Based on the research of the EU-6th framework funded research consortium on 'New Modes of Governance in the European Union', this volume explores the roots, execution and applications of new forms of governance and evaluates their success.

Mutual recognition is generally forgotten in debates about new modes of governance, even though it is a particular powerful example. Its invention was crucial for the completion of the European Union’s single market, and in the late 1990s it was transferred to the field of Justice and Home Affairs. Outside of the EU, mutual recognition is also gaining in importance. This book discusses mutual recognition in the context of the debate on new modes of governance and analyzes its potential to solve governance problems, focusing on the preconditions it needs for its functioning (e.g. trust of the Member states), the positive implications of achieving coordination through it, as well as its negative side effects (e.g. the danger of a regulatory race to the bottom). Particular focus is on the contentious services directive as a prominent example of using mutual recognition. In addition, contributions look at the application of mutual recognition in the market for goods, in the area of Justice and Home Affairs, in tax policy, and in the World Trade Organization, so that the book achieves a comprehensive assessment of mutual recognition as a new mode of governance. This book was previously published as special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

This book looks at policy steering modes in other words, governance of one particular Community policy area, namely structural/cohesion policy. The study analyzes the governance modes of this policy at the European Union (EU) level and its implementation in eight new member states, putting special emphasis on the usage of 'new modes of governance' in this policy field. In the broad sense, the term 'new modes of governance' is understood as a range of innovations and transformations that have occurred, and continue to, in the instruments, methods, modes, and systems of governance. New approach to governance involves such concepts as a web of non-hierarchical relations between actors, voluntary consensus-building, the application of soft measures, and more flexibility in implementation. This new approach has increased in importance in the EU during the last ten years (i.e. the Amsterdam Treaty, the Lisbon agenda, and the European Commission's White Paper on Governance). Within Europe

In the past two decades, governance theories have arisen semi-independently across multiple disciplines. In law and regulation, planning, democratic theory, economics, public management, and international relations, among other disciplines, scholars have sought to describe new strategies of governing. As a result, the notion of governance is now one of the most frequently used social science concepts in the world. No single theory encompasses this diverse body of work, but rather multiple theories with different aims and perspectives. The Handbook on Theories of Governance collects these theories of governance together as an analytical resource for governing in an increasingly complex, fragmented and dynamic society.

The European Union is facing a profound crisis and is confronted with multiple challenges. Over the last two decades, it has experienced a series of dramatic changes to its powers, its institutional design, its constitutional framework and its borders. At the same time, the uneasy relationship between European citizens and elites has complicated both the reform and the function of the Union. While the Lisbon treaty provided some answers to crucial questions, it did not clarify the nature of the EU, which remains at the crossroads of federal and intergovernmental logic. The current economic and financial crisis puts the EU’s legitimacy further under pressure and creates the impression of a turning point. This book provides a concise analysis of the EU and its dynamics by paying particular attention to its day to day operation. It aims to help students and scholars understand its evolution, its institutions, its decision-making and the interactions between the EU and various actors. Avoiding abstract theorizing, the authors propose an easy to read analysis of how the Union works while recognizing the complexity of the situation. Throughout the book, the key issues of European integration are addressed: democratic deficit, politicization, the role of member states, institutional crisis and citizen involvement.

In recent years new or experimental approaches to governance in the EU, namely the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), have attracted great interest and controversy. This book examines the European Employment Strategy (EES) and its implementation through the OMC, exploring the promises and limitations of the EES for EU social law and policy and for the safeguard of social rights. This significant and timely work offers new insights and fresh perspectives into the operation of New Governance and its relationship with both European and national law and constitutionalism. This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students working in European law – specifically in the field of EU employment law and gender equality – and European governance studies in general.

Since the Treaty of the European Union was ratified in 1993, the European Union has become an important factor in an ever-increasing number of regimes of pooled sovereignty. This Handbook seeks to present a valuable guide to this new and unique system in the twenty-first century, allowing readers to obtain a better understanding of the emerging multilevel European governance system that links national polities to Europe and the global community. Adopting a pan-European approach, this Handbook brings together the work of leading international academics to cover a wide range of topics such as: the historical and theoretical background the political systems and institutions of both the EU and its individual member nations political parties and party systems political elites civil society and social movements in European politics the political economy of Europe public administration and policy-making external policies of the EU. This is an invaluable and comprehensive resource for students, scholars, researchers and practitioners of the European Union, European politics and comparative politics.

Featuring contributions from renowned scholars, A Companion to European Union Law and International Law presents a comprehensive and authoritative collection of essays that addresses all of the most important topics on European Union and international law. Integrates the fields of European Union law and international law, revealing both the similarities and differences Features contributions from renowned scholars in the fields of EU law and international law Covers a broad range of topical issues, including trade, institutional decision-making, the European Court of Justice, democracy, human rights, criminal law, the EMU, and many others

Involving civil society – in particular affected stakeholders – is often seen as a solution to democratic deficits. High expectations ride on the promise of participation in new modes of governance at the EU, such as the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). But its results have been modest, and it is unclear who should participate where, and how. Corinna Wolff offers a consistent framework to assess participation from the perspective of democratic legitimacy, conceptualising it as functional representation. She reviews recent theories of representation, develops them into a tool to deal with complex governance settings, then applies this framework to functional representation at the European Commission in EU social policy. The results indicate that far from being a panacea, functional representation raises fundamental questions about the possibilities for democratic European governance.