18. The Single Market

This chapter focuses on the evolution of the single market project, from its original conception in the 1950s, beginning with the Rome Treaty and ending with the Single Market Act I and II. It first considers market integration in historical perspective before discussing the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in promoting market access, the balance between different economic ideals, and the regulatory strategies used to foster market integration. It then analyses the importance of the single market in promoting competitiveness and growth, along with the politics of neoliberalism and the ‘1992 Programme’. It also explores the politics of regulated capitalism and whether the single market contributes to globalization. It concludes by explaining how both traditional international relations theories of integration and newer approaches in comparative politics and international relations can be used to shed light on the governance of the single market.

14. Policy-making in the European Union

This chapter examines the process of policy-making in the European Union. It first considers how the EU originally made policy decisions before tracing the evolution of the formal balance between the EU institutions over time, with particular emphasis on the increasing legislative power of the European Parliament. It then describes the Community method, which remains the core of the EU policy process but is now complemented with a range of ‘new governance tools’ designed to produce coordinated member state action through iterated processes of standard-setting, best practice identification, and knowledge transfer. One of these processes is the open method of coordination (OMC). The chapter concludes with an analysis of the implementation of EU policy decisions by and in the member states, along with current trends in EU decision-making after the EU enlargements of the 2000s and the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

11. The European Parliament

This chapter examines the role of the European Parliament (EP) within the European Union's system of governance. It also considers the function and operation of the EP by focusing on three key areas of importance: the legislative work of the Parliament, its internal politics, and its representative role as a link between the electorate and EU decision-making processes. The chapter first charts the evolution of the EP before discussing its budgetary and legislative powers, along with its advocacy for constitutional change to bring Europe closer to its citizens. It then discusses the influence and internal politics of the EP as well as elections to the EP, noting that national parliaments are now able to block proposed EU legislation. It also describes the principal challenges facing the EP.

25. Public Opinion and the European Union

This chapter examines trends in public opinion toward the European Union. Through the mid-1980s, EU member governments and bureaucrats were interested in limited public involvement in the integration process. With the introduction of the Single European Act and later the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty, member states began selling their varying visions of a renewed European project that would contribute to the further economic and political development of the EU integration process. The chapter first considers general perceptions of the EU before assessing the key factors that are believed to account for differences in mass opinion regarding the EU. These include rational utilitarianism, perceptions of the national government, political psychology factors such as cognitive mobilization and concerns about the loss of national identity, and the role of mass media in shaping attitudes towards the EU. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the level of trust towards EU institutions.

22. The Common Agricultural Policy

This chapter focuses on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which has long been of symbolic importance to the European integration process. The CAP, which came into force from 1962, is based on three general principles: market unity, Community preference, and financial solidarity. The chapter first considers the early days of CAP and the issue of CAP reform before discussing the policy's objectives, instruments, actors, and debates. It then explains the evolution of the CAP since the 1960s and asks why the CAP has been so problematic for European policy-makers, why CAP has been so resistant to change, and how CAP reform has come about. This chapter also examines some of the challenges facing agricultural policy, as new debates emerge among citizens on the place and the functions performed by agriculture. Particular attention is given to rural development and environmental, transparency, and equity issues.

19. The European Union’s Social Dimension

This chapter examines how European Union social policy has evolved since the late 1950s. It first considers the intergovernmental character of European social policy in the early days before discussing how the gradual introduction of qualified majority voting and the widening scope of the policy allowed European institutions and European-level interest groups a greater say in the social dimension. It then analyses the work of the European Social Fund and the European Globalization Adjustment Fund, along with the arrival of the open method of coordination and social partnership at the European level. The chapter concludes by explaining how social regulation has become more difficult since the accession of a large number of Central and Eastern European states, and because of the effects of the financial and economic crisis.

15. EU External Relations

This chapter examines the external economic relations of the European Union. It begins with a discussion of institutions and policy-making in external economic relations, focusing in particular on the Common Commercial Policy (CCP). Established by the Treaty of Rome and fully implemented in the late 1960s, the CCP is the means by which the EU manages the complex range of partnerships, negotiations, agreements, and disputes that emerge through the operation of the customs union and the single market. The chapter proceeds by exploring two areas of mixed competence, in which policy responsibility is shared between the EU institutions and national governments: development assistance policy and international monetary policy. It concludes with an analysis of tensions and contradictions in EU external economic policies.

9. The European Commission

This chapter focuses on the European Commission, arguing that it is more productive to compare it to national executives or to a government than to a secretariat of a traditional international organization. It first provides an overview of the Commission's functions within the European Union's policy-making process, including agenda-setting, policy implementation, programme management, and external relations, and notes that the Commission plays a more limited role in foreign, security, and defence policy. The chapter proceeds by discussing the question of Commission influence and autonomy, along with the structure, demography, and decision behaviour within the Commission. It also describes committees and administrative networks that link the Commission to national administrations and interest groups, as well as the recent growth of EU agencies.

2. The European Union: Establishment and Development

This chapter focuses on the emergence of the European Communities in the 1950s that gave rise to the European Union in the 1990s. It begins with a discussion of key developments in the first four decades of European integration and some of the tensions that have shaped them. It then considers how the idea of ‘European union’ lost momentum in the 1970s but was revived in the 1980s with the Single European Act (1986) and the Single Market project. It also shows how the EU was established through ‘Maastricht’ and the adoption and implementation of the Treaty on European Union (1992). The chapter concludes by analysing how the new ‘union’ was affected by reforms introduced by the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) and the Nice Treaty (2000) as the EU sought to prepare itself for the further enlargement and the challenges of the initial years of the twenty-first century.

12. The Court of Justice of the European Union

This chapter focuses on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the judicial arm of the European Union. The CJEU consists of three courts: the Court of Justice, the European General Court, and the Civil Service Tribunal. Its mission is to ensure that ‘in the interpretation and application’ of the treaties of the Union ‘the law is observed’. The chapter first traces the history of the CJEU before discussing issues of structure and procedure, the extent of the Courts' jurisdiction, and their role in the promotion of European integration. It then considers the criticism directed at the CJEU for the way it exercises its judicial powers, and more specifically the reaction of member states to its ‘judicial activism’. It concludes with an assessment of the main challenges facing the EU courts.