Theory and Reform in the European UnionThis substantially updated and revised edition offers a comprehensive overview of the challenges confronting the political system as well as the international politics of the European Union. It draws from a rich spectrum of regional integration theories to determine what the Union actually is and how it is developing. The book examines constitutional politics of the European Union, from the Single European Act to the Treaty of Nice and beyond. The ongoing debate on the future of Europe links together questions of democracy and legitimacy, competences and rights, and the prospects for European polity-building. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the emerging European polity and the questions that further treaty reform generate for the future of the regional system. The authors also assess the evolving European security architecture, the limits and possibilities of a genuine European foreign, security and defence policy, and the role of the European Union in the post-Cold War international system. Common themes involve debates about stability and instability, continuity and change, multipolarity and leadership, co-operation and discord, power capabilities and patterns of behaviour. The book traces the defining features of the 'new order' in Europe and incorporates an analysis of the post-September 11 context. This major new edition will be of particular interest to academics, policy-makers and students with an interest in the politics and governance of contemporary Europe, as well as to those pursuing a career in international affairs. |
Contents
New directions in theorybuilding | 40 |
partial offsets and unfinished business | 67 |
The Treaty of Nice and its critics | 94 |
order and security | 122 |
the evolving | 152 |
new polity dynamics | 196 |
| 224 | |
| 239 | |
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Common terms and phrases
action actors agenda Alliance Altiero Spinelli Amsterdam areas central CFSP challenges Chapter civic CJTF co-decision Cold War Commission competences concept Concordance System confederal consociation consociation constitutional context CSCE debate decision-making decisions democracy democratic dynamics economic emergence enhanced co-operation enlargement ESDI Euro Europe European Community European Council European integration European Political European security European Union federal federalist force foreign and security foreign policy framework functional global governance Ibid institutionalised institutions integration process interdependence interests intergovernmental issues linked London Maastricht Maastricht Treaty majority military NATO NATO's neofunctionalism Nice normative np np np organisation pean pillar post-Cold President principles procedures regime regional relations role security and defence security policy social sovereignty Stavridis strategic structure subsidiarity Summit supranationalism theory threat tion tional transnational Treaty of Amsterdam Treaty of Nice treaty reforms votes