| Description: |
This book is the second of two volumes in which leading scholars examine the way in which EU member states co-ordinate their European policies. This second volume investigates the structures, institutions and processes put in place by national governments in Brussels. From a comparative perspective, the book assesses the responses of governments to the demands of EU membership. It offers a detailed examination of the organisation, operation and performance ofpermanent representations, and their role in national systems of EU policy making, and looks at the extent to which interaction within a common institutional environment has brought about convergence between national arrangements.The companion volume, published in 2000, examines the national co-ordination of EU policy at the domestic level. |
| Synopsis: |
This book is the second of two volumes that examine how EU member states co-ordinate their European policies. In this second volume, the focus is on the European level. The book investigates the strategies deployed by eleven member states - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom - and examines the role played by the permanent representation, and the structures and processes that link national officials in Brussels and at home. From a comparative perspective, the book identifies and assesses the organisation, functions and effectiveness of the permanent representation, and the part that it plays in the national system of co-ordination. It considers the influences that have shaped systems of national co-ordination - the demands exerted by Union membership, the institutional structure of the national polity, the pre-existing balance between domestic institutions, administrative norms and values, and attitudes, both popular and elite, to European integration.It assesses the extent to which there has been a convergent response to the administrative challenges posed by membership on the part of the member states or whether a pattern of divergence endures. The question of effectiveness is also addressed. The companion volume explores co-ordination institutions, structures and procedures at the domestic level. Looking at ten member states, it offers a comprehensive comparative analysis of the way in national governments organise European policy making. |