The 'Community Method': Obstinate or Obsolete?(Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics)

Sixty years after its invention, the operational system of the European Union remains little-understood. The 'Community Method' provides a comprehensive empirical analysis of the functioning and achievements of the EU.

Table of Contents:
PART I: INTRODUCTION The Community Method at Sixty; R.Dehousse Is the Community Method Still Viable?; G.Majone PART II: THE COMMUNITY METHOD AT WORK Law-Making in the Shadow of Judicial Politics; S.K.Schmidt The European Parliament and the Community Method; O.Costa Conflict Resolution in the Council by Linkage of Commission Proposals; T.König  & D.Junge PART III: ALTERNATIVES TO THE COMMUNITY METHOD The Political and Security Committee: a Case Study in 'Supranational Intergovernmentalism'; J.Howorth Deviations from and Alternatives to the Community Method in Justice and Home Affairs; J.Monar Is the Open Method of Coordination an Alternative to the Community Method? PART IV: REVISITING THE DEBATE ON NEW MODES OF GOVERNANCE In the Shadow of Hierarchy: The Community Method as an Instrument of Government; L.Cram Social Europe: Why Hard Law remains Important; P.Pochet The 'Governance Turn' Revisited; L.Boussaguet, R.Dehousse & S.Jacquot Conclusion: Obstinate or Obsolete?; R.Dehousse

About the Author :
LAURIE BOUSSSAGUET is Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherches Sociologiques sur le Droit et les Institutions Pénales (CESDIP) at the University of Versailles/Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, France OLIVIER COSTA is CNRS Research Fellow at the Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux, and Professor of Political Science at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and at the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium LAURA CRAM is Reader in Politics in the Department of Government at the University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom JOLYON HOWORTH is Jean Monnet Professor of European Politics ad personam and Emeritus Professor of European Studies at the University of Bath, UK, and Visiting Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Yale University, United States SOPHIE JACQUOT is Research Fellow and Scientific Coordinator at the Centre d'études européennes, Sciences Po, Paris, France DIRK JUNGE is a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of Mannheim, Germany THOMAS KÖNIG is Professor of Political Science at the University of Mannheim, Germany GIANDOMENICO MAJONE is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy JÖRG MONAR is Professor at the Sussex European Institute, Brighton, UK, and Professor and Director of Studies at the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium PHILIPPE POCHET is the General Director of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Brussels and Visiting Professor at the Universitécatholique de Louvain, Belgium SUSANNE K. SCHMIDT is Professor of Political Science at the University of Bremen, Germany JONATHAN ZEITLIN is Professor of Public Policy and Governance in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Review :
'A superb analysis of the workings of the EU by the most renowned experts in the field; strongly recommended for research and teaching.' - Beate Kohler-Koch, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Mannheim, Germany 'The "Community method" has been arguably the single most important substantive European achievement. A timely book revisiting a critical concept for the understanding of the past and possibly for moving ahead in the future.' - Joseph H.H. Weiler, Joseph Straus Professor of Law and European Union and Jean Monnet Chair at NYU School of Law, USA 'The robustness of the European Union in testing times of course cannot be taken for granted. Yet this volume of thoughtful essays by leading scholars offers strong evidence that the 'Community method' is alive and well and that policy-makers in the EU have found ways of adapting what they do and how they do it to the evolving context in which they operate.' - Helen Wallace, Centennial Professor at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK