Understanding the European Union: a concise introduction

Intro -- Contents -- List of Features -- List of Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Goals and themes of the book -- What's new in this edition? -- 1 What is the European Union? -- The EU in context -- The dynamics of regional integration -- Explaining the EU today -- The EU as a federal system -- The EU as a confederal system -- Conclusions -- Further Reading -- 2 The Idea of Europe -- The origins of Europe -- Early thoughts on European unity -- Where is Europe? -- Who are the Europeans? -- Conclusions -- Further Reading -- 3 The Evolution of the EU -- Post-war Europe -- First steps towards integration (1948-55) -- The European Economic Community (1955-86) -- Focus on the single market (1986-92) -- From Community to Union (1992-2003) -- The EU looks east (2003-13) -- The era of crisis -- Conclusions -- Further Reading -- 4 The European Institutions -- A constitution for Europe -- The European Council -- The European Commission -- The Council of the European Union -- The European Parliament -- The European Court of Justice -- Conclusions -- Further Reading -- 5 The EU and its Citizens -- The democratic deficit -- Public opinion and the EU -- Euroscepticism -- European citizenship -- Participation and representation -- European elections -- Referendums -- Interest groups -- Other channels -- Conclusions -- Further Reading -- 6 The EU Policy Process -- The changing balance of authority -- The EU policy environment -- The policy cycle -- Agenda-setting -- Formulation -- Adoption -- Legitimation -- Implementation -- Evaluation -- Features of EU policy -- Compromise and bargaining -- Political games -- Incrementalism -- Differentiated integration -- Spillover -- The EU budget -- Conclusions -- Further Reading -- 7 Economic Policy -- The EU economy in its global context -- Foundations of the single market.

With 27 member states and nearly half a billion residents, the European Union is a major actor on the world stage. It has changed the way Europeans live, as well as the way the rest of the world relates to Europe. Yet it remains widely misunderstood and a source of puzzlement to many: How does the EU work, and what impact has it had on the lives of Europeans? What difference has it made to the meaning of 'Europe'? How has it changed the role of Europe in the world? Written for anyone who needs a short and clear introduction to the EU, John McCormick's best-selling tex

An immediate best-seller on first publication, the comprehensively revised, expanded and updated second edition of John McCormick's Understanding the European Union provides a uniquely broad-ranging but concise introduction to the EU. Rather than focusing just on the politics or the economics of the EU or on detailed coverage of its institutions and/or policies, the author covers in one volume all major aspects of European integration combining a very clear and accessible thematic narrative with boxed summaries of a wide range of essential facts and figures

Despite the plethora of textbooks available on the European Union and the wide range of interdisciplinary and non-specialist courses on which it is studied, there has, surprisingly, until now been no single text providing concise coverage of all its major dimensions and implications. Rather than focusing just on the history or the politics or the economics of the EU or on detailed coverage of its institutions and/or policies, John McCormick's new book introduces all aspects of European integration combining a very clear and accessible thematic narrative with boxed summaries of a wide range of essential facts and figures