How the EU Really Works


Book Description

This book provides a concise analysis of the EU and its dynamics by paying particular attention to its day to day operation. It proposes to help students and scholars understand its evolution, its institutions, its decision-making and the interactions between the EU and various actors. Avoiding abstract theorizing, the authors propose an easy to read analysis of how the Union works while recognizing the complexity of the situation. Throughout the book, the key issues of European integration are addressed: democratic deficit, politicization, the role of member states, institutional crisis and citizen involvement.




How the EU Really Works


Book Description

The European Union is facing a profound crisis and is confronted with multiple challenges. Over the last two decades, it has experienced a series of dramatic changes to its powers, its institutional design, its constitutional framework and its borders. At the same time, the uneasy relationship between European citizens and elites has complicated both the reform and the function of the Union. While the Lisbon treaty provided some answers to crucial questions, it did not clarify the nature of the EU, which remains at the crossroads of federal and intergovernmental logic. The current economic and financial crisis puts the EU’s legitimacy further under pressure and creates the impression of a turning point. This book provides a concise analysis of the EU and its dynamics by paying particular attention to its day to day operation. It aims to help students and scholars understand its evolution, its institutions, its decision-making and the interactions between the EU and various actors. Avoiding abstract theorizing, the authors propose an easy to read analysis of how the Union works while recognizing the complexity of the situation. Throughout the book, the key issues of European integration are addressed: democratic deficit, politicization, the role of member states, institutional crisis and citizen involvement.




Working for the EU


Book Description

From the publishers of The Ultimate EU Test Book ¿ this is the book for anyone wanting to know about the opportunities a career in the EU public administration can provide and the many different ways to `get in¿. It is also highly relevant to those already with temporary positions or internships who want to move their careers forward. Working for the EU: How to Get In explains:¿ The wide range of positions in the EU institutions and agencies, in Brussels, Luxembourg and worldwide¿ The many types, advantages and disadvantages of permanent and temporary posts ¿ How temporary posts can become stepping stones to permanent or very long-term jobs¿ The critical difference between being selected and being recruited ¿ and how recruitment really works¿ The little-known alternatives to passing an open competition¿ The value of stages and other types of traineeships¿ The crucial importance of `being there¿ and building your networks ¿ Why and how you should think strategically, keeping as many options open as possibleFull of insights and systematic, objective advice you can get nowhere else, Working for the EU: How to Get In comes from the publishers of The Ultimate EU Test Book ¿ Europe¿s No.1 textbook for EPSO competitions




Europe's Promise


Book Description

A quiet revolution has been occurring in post-World War II Europe. A world power has emerged across the Atlantic that is recrafting the rules for how a modern society should provide economic security, environmental sustainability, and global stability. In Europe's Promise, Steven Hill explains Europe's bold new vision. For a decade Hill traveled widely to understand this uniquely European way of life. He shatters myths and shows how Europe's leadership manifests in five major areas: economic strength, with Europe now the world's wealthiest trading bloc, nearly as large as the U.S. and China combined; the best health care and other workfare supports for families and individuals; widespread use of renewable energy technologies and conservation; the world's most advanced democracies; and regional networks of trade, foreign aid, and investment that link one-third of the world to the European Union. Europe's Promise masterfully conveys how Europe has taken the lead in this make-or-break century challenged by a worldwide economic crisis and global warming.




Is the EU Doomed?


Book Description

The European Union is in crisis. Crippled by economic problems, political brinkmanship, and institutional rigidity, the EU faces an increasingly uncertain future. In this compelling essay, leading scholar of European politics, Jan Zielonka argues that although the EU will only survive in modest form - deprived of many real powers - Europe as an integrated entity will grow stronger. Integration, he contends, will continue apace because of European states’ profound economic interdependence, historic ties and the need for political pragmatism. A revitalized Europe led by major cities, regions and powerful NGOs will emerge in which a new type of continental solidarity can flourish. The EU may well be doomed, but Europe certainly is not.




Europe's Crises


Book Description

Today, the European Union is facing a crisis as serious as anything it has experienced since its origins more than half a century ago. What makes this so serious is that it is not a single crisis but rather multiple crises – the euro crisis, the migration/refugee crisis, Brexit, etc. – that overlap and reinforce one another, creating a cumulative array of challenges that threatens the very survival of the EU. For the first time in its history, there is a real risk that the EU could break up. This volume brings together sociologists, economists and political scientists from around Europe to shed light on how the EU got into this predicament. It argues that the multiple crises that have plagued the European Union in the last decade stem to a large extent from flaws in its construction and that these flaws are consequences of the political processes that led to the formation of the EU – in other words, the decisions that made possible the development of the EU created the conditions for the multiple crises it experiences today. This timely and wide-ranging book on one of the most important issues of our time will be of great interest to students and scholars in the social sciences, to politicians and policy-makers and to anyone concerned with Europe and its future.




