The Elgar Companion to the European Union

Book excerpt: Constituting a major contribution to literature on the European Union, this comprehensive Companion analyses the structure and value of the EU, capturing the normality of its politics alongside crises and political breakdown. Examining the EU through the lenses of political science, history, law, sociology and international political economy, the Companion provides a holistic outline of the methodological controversies and core theoretical approaches in European studies. Taking a closer look into the governance of and regulation within the EU, chapters consider its range of actors and decision-making processes before exploring the regulation and redistributive policies of the internal market. Forward-thinking, the Companion concludes with a discussion of the EU's strategies in responding to issues of increasingly global significance, including climate change, migration and war. Reflecting on the evolution of politics beyond the nation-state, it predicts a shift in the EU's raison d'être from inward narratives of internal prosperity to outward narratives of increasingly competitive international power. International and interdisciplinary in scope, the contributions will be invaluable to students and scholars of international and EU politics, policy, and relations. Tracing the potential future directions of the EU, it will also be a vital resource to policymakers working in EU regulation and governance.