The aim of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of taking into account the variable of EU institutional development when analysing the consequences of EU membership. Using an historical institutionalist perspective, the article examines the path of the Council Presidency since its...

This contribution tries both to assess the impact of the European Union on France and to discuss the rich literature on that topic originating both from EU studies, opinion studies, public policy analysis and institutional analysis. France’s relationship with the EU appears paradoxical given...

The reallocation of authority upwards, downwards, and sideways from central states hasdrawn attention from a growing number of scholars in the social sciences. Yet beyondagreement that governance has become (and should be) multi-level, there is no consensusabout how it should be organized. This...

Since the mid 1990s, European governance has evolved substantially, particularly in thedirection of fewer constraints: flexibility, coordination, peer monitoring, and soft law havebecome fashionable themes. The literature on new modes of governance (or NMGs) hasflourished alongside these...

The forthcoming Commission White Paper on Governance devotes a good deal of attention to the possibility of delegating rule-making powers to independent European agencies. The extensive debate stimulated by thepreparation of this document has revealed deep differences of opinion. The orthodox...

For a long time, support for European integration could be analysed without much reference tothe attachments of European citizens to their nations. Beyond the recurring acknowledgement of thestrong social determination of attitudes towards Europe, analysts did observe important differences...

On October 25th 2007 the Wall Street Journal published a blistering attack onEurope entitled Regulatory Imperialism. The editorial took issue with Europe’sintent to force its norms on the rest of the world by taking advantage of the dynamismof its internal market both affluent and attractive...

This paper investigates the reasons, the transformative processes and the social mechanisms involved in the establishment of the European economic and monetary union (EMU). Contrary to commonly accepted theories and approaches used to explain institutional change, it argues that the...

European public policy has succeeded in its economic goals of integrating theinternal market and creating the monetary union. But it is now confronted with criticalchallenges which cannot be effectively resolved within the Union’s present governingmodes. While these governing modes differ from...