European Council

In recent years, the failure of the constitutional process, the difficult ratification and implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, as well as the several crises affecting Europe have revitalized the debate on the nature of the European polity and the balance of powers in Brussels. This book explains the redistribution of power in the post-Lisbon EU with a focus on the European Council. Reform of institutions and the creation of new political functions at the top of the European Union have raised fresh questions about leadership and accountability. This book argues that the European Union exhibits a political order with hierarchies, mechanisms of domination and legitimating narratives. As such, it can be understood by analysing what happens at its summit. Taking the European Council as the nexus of European political governance, contributors consider council and rotating presidencies' co-operation, rivalry and opposition. The book combines approaches through events, processes and political structures, issues and the biographical trajectories of actors and explores how the founding compromise of European integration between sovereignty and supranationality is affected by the evolving nature of this new European political model which aims to combine cooperation and integration. The European Council and European Governance will be of strong interest to students and scholars of European studies, political science, political sociology, public policy and international relations.

Thanks to new transparency rules and increased efforts by scholars, researchers are better equipped than ever before to analyze the decision-making processes of the Council of the European Union and to test old wisdoms. This book covers the most contentious areas and important debates in current research.

Using a wide range of material the authors aim to provide a thorough assessment of the European Council's work from 1975 to 1985. They explain its fluctuating performance, its impact on other European Community institutions and analyze it in the context of international and domestic issues.

The European Council and the Council are presently perhaps the most important European Union institutions yet little is know about the reasons behind the importance of the two bodies. This book provides a comprehensive account of the leadership roles of the European Council and the Council in European politics.

This work traces the development of the European decision-making process in the European Community in minute detail, from the Summit Meeting in Paris (1957) to the most recent European Council meeting. Special account is taken of the momentous and at times controversial changes brought about in this process, in particular by the Single European Act. As well as consulting numerous well-known and respected sources on European affairs, the much-travelled author draws on his personal experience as a journalist, presenting new and original conclusions on, for example, the legal status of the European Council's communiques and decisions. The issues touched upon afford much food for thought and are all the more stimulating when seen against the background of the internal market heralded for 1993 and the ever-changing events in Eastern Europe.Following a description of the roots of the European Council, the author deals with: # the organizational rules and functioning of the European Council, emphasizing the importance of European Political Cooperation # the legal nature and form of the European Council and its relations with the Community institutions # the meetings and their results # the progress made in decision-making over the years # the future of the European Council. The book is completed with relevant documentation, a comprehensive bibliography, a table of cases of the Court of Justice of the EC, a table of articles (EEC Treaty and SEA), a subject index and an index of names.

In this book - intended for everyone interested in EU decision making - two main research questions will be answered. Firstly, what is the relationship between the European Council and the other EU institutions? Secondly, what are the various roles of the European Council in the EU decision-making process? The results of this research will show that European Council conclusions have been used extensively in this decision-making process, and this has increased considerably over time. Based on the analysis of European Council conclusions and legal texts a typology is created to provide an orderly picture of the European Council's various roles, such as the European Council as a political initiator, as an interpreter of the Treaties and as an appeals council.

Europe's transformations is the unifying theme for this collective work that brings together leading academics and policy makers from across Europe and beyond. When the geopolitical tectonic plates are shifting, the sustainability of the Western economic model is under serious challenge and internal divisions in Europe are deep, we aim at looking at the major issues in a 'big picture' perspective. We draw lessons from the way Europe has responded or not to changes both within and without in multiple crises in recent years, try to understand what is at stake and consider alternative policy proposals. All the contributors have a long and widely recognized knowledge and experience of a wide range of issues of European integration and Europe's role in the world. They cross academic and professional boundaries and bring different perspectives as top analysts and policy makers, including two former prime ministers and a former US ambassador to the EU. They come together as friends, colleagues, and former students of Loukas Tsoukalis celebrating his scholarship and overall contribution to the European public sphere. The volume is divided into three main parts. The first deals with issues of democracy and welfare. The second part deals with major changes in the European balance of power and the balance between institutions. The third part examines changes in the global system and Europe's present and potential role in it.

This systematic assessment of the -often opaque- European Council looks at its characteristics, leaders and output as well as its impact on EU supranational and intergovernmental dynamics. Taking account of historical and contemporary developments up to and beyond the Lisbon Treaty, it encourages in-depth understanding of this key institution.