This fully revised, second edition of the Ever-Changing Union provides a concise overview of the EU's history, institutional structures and decision-making processes. It looks at the fundamental principles of European integration and describes the progress of this integration from its beginning....

Rarely has an EU Presidency been met with such high expectations as Germany's in the first half of 2007. With hindsight, it might be said that these expectations have largely been fulfilled. The agreement on a detailed mandate for the upcoming Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) under the...

After the Irish voters rejected the Treaty of Lisbon in a public referendum on 12 June 2008, European Union leaders decided nevertheless to continue the ratification process, with the aim of achieving 26 ratifications by mid-October 2008. This plan failed, however, due to rising political and...

The authors of this new EPIN paper argue for a thorough reappraisal of flexibility as an instrument of integration and outline the conditions under which it would help the enlarged European Union to move forward. In particular, treaty-based ‘enhanced cooperation’ should be regarded as a...