List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Tables
List of Briefings
List of Fact Files
List of Controversies
Preface
Why Comparative Politics?
How This Book Is Organized
Features to Help You Learn
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
List of Country Abbreviations Used in Tables and Figures
PART I Setting the Scene: Origins, Analytical Perspectives and Institutions
1 The Historical Development of the EU
Introduction
The Origins of European Integration
A Brief Historical Survey of European Integration
The 1950s: From One to Three Communities
The 1960s: Progress and Setbacks
The 1970s: Moving Out of Gridlock, Slowly
The 1980s: Moves towards a Single Market
The 1990s: The Road towards European Union
The 2000s: Further Enlargements and Difficult Treaty Revisions
The 2010s: A String of Crises Tests the EU's Resilience
What History Teaches Us about EU Politics Today
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
2 Analysing the EU
Introduction
Explaining Integration
Neo-functionalism
Spillover
Intergovernmentalism
Postfunctionalism
Explaining EU Politics
Multi-level Governance
Comparative Politics Approaches to the EU
Studying the EU Polity: Legislative, Executive and Judicial Politics
Studying EU Politics: Citizens, Political Parties and Interest Groups
Comparative Federalism
Questions Asked in This Book
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
3 The Institutional Framework
Introduction
The EU Institutional Framework
Representation of Interests
Allocation of Powers
The European Council
Tasks
Organization
The Council
Tasks
Organization
The Commission
Tasks
Organization
The European Parliament
Powers
Budgetary Powers
Legislative Powers
Scrutiny of the Executive
Appointment and Dismissal of the Commission
Organization
The Court of Justice
Tasks
Organization
The European Central Bank
Tasks
Organization
The European Court of Auditors
Tasks
Organization
Making Sense of the Institutional Framework
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
4 Legislation and Decision-Making: Putting the Institutional Puzzle Together
Introduction
Types of Decisions in the EU
Legal Instruments in the EU
Directives and Regulations
Other Types of Instruments
Decision-Making Procedures in the EU
The Ordinary Legislative Procedure
The Logic behind the Ordinary Legislative Procedure
Commission Proposal and Advisory Bodies
The First Reading
The First Reading in the EP
The First Reading in the Council
The Second Reading
Differences between the First and the Second Reading
Steps in the Second Reading
Conciliation and the Third Reading
Informal Processes under the Ordinary Legislative Procedure
Other Decision-Making Procedures
The Special Legislative Procedures
The European Council as an 'Appeal Body'
Decision-Making under the CFSP
The Open Method of Coordination
Navigating the Maze of EU Decision-Making
Decision-Making in the Council
How Qualied Majority Voting Works
Voting and Consensus in the Council
Member State Parliaments and the Subsidiarity Check
Towards a Differentiated EU?
Examples of Differentiation
The Arguments for and against Differentiated Integration
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
PART II Key Actors in EU Politics: Citizens, Interest Groups and Political Parties
5 Public Opinion and Political Participation
Introduction
Public Opinion and Political Participation
Public Opinion
Explaining Public Opinion
Benefits
Beliefs
Benchmarks
Comparing Citizens and Elites
Elections
Referendums on European Integration
The Shift from a Permissive Consensus to a Constraining Dissensus
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
6 Interest Groups and Interest Representation
Introduction
Interest Groups and Lobbyists: Who Are They?
The Number of Interest Groups in the EU
Types of Interest Groups in the EU
Lobbying through Different Channels
Organizing Interest Representation: Between Pluralism and Corporatism
Systems of Interest Representation
Pluralism and Corporatism in the EU
Designed Pluralism in the EU
Interest Group Strategies
Inside Lobbying and Outside Lobbying
The Choice of Strategy by Interest Groups
Inside Lobbying and Outside Lobbying in the EU
Lobbying Routes and Coalition Formation
Do Interest Groups Matter?
The Inuence of Interest Groups in the EU
Resources and Interest Group Characteristics
Characteristics of the Political System
The Importance of Issues
Lobbying and Democracy
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
7 Political Parties and the European Parliament
Introduction
Political Parties and Political Groups in the EU
Political Groups in the European Parliament
The Development of Political Groups in the EP
The Ideological Underpinning of the EP's Political Groups
The Ideological Profile of the EP's Political Groups
The Benefits of Forming a Political Group
MEPs: Between Political Group and Political Party
Do Political Groups Vote as Blocks?
