Politics in the European Union

Politics in the European Union is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the EU. Unique in its in-depth coverage of the history of the EU, the book explores a wide range of topics including institutions and policies, making it a complete guide to understanding the complex nature of the EU.

Now in its fifth edition, the text has been fully updated to include coverage of Brexit, the refugee crisis, and political developments within member states.

The text is enriched with a wide range of learning features, including end of chapter questions, which are designed to stimulate critical thinking, suggested further reading, EU timelines, and illustrative figures to help students take their learning further.

Ian Bache, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield,Simon Bulmer, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield,Stephen George, Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield,Owen Parker, Lecturer in European Politics, University of Sheffield,Charlotte Burns, Professorial Fellow, University of Sheffield

Simon Bulmer is Professor of European Politics at the University of Sheffield. He has published numerous books, articles and book chapters on the EU. The most recent books are Germany and the European Union: Europe's Reluctant Hegemon? (Macmillan 2019), with William Paterson, and The Member States of the European Union (OUP, 2020), co-edited with Christian Lequesne. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.


Owen Parker is Senior Lecturer in European Politics at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of Cosmopolitan Government in Europe: Citizens and Entrepreneurs in Postnational Politics (Routledge, 2013) and co-editor of Crisis in the Eurozone Periphery: The Political Economies of Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal (with Dimitris Tsarouhas, Palgrave 2018) as well as numerous articles on the EU, European politics and political economy. He previously worked for the European Commission on enlargement policy.



Ian Bache is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. His EU-related books include: Multi-level Governance (with Matthew Flinders 2004); The Europeanisation of British Politics (with Andrew Jordan, 2006); and Europeanization and Multi-level Governance (2008). His more recent research focuses on the politics of wellbeing. He was awarded Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2014.

Stephen George is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. He has authored, co-authored, and edited many books on the politics of policy-making in the European Union, and on British policy towards the EU, as well as numerous articles in journals and chapters in edited books. He is a former Chair of UACES, the UK's academic association for Contemporary European Studies.


Charlotte Burns is a Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield. Her recent projects involve analysing the impacts of Brexit on UK and EU environmental policy and the impact of the global financial and economic crisis upon EU environmental policy. Her research has appeared in a range of leading journals including the Journal of European Public Policy, the Journal of Common Market Studies and Environmental Politics.

1. Introduction
Part One: The Historical Context
2. The European Union: Establishment and Development
3. From the Constitutional Treaty to the Treaty of Lisbon and Beyond
Part Two: Theories and Conceptual Approaches
4. Neo-functionalism
5. Intergovernmentalism
6. Theorizing the European Union After Integration Theory
7. Governance in the European Union
8. Europeanization
9. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
Part Three: Institutions and Actors
10. The European Commission
11. The European Council and the Council of the European Union
12. The European Parliament
13. The Courts of Justice of the European Union
14. Interest Groups and the European Union
15. Public Opinion and the European Union
Part Four: Policies and Policy-Making
16. Policy-Making in the European Union
17. EU Trade and Development Policies
18. Enlargement
19. The European Union's Foreign, Security, and Defence Policies
20. The Single Market
21. The European Union's Social Dimension
22. The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
23. Economic and Monetary Union
24. The Common Agricultural Policy
25. Environmental Policy
Part Five: Issues and Debates
26. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
27. Brexit
28. The Future of the European Union