The European Commission White Paper on Governance was issued in July 2001 and defined governance as 'rules, processes and behaviour that affect the way in which powers are exercised at European level, particularly as regards openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence'.

This work takes a look at those elements of governance from the British perspective, which in general has been a sceptical perspective. The book is organised in five parts and part one provides the background to the governance debate. The relevance of Europe to the ordinary citizen and the extent to which he/she might feel a sense of ownership is the substance of part two. The nuts and bolts of European politics and the 'spanner handlers' are explored in part three, which examines the role of local and regional authorities in the processes of lawmaking, regulation and implementation and the part played by the voluntary sector. Part four looks at the role of the EU in global governance and the part it plays in global trade regulation. The final part has contributions from three British MEPs. They offer views on the wider debate on the future of Europe, and explore the significance of the White Paper and its five principles of good governance and the potential for those being put into practice.

Federal Trust books are distributed by Kogan Page.