The Institutions of the Enlarged European Union: Continuity and Change(Studies in EU Reform and Enlargement series)

About the Book

How have the main institutions and decision-making processes of the EU responded to the arrival of new member states? This book assesses the actual state of the EU institutions in the years after the 2004 enlargement, examining each of the main institutional actors as well as trends in legislative output, implementing measures and non-legislative approaches. The contributors outline the key changes as well as patterns of continuity in the institutional politics of the EU.

The analysis finds that breakdown has been avoided by a combination of assimilation of the new member states and adaptation of the system, without any fundamental transformation of the institutions. Nonetheless, they conclude that it is not just 'business as usual'. The streamlining and formalization of procedures, together with increased informal practices, has implications for transparency and accountability. Widening has not prevented deepening of European integration, but it has deepened normative concerns about the democratic legitimacy of that process which will remain very much on the agenda of the enlarged EU.

This nuanced approach to the complexities of studying institutional politics and change contains important new and original data. As such it will be invaluable for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students of EU politics and administrative science, as well as researchers, practitioners and journalists working in the fields of European studies more widely.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface 1. Introduction Edward Best, Pierpaolo Settembri and Thomas Christiansen 2. The European Council: A Bigger Club, a Similar Role? Wolfgang Wessels 3. Surviving Enlargement: How Has the Council Managed? Edward Best and Pierpaolo Settembri 4. The European Commission: Enlargement as Reinvention? John Peterson and Andrea Birdsall 5. The European Parliament and Enlargement Brendan Donnelly and Milena Bigatto 6. EU Enlargement and the European Court of Justice Caroline Naômé 7. The European Central Bank: Enlargement as Institutional Affirmation and Differentiation Kenneth Dyson 8. The European Economic and Social Committee after Enlargement Nieves Pérez-Solórzano Borragán and Stijn Smismans 9. The Committee of the Regions: Multi-Level Governance after Enlargement Simona Piattoni 10. Legislative Output after Enlargement: Similar Number, Shifting Nature Edward Best and Pierpaolo Settembri 11. Implementing Committees in the Enlarged European Union: Business as Usual for Comitology? Manuela Alfé, Thomas Christiansen and Sonia Piedrafita 12. Widening, Deepening … and Diversifying: Has Enlargement Shaped New Forms of EU Governance? Edward Best 13. Conclusion Thomas Christiansen, Edward Best and Pierpaolo Settembri Appendix Index

About the Author :
Edited by Edward Best, Professor, European Institute of Public Administration, Maastricht, the Netherlands, Thomas Christiansen, Professor of Political Science and European Integration, Department of Political Science, Luiss Università Guido Carli, Italy and Pierpaolo Settembri, former Official, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

Review :
'This volume reports a thorough appraisal of how the EU institutions have fared since the 2004 enlargement. In essence the answer is more of thesame, with no evidence of gridlock. Business has been conducted in similar ways and at similar levels of output, helped by proceduraladaptation. The new member states have slotted into the existing routines of the Union.'- Helen Wallace, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK