The Routledge Guide to the European Union
2nd Edition
Published on 30. June 2025
Book
Hardback
602 pages
978-1-138-54247-1 (ISBN)
Description
Written by experts, this long-established and definitive guide to the workings of the European Union provides comprehensive, straightforward and readable coverage of this sometimes misunderstood and complex institution.
This fully revised second edition explains not only what happens but why, analysing the EU's strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities for it to be more effective. With the EU's very existence under pressure due to Euroscepticism, continued crises with migration and borders, the re-emergence of the far right, and renewed great power competition in Europe and the world, it specifically outlines:
How the EU has evolved over the last 70 years
How it works: the institutions, the mechanisms
Every area of EU competence from agriculture to defence
The effects of the single market, a single currency and the successes and stresses of the eurozone
The impact of the enlargement of the EU, prospects for further enlargement and closer political integration
Reforming the EU's decision-making and defending the rule of law
The EU's place in an ever more disorderly world
The Routledge Guide to the European Union is well-established as the clearest and most comprehensive guide to how the EU operates. This new edition brings you up to date at a crucial stage in its history, at a time when it has never been under greater internal and external threat, but conversely is perhaps more important than ever.
This fully revised second edition explains not only what happens but why, analysing the EU's strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities for it to be more effective. With the EU's very existence under pressure due to Euroscepticism, continued crises with migration and borders, the re-emergence of the far right, and renewed great power competition in Europe and the world, it specifically outlines:
How the EU has evolved over the last 70 years
How it works: the institutions, the mechanisms
Every area of EU competence from agriculture to defence
The effects of the single market, a single currency and the successes and stresses of the eurozone
The impact of the enlargement of the EU, prospects for further enlargement and closer political integration
Reforming the EU's decision-making and defending the rule of law
The EU's place in an ever more disorderly world
The Routledge Guide to the European Union is well-established as the clearest and most comprehensive guide to how the EU operates. This new edition brings you up to date at a crucial stage in its history, at a time when it has never been under greater internal and external threat, but conversely is perhaps more important than ever.
Reviews / Votes
"This second edition of the Routledge Guide to the European Union should be on the bookshelves of politicians, officials, students and anyone else who wants to know more about the history, the structures and the competences of the European Union."Lord Kerr of Kinlochard GCMG, former Secretary General of the Convention on the Future of the European Union, and former British Permanent Representative to the European Union
"This book is beautifully written, wonderfully concise and extremely accurate. It is also fair-minded and objective. It tells the reader everything that matters in how the EU works."
Charles Grant CMG, Director of the influential think-tank, the Centre for European Reform (CER)
More details
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Professional Practice & Development and Undergraduate
Illustrations
3 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 41 s/w Tabellen, 16 s/w Zeichnungen, 19 s/w Abbildungen
41 Tables, black and white; 16 Line drawings, black and white; 3 Halftones, black and white; 19 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
915 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-138-54247-1 (9781138542471)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Ian Bond | Dick Leonard | Robert Taylor
The Routledge Guide to the European Union
E-Book
06/2025
2nd Edition
Routledge
€40.99
Available for download
Ian Bond | Dick Leonard | Robert Taylor
The Routledge Guide to the European Union
E-Book
06/2025
2nd Edition
Routledge
€40.99
Available for download
Ian Bond | Dick Leonard | Robert Taylor
The Routledge Guide to the European Union
Book
06/2025
2nd Edition
Routledge
€60.10
Available immediately
Previous edition
Dick Leonard | Robert Taylor
The Routledge Guide to the European Union
Book
05/2016
1st Edition
Routledge
€183.50
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Ian Bond is the Deputy Director of the Centre for European Reform (CER) and was previously a member of the British diplomatic service.
Dick Leonard was a journalist, author and former Labour MP.
Robert Taylor was a journalist and foreign correspondent, covering the European Union for more than 30 years.
Dick Leonard was a journalist, author and former Labour MP.
Robert Taylor was a journalist and foreign correspondent, covering the European Union for more than 30 years.
Content
Introduction Part 1: The background 1. The origins 2. Evolution, 1958-2008 3. Growing pains, growing strains, 2008-2014 4. The years of permacrisis, 2015- Part 2: The treaties, the institutions, how the EU is financed and how decisions are taken 5. The treaties 6. The European Commission 7. The European External Action Service 8. The Council of the European Union 9. The European Council 10. The European Parliament 11. The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 12. The Court of Justice of the European Union 13. The European Court of Auditors 14. The European Central Bank 15. The European Investment Bank 16. Other EU agencies and bodies 17. Staffing the EU: Facts, figures and costs 18. Financing the EU - How it's paid for and what it pays for 19. Decision-making procedures in the EU Part 3: The competences 20. The customs union and trade 21. The internal or single market 22. Research and innovation 23. Competition policy 24. Industrial policy 25. Economic and monetary policy 26. Taxation 27. Agriculture 28. Fisheries 29. Regional policy and cohesion 30. Workers' rights, employment and social policy 31. Energy and climate change 32. The environment 33. Transport 34. Justice and home affairs - The area of freedom, security and justice 35. Fundamental rights 36. Gender equality 37. Education 38. Culture and media 39. Citizenship and symbols 40. Consumer protection 41. Health 42. Development co-operation and humanitarian assistance 43. Neighbourhood policy 44. Foreign, security and defence policy 45. Defence industry and space Part 4: Challenges ahead 46. Enlargement 47. 'Ever closer union' 48. The rule of law 49. Migration and demography 50. The EU's place in the world