The EU in a Nutshell


Book Description

Discover the truth about the EU ... There are 70 words in the Lord's Prayer. 271 in the Gettysburg Address. 313 in the Ten Commandments. And European Commission Regulation (EC) No 1284/2002, laying down the marketing size for hazelnuts (in shell), runs to . 2,509 words. The European Union is a tough nut to crack. Ever-present in political debates and pub conversations, how much do we really know about it? Regarded by some as a bureaucratic and undemocratic monster, others see it as a glorious economic and political union presiding over a Europe of unprecedented peace and stability. But what's the reality? This book gives readers the answers in a nutshell. Author Lee Rotherham has painstakingly compiled thousands of fascinating stats, curious quotes and outright oddities relating to the EU, ranging from the serious to the silly. They cover how the EU works, how it is perceived and how to assess its worth. Arranged in an attractive and highly readable format, this book will keep readers nibbling away for hour after hour. Crack open the nut to discover, among other things: - The ten guiding principles of the European Project - What the 32 Directorates-General are and what they do - The formula by which you can produce a mathematical analysis of each country's EU membership - How much is saved in wages each day EU staff go on strike Along the way you'll laugh out loud, become unbeatable at the politics round in quizzes, and understand why the Fathers of Europe wanted you to feel proud and emotional when you hear 'Ode to Joy', not think about the strict regulations for bent cucumbers. The EU In A Nutshell contains a rich bounty of facts - it's the perfect book for anyone wishing to find out more about the EU and its workings and be entertained along the way. So if you are simply trying to figure out how the whole EU thing fits together (and why) or if you're a political junky in need of a quick fix on some EU trivia, this book is for you. Grab the nutcracker and let's get started ...




The Crisis of the European Union


Book Description

Translated by Ciaran Cronin. In the midst of the current crisis that is threatening to derail the historical project of European unification, Jürgen Habermas has been one of the most perceptive critics of the ineffectual and evasive responses to the global financial crisis, especially by the German political class. This extended essay on the constitution for Europe represents Habermas’s constructive engagement with the European project at a time when the crisis of the eurozone is threatening the very existence of the European Union. There is a growing realization that the European treaty needs to be revised in order to deal with the structural defects of monetary union, but a clear perspective for the future is missing. Drawing on his analysis of European unification as a process in which international treaties have progressively taken on features of a democratic constitution, Habermas explains why the current proposals to transform the system of European governance into one of executive federalism is a mistake. His central argument is that the European project must realize its democratic potential by evolving from an international into a cosmopolitan community. The opening essay on the role played by the concept of human dignity in the genealogy of human rights in the modern era throws further important light on the philosophical foundations of Habermas’s theory of how democratic political institutions can be extended beyond the level of nation-states. Now that the question of Europe and its future is once again at the centre of public debate, this important intervention by one of the greatest thinkers of our time will be of interest to a wide readership.




Understanding EU Decision-Making


Book Description

This book presents in a concise and accessible way why the EU institutional system exists in its present form, how the EU fits into the world as a system of governance, and who is involved in EU policy processes. It outlines the historical context which has shaped the EU system, gives a summary of the system's basic principles and structures, and describes its actors, procedures and instruments. The main theme is to show that EU decision-making is not just a matter of action at some higher and separate level, of ‘them and us’, but rather that it involves different forms of cooperation between European, national and regional authorities, as well as interaction between public and private actors. Numerous short case studies illustrate how people’s day-to-day activities are affected by EU decisions, and how individuals’ concerns are represented in the decision-making process. The book provides insights and examples which will be very helpful for all students of European integration. It will also be a valuable resource for European citizens wishing to understand the basic realities and rationales, as well as some of the dilemmas, behind EU policy-making.




The Left Case Against the EU


Book Description

Many on the Left see the European Union as a fundamentally benign project with the potential to underpin ever greater cooperation and progress. If it has drifted rightward, the answer is to fight for reform from within. In this iconoclastic polemic, economist Costas Lapavitsas demolishes this view. He contends that the EU’s response to the Eurozone crisis represents the ultimate transformation of the union into a neoliberal citadel that institutionally embeds austerity, privatization, and wage cuts. Concurrently, the rise of German hegemony has divided the EU into an unstable core and dependent peripheries. These related developments make the EU impervious to meaningful reform. The solution is therefore a direct challenge to the EU project that stresses popular and national sovereignty as preconditions for true internationalist socialism. Lapavitsas’s powerful manifesto for a left opposition to the EU upends the wishful thinking that often characterizes the debate and will be a challenging read for all on the Left interested in the future of Europe.