European Union: Power and policy-making, 2nd ed.

Book abstract:

The first edition of this volume was published in 1996. The focus of this new edition is to explain to students of European integration the ways in which power is exercised within the EU today. The focus is on the policy-making process. What role do institutions and other actors play in deciding what European policy is about and in determining the content of the enormous mass of European legislation now in place?

Written by some of the leading authorities in the field, this edition has been significantly improved to provide students with even more comprehensive coverage of how European Union policy is made. The new edition contains three new chapters on parliaments and policy-making; Monetary union and integration; and democracy and accountability in the EU. In addition, all chapters have been fully revised and updated to reflect the latest theoretical and empirical developments in the EU policy process.

Topics covered include: European integration; agenda-setting; the European Commission; Parliaments; the Council of Ministers; the Court of Justice; European elections; interest groups; the regions and regionalism; enlargement; European regulation; European Monetary Union; and democracy and accountability. Contributions come from leading authors from all over the world. They include: Torbjörn Bergman, Laura Cram, Gerda Falkner, Michael Keating, Jeremy Richardson, Mark Thatcher and the late Vincent Wright.

Jeremy Richardson is Nuffield Professor of Comparative European Politics, Director of the Centre for European Politics, Economics and Society and Fellow of Nuffield College, University of Oxford.