| Review of: | The Institutions of the European Union edited by J. Peterson, M. Shackleton |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Ana Mar Fernández |
| Reviewed in: | Journal of Common Market Studies |
| Date accepted online: | 02/11/2007 |
| Published in print: | Volume 45, Issue 2, Pages 515-533 |
Book Reviews
In order to understand the political system of the European Union (EU), the study of its institutions is fundamental. This basic idea of neo-institutionalism underlies this new, edited volume of the '
After an introductory chapter on institutional change within the EU and the contribution of the Constitutional Treaty to this process, the book is divided into three main parts. Instead of following the traditional structure of dividing the book by institutions, the editors have organized it according to functions. More specifically, three main functions of the EU system of governance are identified: political direction, management of the Union and the integration of interests. The first part, centred on the analysis of the centres of power, includes an analysis of the European Council, the Council, the College of Commissioners, the Parliament and the Court of Justice. Surprisingly, the European Central Bank (ECB) is not included in this part, but rather in the second, which deals with the management bodies of the EU and includes, in addition the Court of Auditors and OLAF, the Commission services and the European Agencies. Here, the emphasis is on the degree to which innovative reforms have been introduced in recent years. The final part is dedicated to the issue of the integration of interests, and is the most surprising from the point of view of the internal coherence of the book. In this third part, we find a study of policies such as Police and Judicial Co-operation together with the study of organs such as Coreper and the Committee of the Regions. This eclecticism in the final part is, perhaps, the only weak point of a book whose very strength is its ability not only to describe but also to analyse change and continuity of the EU institutional system, the interdependence of its component parts, and the challenges that they have had to face up to in the last decade in terms of direction and management, while providing at the same time the theoretical tools to undertake such analyses. Overall, it is an outstanding contribution and a key text for those who wish to understand the institutional dynamics of the unique political organization that is the EU.