This book examines the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU) and evaluates the democratic credentials of the EU’s main decision-making procedure. It finds that though there is potential for democratic decision-making in the EU, the actual process is dominated by technocrats and secret meetings. The book assesses and discusses the conditions for democratic input in decision-making with five empirical chapters each addressing the ordinary legislative procedure from different dimensions: democratic deliberative forums, inclusion, openness, power neutralising mechanisms and decision-making capacity. The analytical framework provides for an in-depth assessment of the ordinary legislative procedure’s potential democratic qualities and examines whether it fulfils democratic criteria, how the procedure works in practice and whether it has the necessary democratic clout. The author provides both a theoretical discussion and an empirical assessment of what role the principle of democracy could play in the EU. Filling a gap in EU legislative studies and contributing to the debate on the European democratic deficit, Democratic Decision-making in the EU will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union politics, legislative studies and deliberative democracy.

The manner in which time is institutionalized is critical to how a political system works. Terms, time budgets and time horizons of collective and individual political actors; rights over timing, sequencing and speed in decision-making; and the temporal properties of policy matter to the distribution of power; efficiency and effectiveness of policy-making; and democratic legitimacy. This book makes a case for the systematic study of political time in the European Union (EU) - both as an independent and a dependent variable - and highlights the analytical value-added of a time-centred analysis. The book discusses previous scholarship on the institutionalization of political time and its consequences along the dimensions of polity, politics and policy; reviews dominant perspectives on political time, which centre on power, system performance and legitimacy; and presents case studies that illustrate the importance of time in the governance of the EU. This book was original published as a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy.

The legitimacy of the European Union is a much studied and highly contested subject. Unlike other works, this book does not engage in another review of the shifts of public opinion and perception regarding the EU. Instead, it offers a different and innovative perspective by focusing on constructions of legitimacy in the European Commission. Starting from the premise that legitimacy is discursively constructed, the book engages in a fine-grained analysis of legitimacy discourses in the European Commission since the early 1970s. Embedded in a poststructuralist theoretical framework, Hegemonies of Legitimation also sheds light on the conditions that made radical shifts of legitimacy discourses possible, and illustrates how these discursive shifts paved the way for different types of legitimation policies. As such, the book maps and reconstructs the historically variable discursive landscape of competing articulations of what legitimacy signifies in the case of the EC/EU, and provides us with a detailed picture of the history of the Commission's struggle for legitimacy.

The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings is responsible for evaluating the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the countries which have ratified it. GRETA is composed of 15 independent and impartial experts from signatory countries. They come from a variety of backgrounds (legal professionals, law-enforcement officials, psychologists, doctors, civil society representatives, etc.) and are selected on the basis of their professional experience in the areas covered by the convention.

Charting the path from intervention to integration Europe and the Post-Yugoslav Space examines the role of Europeanization on the development of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo may have a shared history but their experiences, views and attitudes to European integration vary dramatically. Opinion within each state is often equally as keenly divided as to the benefits of active membership. The debate within each country and their comparative differences in approach provide fascinating case studies on the importance and relevance of the EU and the effectiveness of Europeanization. A wide range of contributors with significant experience gained within the EU as well as their country of origin use their expert understanding of the language and cultures of the countries concerned to provide detailed and rich insights into the troubled history and potential of the post-Yugoslav space.

The definitive textbook on EU politics and governance, now in its 8th edition, has been thoroughly updated to take into account the ongoing developments and evolution of the EU. Major changes, recent developments, and the crises that have befallen the union in recent times are analysed within this context. This includes eurozone crisis, the migration crisis, and the UK's decision to leave the EU. Acclaimed author and academic Neill Nugent has written a comprehensive text, enabling students with no prior knowledge of the EU to master the subject. By detailing the historical evolution of European integration, Nugent gives the necessary context to his exhaustive analysis of policies, process, institutions and treaties. This has grown to include two new chapters on Member State Relations and Interest Representation. The final section considers concepts and theories with EU studies, providing a succinct, accessible introduction to theory, which can be read as standalone chapters. With a new structure to increase readability and packed with numerous pedagogical features - document excerpts, case studies, maps figures - and supported by a fully stocked companion website with resources for both students and lecturers, this text is an essential for students new to EU studies. This new edition offers: - New chapters on Member State relations and interest representation - Updates on all main institutions, policies and processes - Authoritative coverage of the main institutions, policies and processes of the EU - Redesigned textbook with even more pedagogical features - New companion website including updates, data resources, PowerPoint slides and test questions