People's Europe

The topics addressed in this book have evolved out of the observation that, when speaking about the European Union, the notion of a "people's Europe" is understood differently at different quarters. This text examines a variety of areas related to "citizenship of the Union". It approaches and defines some characteristic features of this concept, examines the legal regulation of the "humane face" of the Community in the field of social policy and deals, from different angles, with the impact of the rules of Commuity law or absence of law, on discrimination in the areas of gender, religion and race. The text also casts a critical eye over EU asylum and immigration policy, with emphasis on its implementation in the UK, and the limited rights and particular treatment that various categories of third country nationals enjoy under Community and/or national law. The book also examines the external dimension of the Community's human rights policy, the Community's contribution to a cultural common ground and an exploration of policy networks and the implementation of the Union's structural funds using as a case study the UK, and in particular, the West Midlands.