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Description
This revised edition of The European Council by Wessels and Schramm offers comprehensive coverage of the institution's development since the mid-1970s. The text offers a nuanced assessment of the European Council's impact on EU governance and institutional balance whilst providing readers with a theoretical framework and conceptual models for understanding the significance of the European Council.
New features in this edition include expanded discussions on the three key policy areas addressed in the text: economic governance, external action, and the realm of freedom, security, and justice. These updates encompass crucial developments such as the euro crisis, the migration crisis, and Brexit. Moreover, the text provides current up-to-date coverage of recent EU priorities, including responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, climate policies, the conflict in Ukraine, and the prospects of EU enlargement.
As a highly accessible and comprehensive text, this updated edition is key for 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students studying Politics and International Relations as well as postgraduate students taking European Studies courses.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- PDF/UA-2, 1.4
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
Has alternative text descriptions for images
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
Table of Contents
Part I: The European Council: Introduction, History, and Analytical Perspectives
1. Introduction: The Many Faces of the European Council
2. The European Council: Historical Paths Towards Institutionalised Summitry
3. The Growth of the European Council: Generations of Leaders and Institutional Trajectory
4. Multiple Approaches for Understanding a Contested Institution: Three Models
Part II: Activities, Agreements, and Acts
5. Deepening: The Constitutional Architect
6. Widening: The Master of Membership
7. Economic Governance: Towards a 'gouvernement économique'?
8. External Action: In Search of a Coherent and Effective Global Role
9. The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice: Exercising Pre-Legislative Functions
Part III: Inside the European Council: The Dynamics of Decision-Making
10. The Presidency: Charismatic Master or Facilitating Manager?
11. Rules for Organisation: The Search for an Optimal Institutional Arrangement
12. Decision-Making: The Ways to Compromises and Consensus
Part IV: The Role of the European Council within the EU Architecture
13. Political and Procedural Steering: General Functions and Specific Powers
14. Towards an Institutional (Im)Balance? Trends in Interinstitutional Relations
Part V: Conclusions and Outlook: A Key Institution's Rise – and Decline?
15. The European Council: The Union's Key Crisis Manager
16. Perspectives of an Institution: Looking Back to Look Forward
Appendix: Sources
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | Oct 15 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 2nd |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 9781350462717 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Series | The European Union Series |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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