Governance and Politics in the Post-Crisis European Union

The European Union of today cannot be studied as it once was. This original new textbook provides a much-needed update on how the EU's policies and institutions have changed in light of the multiple crises and transformations since 2010. An international team of leading scholars offer systematic accounts on the EU's institutional regime, policies, and its community of people and states. Each chapter is structured to explain the relevant historical developments and institutional framework, presenting the key actors, the current controversies and discussing a paradigmatic case study. Each chapter also provides ideas for group discussions and individual research topics. Moving away from the typical, neutral account of the functioning of the EU, this textbook will stimulate readers' critical thinking towards the EU as it is today. It will serve as a core text for undergraduate and graduate students of politics and European studies taking courses on the politics of the EU, and those taking courses in comparative politics and international organizations including the EU.

Foreword; Chronology; Glossary; Abbreviations; 1. The European Union as a political regime, a set of policies and a community after the crisis: an overview Ramona Coman, Amandine Crespy and Vivien Schmidt; Part I. The EU's political regime: 2. European regional integration from the 20th to the 21st century Kiran Klaus Patel; 3. Institutions and decision-making in the European Union Sergio Fabbrini; 4. Regulatory networks and policy communities Jacob Hasselbalch and Eleni Tsingou; 5. Old and new concepts of EU governance: intergovernmentalism, supranationalism, and parliamentarism Vivien A. Schmidt; Part II. Key policy areas in flux: 6. Cohesion and the EU budget: is conditionality undermining solidarity? John Bachtler and Carlos Mendez; 7. Agriculture and environment: greening or greenwashing? Gerry Alons; 8. The internal market: increasingly differentiated? Michelle Egan; 9. The European Monetary Union: how did the Euro area get a lender of last resort? Cornel Ban; 10. Social policy: is the EU doing enough to tackle inequalities? Amandine Crespy; 11: Labour markets and mobility: how to reconcile competitiveness and social justice László Andor; 12: Managing the refugee crisis: a divided and restrictive Europe? Sarah Wolff; 13: Security in the Schengen Area: limiting rights and freedoms? Julien Jeandesboz; 14: Trade policy: which gains for which losses? Ferdi De Ville; 15. Global tax governance: is the EU promoting tax justice? Rasmus Corlin Christensen and Len Seabrooke; 16. The common security and defence policy in transition: towards 'strategic autonomy'? Jolyon Howorth; Part III: Existential debates: 17. North and south, east and west: is it possible to bridge the gap? Kristin Makszin, Gergo Medve-Bálint and Dorothee Bohle; 18. Democracy and the rule of law: how can the EU uphold its common values? Ramona Coman; 19. Democracy and disintegration: does the state of democracy in the EU put the integrity of the Union at risk? Joseph Lacey and Kalypso Nicolaïdis; Appendices; Index.

Ramona Coman is Associate Professor and President of the Institute for European Studies at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Her research focuses on EU's rule of law promotion and judicial reforms in Central and Eastern Europe. She coordinates the Jean Monnet Module 'Rule of law and Mutual Trust in Global and European Governance”.  
Amandine Crespy is Associate Professor at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges). Her research about social mobilisation, marketization and socio-economic governance in the EU has been published in numerous journals and three monographs.
Vivien Schmidt is Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University. Her research focuses on European political economy, institutions, and democracy. In 2019 she was awarded the European Union Studies Association Lifetime Achievement Award.