Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The 'new' European Union has been constantly evolving since the mid 1980s, and it shows no sign of standing still: the Euro is becoming an international currency, a new round of Treaty reforms is imminent, and the Union is politically committed to enlarge its membership radically. Virtually the only constant is the EU's institutions, which are both unique and time-honoured after 50 years of European integration. As this volume shows, the institutions of the EU, individually and collectively, perform multiple tasks: providing the EU with political direction, managing policies, and integrating interests. Divided into three thematic sections, this book offers the reader the first comprehensive study of the EU's functions, powers, and compositions of EU institutions. The clear focus of the book is on how institutions work in tandem, and the interrelationship, differing functions, and importance of the various institutions. The book brings together leading-edge contributors who actively research on the changing relationship between EU institutions. Each chapter follows the same sequence and format to provide a fully integrated text and each chapter features multiple exhibits - including policy case studies, illustrative diagrams, and tables to bring the text alive.Set to become the authoritative study of EU institutions, no student or teacher of EU politics will want to be without this innovative text.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 The EU's Institutions: An Overview (p. 1)
• Introduction (p. 2)
• Why study institutions? (p. 4)
• Why study the EU's institutions? (p. 7)
• 'Frustration without disintegration': the persistence of the EU system (p. 11)
• These institutions and this book (p. 13)
• Conclusion (p. 16)
• 2 The European Council (p. 21)
• Introduction (p. 22)
• Origins (p. 23)
• Composition and working methods (p. 25)
• Legal nature and characteristics (p. 30)
• Functions (p. 33)
• Political guidance and impetus (p. 34)
• Decision-making (p. 35)
• External visibility (p. 36)
• Solemn ratification (p. 37)
• Ultimate negotiator (p. 38)
• Strengths and weaknesses (p. 40)
• Conclusion (p. 44)
• 3 The Council of Ministers (p. 47)
• Introduction (p. 48)
• The origins of the Council (p. 49)
• The Council hierarchy (p. 49)
• The ministers (p. 50)
• The presidency (p. 51)
• The Council Secretariat (p. 52)
• What does the Council do? (p. 53)
• The Council of Ministers (p. 53)
• Voting in the Council (p. 56)
• The presidency (p. 58)
• The Council Secretariat (p. 60)
• Relationships with other institutions (p. 61)
• The Council and the European Parliament (p. 61)
• The Council and the Commission (p. 61)
• Exerting influence in the Council (p. 62)
• The Council and accountability (p. 65)
• The Council in context (p. 66)
• The Council and the larger 'EU system' (p. 66)
• The Council and enlargement (p. 67)
• Conclusion (p. 68)
• 4 The College of Commissioners (p. 71)
• Introduction (p. 72)
• The origins and history of the college (p. 73)
• The structure of the college (p. 82)
• The President (p. 82)
• The college (p. 85)
• The cabinets (p. 87)
• The Commission's powers (p. 88)
• The college in context (p. 89)
• Conclusion (p. 92)
• 5 The European Parliament (p. 95)
• Introduction (p. 96)
• Historical development (p. 96)
• Structures of the Parliament (p. 100)
• Treaty provisions (p. 100)
• The committee system (p. 101)
• Leadership structures (p. 101)
• Powers of the Parliament (p. 102)
• History-making decisions (p. 103)
• Policy-making decisions (p. 104)
• Policy-implementing decisions (p. 108)
• The future of the Parliament (p. 109)
• Conclusions (p. 115)
• 6 The European Court of Justice (p. 118)
• Introduction (p. 119)
• Establishment and structure (p. 120)
• The Court of Justice (p. 120)
• The Court of First Instance (p. 122)
• Judicial panels (p. 122)
• Powers and functions (p. 123)
• Application of Community law by the member states (p. 123)
• Respect of Community law by the political institutions (p. 125)
• The Court in the political life of the Community (p. 128)
• The impact of Community law in the member states (p. 129)
• The Court and political disputes (p. 132)
• The scope of the Court's jurisdiction (p. 134)
• Conclusions (p. 136)
• 7 The Commission's Services (p. 141)
• Introduction (p. 142)
• The development of the services (p. 142)
• Organizing the services (p. 144)
• The personnel of the services (p. 148)
• Size (p. 148)
• Personnel policy (p. 150)
• Composition (p. 150)
• Functions (p. 151)
• Policy initiator (p. 151)
• Legislative functions (p. 152)
• Executive functions (p. 152)
• Legal guardian (p. 153)
• Mediator and broker (p. 154)
• External representative and negotiator (p. 154)
• Exercising the Commission's functions (p. 155)
• The reform of the services (p. 156)
• Organizational restructuring (p. 158)
• Reforms in personnel policy (p. 158)
• Making management more efficient (p. 160)
• Prospects for success (p. 161)
• Conclusion (p. 162)
• 8 Managing the Euro: The European Central Bank (p. 164)