Conflict Dimensions in the EP
Coalitions between Political Groups in the EP
Political Parties outside the European Parliament
The Development of European Political Parties
The Early Years
Direct Elections to the EP
Recognition of European Political Parties
The Party Regulation
The Ten European Political Parties
The Roles and Functions of European Political Parties
European Political Parties and the EP Elections
European Political Parties and the Other EU Institutions
Comparing European and Domestic Political Parties
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
PART III EU Policies: Agenda-Setting, Decision-Making and Implementation
8 An Overview of EU Policy-Making
Introduction
What Does the EU Do?
The Limits of (Re)distributive Policies in the EU
Types of Policy in the EU
Where the EU Gets Its Money from
What the EU Spends Its Money on
Budgetary Politics in the EU
Regulatory Policies in the EU: The Internal Market and Beyond
Regulation Aimed at Market Integration: Negative Integration and Positive Integration
Negative Integration
Positive Integration
Regulation Aimed at Mitigating the Negative Impacts of Economic Activity
Regulation Not (Directly) Related to Economic Activities
The Regulatory Output of the European Union
Economic and Monetary Union
The Creation of EMU
The Euro after 2008
The Future of Economic Governance in the EU
EU Foreign Policy
Soft Power EU
The Incremental Development of EU Foreign Policy
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
9 Agenda-Setting
Introduction
The Political Importance of Agendas
Types of Agendas and Agenda Dynamics
The Political Agenda, the Media Agenda and the Public Agenda
Linkages between the Types of Agendas
Agenda-Setting Dynamics in the EU
Outside Initiatives in the EU
Mobilization in the EU
Inside Access in the EU
Why Do Political Actors Attempt to Bring Issues to the EU Agenda?
Tackling Cross-Border Issues
Political Motives
Economic Motives
Universalistic Motives
Institutional Motives
Combinations of Motives
From Idea to Proposal: The Process of Agenda-Setting in the EU
The Steps in a Typical EU Agenda-Setting Process
The Steps in the Agenda-Setting Process around Artificial Intelligence
Why Do Issues Make It onto the EU Agenda?
Issue Framing
Institutional Structures
Timing
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
10 Decision-Making
Introduction
Levels of Decision-Making in the EU
History-Making Decisions in the EU
Treaty Change and High Politics
What Is at Stake in Negotiations?
Bargaining Tactics in Negotiations
Coalition Formation
Persuasion and the Management of Meaning
Challenging Other Member States
Issue Linkage and Side-Payments
Splitting down the Middle
Policy-Setting and Policy-Shaping in the EU
Low Politics and High Politics in EU Policy-Making
Interinstitutional Dynamics in EU Decision-Making
Policy Networks in Policy-Making Decisions
Technocracy and Politics in the EU
Technocracy in EU Decision-Making
The Politics of Technocracy
Flexibility and Inertia in EU Decision-Making
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
11 Implementing Policies
Introduction
Implementation: Three Phases in a Multi-level System
Legal Implementation
From EU Law to National Law: Transposing Directives
From Formal Laws to Operative Rules: Delegated and Implementing Acts
Practical Implementation: Applying and Enforcing Policies
Practical Implementation at the EU Level
Practical Implementation by the Member States
Monitoring Implementation
Monitoring via the Commission: Infringement Proceedings
Monitoring via National Courts
Agencies and European Regulatory Networks
Summary
Further Reading
Websites
Navigating the EU
Conclusions and Reflections
12 Reflecting on the EU as a Political System
Introduction
What Crises Tell Us about the EU's Functioning
The Dynamics of Crises
Formal Rules and Informal Behaviour
The Importance of Daily Politics
Between State and International Organization: The EU in Comparative Perspective
The Scope of Policies
Supranational and Intergovernmental Institutions
Voting in the Council of Ministers
Citizens and Their Linkages to EU Politics
EU Law and Member State Law
Evaluating the EU as a Democracy
Does the EU Suffer from a Democratic Deficit?
The EU as a Community of Values
Putting the Threads Together
Summary
Further Reading
Navigating the EU
Key Terms and Concepts
Index