Beyond 'Ever Closer Union'

Reviews / Votes

'Bojovic's volume, in conclusion, is a methodologically rigorous, interesting and innovative study on an important issue, which makes a significant contribution to the comprehension of the European Union decision making and the European integration process as a whole. It throws new light, in particular, on the ever-chang-ing nature, role and objectives of the most "European" of the EU institutions, showing the importance of the Juncker Commission in the historical evolution of the executive of the European Union. In so doing, the volume also offers an original reading of the history and recent developments of two of the EU's most strategic and challenging policy areas, which touch upon the essence of state sovereignty and cover highly politicised issues. The book, too, has the merit of creating a theoretical scheme that can be applied to any Commission and the potential of opening new venues of research. These include the motivations behind the Commission's ambitions; the Commission's internal dynamics; the interplay of Commission's, European Council's, Council of Ministers', European Parliament's and lobbies' ambitions; the role played by the Commission's ambition in all EU policy areas.' -- Simone Paoli, Journal of European Integration History 'Bojovic's empirically rich study of the Juncker Presidency will be of interest to all those seeking to understand the European Commission's ambitions for European integration in the highly sensitive domains of economic governance and justice and home affairs.' -- Dermot Hodson, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK 'Bojovic's work on the Juncker Commission is a great piece of research, which flags the centrality of supranational institutions for new intergovernmentalist scholarship. The book shows how Juncker sought to combine political ambition and complicity with intergovernmental institutions, experiencing both success and failure of Commission leadership.' -- Uwe Puetter, Europa Universitaet Flensburg, Germany 'This book is a stellar analysis of the Juncker Commission, providing fresh insights into its political purposes and aspirations. Accessing the views of Brussels bureaucrats and other European policy makers, Bojovic delivers a compelling account of the Commission's goals and strategies around the critical policy concerns of European border control, migration, and asylum as well as around banking union proposals and revamping the European stability mechanism - policy episodes critical in shaping and checking the EU supranational project.' -- Diane Stone, European University Institute, Italy