• Introduction (p. 165)
• The ECB and the 'other' European banks (p. 165)
• The origins of the ECB (p. 167)
• Economic and political rationales (p. 167)
• Politics in practice: the long road to EMU (p. 169)
• Creating the ECB (p. 169)
• The structure of the ECB (p. 171)
• The powers of the ECB: centralization versus national control (p. 174)
• Monetary policy (p. 175)
• Economic policy coordination (p. 176)
• Exchange-rate policy (p. 178)
• Democratic accountability and legitimacy issues (p. 180)
• Conclusion (p. 183)
• 9 Institutionalizing Freedom, Security, and Justice (p. 186)
• Introduction (p. 187)
• The European Council (p. 189)
• The Council of the EU (p. 192)
• The Senior Council committees (p. 194)
• The presidency and the Secretariat-General of the Council (p. 198)
• The European Commission (p. 199)
• Democratic and judicial control (p. 203)
• The European Parliament (p. 203)
• The European Court of Justice (p. 204)
• Europol and other special agencies (p. 205)
• Conclusions (p. 206)
• 10 Making the CFSP Work (p. 210)
• Introduction (p. 211)
• The origins of the CFSP (p. 212)
• European Political Cooperation (p. 212)
• From EPC to CFSP (p. 214)
• The wider international environment (p. 215)
• The structure of the CFSP (p. 217)
• How do the parts of the CFSP fit together? (p. 217)
• Contested development (p. 218)
• A European State Department in the making? (p. 219)
• How does the CFSP fit into the EU system? (p. 220)
• Powers of the CFSP (p. 224)
• Do we have a problem of accountability? (p. 225)
• Problems of the CFSP (p. 226)
• Theorizing the evolution of the CFSP (p. 227)
• Conclusion: scenarios for the future (p. 228)
• Scenario 1 Enhanced status quo (p. 228)
• Scenario 2 The EU becomes a truly international player (p. 229)
• Scenario 3 Institutional decay (p. 230)
• 11 Financial Control: The Court of Auditors and OLAF (p. 233)
• Introduction (p. 234)
• The origins of the institutions (p. 235)
• Structure of the institutions (p. 237)
• European Court of Auditors (p. 237)
• OLAF (p. 240)
• Powers of the institutions (p. 241)
• European Court of Auditors (p. 241)
• OLAF (p. 247)
• The institutions in context (p. 248)
• Financial control and the larger 'EU' system (p. 248)
• Theories of integration and institutional development (p. 249)
• The impact of the institutions (p. 251)
• Conclusions (p. 251)
• 12 Political Interests: The EP's Party Groups (p. 257)
• Introduction (p. 258)
• The shape of the EP party system (p. 258)
• Internal organization (p. 263)
• Coalition politics and parliamentary committees (p. 268)
• Electoral accountability (p. 271)
• Conclusions (p. 273)
• 13 National Interests: Coreper (p. 277)
• Introduction (p. 278)
• Coreper's origins (p. 279)
• Structure of the institution (p. 282)
• Coreper I and II (p. 283)
• Contestation (p. 285)
• Powers of the institution (p. 286)
• De facto decision-makers (p. 287)
• Integrating interests (p. 288)
• Continuous negotiation (p. 288)
• Instruction and voice (p. 289)
• Insulation (p. 290)
• A dense normative environment (p. 291)
• Plotting (p. 292)
• Style of discourse (p. 292)
• Accountability (p. 293)
• The institution in context (p. 294)
• Blurring the national and the European (p. 294)
• Conclusions (p. 296)
• 14 Functional Interests: European Agencies (p. 299)
• Introduction (p. 300)
• Why regulatory agencies? (p. 301)
• The new European agencies (p. 302)
• The Meroni doctrine and delegation (p. 303)
• The politics of institutional choice: the birth of the EEA (p. 306)
• The position of the EP (p. 308)
• The outcome (p. 309)
• From committee to agency: the road to the EMEA (p. 310)
• The multi-state procedure (p. 311)
• The concertation procedure (p. 312)
• The centralized procedure and the establishment of the EMEA (p. 312)
• The uncertain pursuit of regulatory credibility (p. 316)
• Telecommunications (p. 316)
• Food safety (p. 317)
• Delegation and credibility (p. 318)
• Political uncertainty and time inconsistency (p. 318)
• The politicization of the Commission (p. 319)
• The network model (p. 320)
• The issue of accountability (p. 321)
• Conclusions (p. 323)
• 15 Social and Regional Interests: ESC and Committee of the Regions (p. 326)
• Introduction (p. 327)
• The origins of ESC and CoR (p. 328)
• The structure of ESC and CoR (p. 331)
• Membership (p. 331)
• Organization (p. 333)
• Coalition-building (p. 335)
• The powers of ESC and CoR (p. 336)
• Formal powers (p. 337)
• The ESC in practice (p. 338)
• The CoR in practice (p. 340)
• The ESC and CoR in context (p. 343)
• Conclusion (p. 345)
• 16 Conclusion (p. 347)
• Introduction (p. 348)
• Institutional interdependence (p. 350)
• Capacity: decline or renewal? (p. 352)
• The leadership challenge (p. 352)
• The management challenge (p. 353)
• The challenge of integrating interests (p. 355)
• The prospects for renewal (p. 357)
• Embedding the national in the European (p. 358)
• EU institutions and the new institutionalism (p. 361)
• Conclusion: the accountability conundrum (p. 364)

Author notes provided by Syndetics