The European political economy: policy and theory, provides students, researchers and policy makers with a profound understanding of the theory and policy of the EU. The book covers in a comprehensive way the key issue areas of the European Union activity and it includes an analysis of all the important current developments in Europe such as the Brexit, the European Union sovereign debt crisis, the European economic governance problems and the macroeconomic adjustment challenges within Eurozone. The book also includes critical resources for readers and students such as review questions, appendixes, references and further reading lists. More specifically, the textbook explains thoroughly the institutional, economic and policy characteristics of the fundamental issue areas of European economy. It outlines the institutions and mechanisms of European union/Eurozone, the common agricultural, regional and trade policies, the impact of the single market and the single currency on European economy, the enlargement process and the key questions on the European macroeconomic adjustment process. In each chapter the book explains not only what is taking place in European economy but also which the feasible options of the European policy agenda are. The textbook enables readers to apply conceptual and theoretical knowledge to economic and political processes of European integration.

As with the previous version (Ashgate 2004), this second edition is divided, for didactic purposes, into two parts. The first part provides an overview of political science approaches to European political economy, both mainstream and critical ones. As such, it contributes directly to the current debate among scholars of political science and international political economy concerning the nature of the process of European integration. The second part provides alternative explanations of some European economic policy events - the ECB, banking regulation, fiscal co-ordination, the crisis of the euro-zone, social policy and unemployment - allowing the reader to assess the explanatory value of competing approaches.

This exploration of some of the more important frameworks used for understanding the relationship between politics and economics includes the classical, Marxian, Keynesian, neoclassical, state-centered, power-centered, and justice-centered.

European Political Economy provides a useful didactic tool for all scholars and students interested in a non-formalized political economy approach to European economic integration. Beginning with a theoretical orientation to European economic issues and European political economy, Leila S. Talani shows that political scientific approaches to political economy can generate new and important insights into the nature and dynamics of the European Union (EU). The chapters collectively present a comprehensive and coherent statement of political scientists' definitions of political economy, and apply their concepts, theories, and insights to contemporary developments in the EU. The book derives its distinctive focus from an emphasis on ideas, interests, and institutions as basic approaches to the study of European economic and political developments.

This book provides an accessible introduction to diverse political economy perspectives on different aspects of European integration. It presents a critical appraisal of how scholars in the EU and US use theory to understand European integration.

The text aims to provide succinct summaries of topical, wide-ranging issues and controversies, presenting a compact guide which should be of use to students and lecturers in IPE and international relations.