This dissertation gauges the influence of regions from EU decentralized member states on European policies. The ability of regions to shape EU decisions has been at the center of discussions on European integration theory and of EU politics for fifteen years now. By combining evidence from German, Italian, and Spanish federalism (and from two EU policy areas - audiovisual and cohesion), the author shows why and when understanding EU policies requires taking regional lobbying of the European Parliament and the Commission into consideration. This first attempt to combine the literature on "The Europe of the Regions" and on multi-level governance with policy analysis will be illuminating for scholars and practitioners interested in the EU decision-making process, as well as for those concerned with Europeanization. Dissertation.

This volume, published in the context of the Finnish Presidency of the European Union (EU), aims to highlight how and why the health dimension can and should be taken into account across all government sectors. Particular emphasis is placed on the unique mandate and obligation of the EU to protect health in all its policies. The topic is explored from the perspectives of available methods and different levels of policy-making, and examples are included from specific policy areas and health issues.

The sixteenth edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play has a triple ambition. First, it provides easily accessible information to a wide audience about recent developments in both EU and domestic social policymaking. Second, the volume provides a more analytical reading, embedding the key developments of the year 2014 in the most recent academic discourses. Third, the forward-looking perspective of the book aims to provide stakeholders and policymakers with specific tools that allow them to discern new opportunities to influence policymaking. In this 2015 edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play, the authors tackle the topics of the state of EU politics after the parliamentary elections, the socialisation of the European Semester, methods of political protest, the Juncker investment plan, the EU’s contradictory education investment, the EU’s contested influence on national healthcare reforms, and the neoliberal Trojan Horse of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).