The state of the European Union

Book abstract:

The book begins with overviews of the European Union from internal and external perspectives. From the internal perspective, there are contributions on trends in European integration and the concept of direct effect. Two chapters then look at the common foreign and security policy and the relationship between Eastern enlargement and the Common Agricultural Policy, which is one of the major stumbling blocks to further enlargement. The social and environmental issues emphasised in the Amsterdam Treaty are considered in the following three chapters, while the next part of the book looks at European law in the context of devolution and a case study of the federal system of Germany is presented. The next two chapters consider co-operation between member states outside the community framework. The first of these examines the use of conventions in the area of private international law; the second focuses on the criminal law aspects of the Third Pillar of the Maastricht Treaty, which covers justice and home affairs. The final part of the book is concerned with economic issues: the role of the EU in the international trading system and the development and impact of economic and monetary union, from both an economic and a legal point of view.

The editor is Salvesen Professor of European Institutions at the Europa Institute, University of Edinburgh. He has written extensively on European law and has lectured widely throughout the European Union. The other contributors are drawn from British and other European universities.