What Is the European Union: Nature and Prospects

ISBN-13: 9781403941817 / Angielski / Twarda / 2005 / 240 str.

Paul Magnette

Opis

This distinctive new text provides an overview and assessment of key debates about the political character of the EU. Arguing that it is best seen as an international organization - albeit of a particularly integrated kind - Paul Magnette shows how the need to accommodate a range of state interests shapes the EU political system and assesses the implications for its democratic functioning; for institutions and policy; and for Europeanization and integration.

Spis treści

Introduction.- Europeanization and its Limits.- Policy-making in a Union of States.- Cooperation and Conflict: The Union and its States.- Competing for Leadership: Commission Vs Council.- Building Compromise in a Divided Polity.- Representation and Accountability: A Semi-Parliamentary Regime.- In the Shadow of the Law: Politics and the Court.- Politics and the People: A Fragmented Public Sphere.- Participation and Citizenship: Towards a Trans-national Democracy?.- Conclusion: The Union, Its Nature and Value.

O autorze

PAUL MAGNETTE is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for European Studies, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. He also teaches at Sciences-po, Paris.