Culture is one of the most complex and contested fields of European integration. This book analyzes EU cultural politics since their emergence in the 1980s with a particular focus on the European Capital of Culture program, the flagship of EU cultural policy. It discusses both the central as well as local levels and contextualizes EU policies with programmes of other European organisations, such as the Council of Europe.

By asking what "Europe" actually means for European cultural policy, the book goes beyond the confines of official organizations and the political sphere,...

Asylum and migration are amongst the most contentious political issues in Europe and it has been argued that migrants and asylum-seekers have been securitized in the EU and socially constructed as security threats.

This book analyses the extent and the modalities of the securitization of asylum-seekers and refugees in the European Union (EU). It seeks to analytically distinguish the asylum policy of the EU from its policies on migrants and border controls on the basis of the literature on 'venue-shopping' and policy venues. The authors argue that the development of the EU...

This book provides a detailed examination of the complex negotiation processes surrounding intergovernmental conferences in the European Union. Since the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and its 'appendix', the Treaty of Nice in 2002, any reform of the constitutional framework of the European Union experiences formidable difficulties. By presenting an extensive study of the Intergovernmental Conference of 1996/7 prior to the Treaty of Amsterdam, the authors argue that these negotiations reveal major challenges of European integration. They contend that multi-level negotiations require an...

Different survey-based and case study research has shown that, since the 1980s, minority nationalist parties have become increasingly supportive of European integration. However, this account of minority nationalist party attitudes towards Europe is problematic in several respects. This book makes a major contribution to the academic literature by undertaking a comparative study of the attitudes of minority nationalist parties towards European integration. The volume provides: A systematic analysis of the ways in which minority nationalist party attitudes towards European integration have...

The post-Cold War era saw an unexpected increase in intra-state violence against ethnic and religious groups, brutal civil wars and asymmetric conflicts. Those crises posed fundamental questions for the European Union and its member states, to which Europe has so far proven unable to develop satisfactory answers.

This book contends that public debates over wars and humanitarian military interventions after the Cold War represent an evolving process of comprehension and collective interpretation of new realities. Employing innovative computer-linguistic methods, it examines the...

Regulatory reforms in the EU's Eastern neighbourhood countries are not as sluggish as often perceived. Rule enforcement is happening despite the presence of domestic veto players who favour the status quo, the lack of EU membership perspective and the presence of Russia as an alternative governance provider.

Using Ukraine as a primary case study, this book examines why convergence with transnational market rules varies across different policy sectors within the Eastern neighbourhood countries. It analyzes the drivers of regulatory change and explores the conditions...

Several years after the first Greek bailout, the integration project of the European Union faces an interlocking set of political, economic, legal and social challenges that go to the very core of its existence. Austerity is the order of the day, and citizens in both debtor and creditor states increasingly turn to the political movements of the far left and right, anti-politics and street protests to vent their frustration.

This book demonstrates the limits of constitutionalism in the EU. It explores the 'twin crises' - the failure of the Constitutional Treaty in 2005 and the more...

This book examines Europeanization in the European Economic Area (EEA), exploring whether non-member states can have an input into EU decision-making and whether the EU can successfully export its policies within the framework of the EEA.

Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, while not EU member states, are members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and signatories of the EEA Agreement. The Agreement allows participation in the EU s internal market but also requires extensive and continuous adaptation to EU rules. Whilst existing literature is limited mainly to the...

This book examines lobbying in EU foreign policy-making and the activities of non-state actors (NSAs), focusing on EU foreign policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It sheds light on the interactions between the EU and NSAs as well as the ways in which NSAs attempt to shape EU foreign policies. By analysing issues that have not yet received systematic attention in the literature, this book offers new insights into lobbying in EU foreign policy, EU relations surrounding the conflict and the EU's broader role in the peace process.

The book will be of key interest to scholars and...