The European Union Decides

by Edited by Robert Thomson , Frans N. Stokman , Christopher H. Achen , Thomas König

• ISBN13: 9780521861892
• ISBN10: 0521861896
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-09-25
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

European legislation affects countless aspects of daily life in modern Europe but just how does the European Union make such significant legislative decisions? How important are the formal decision-making procedures in defining decision outcomes and how important is the bargaining that takes place among the actors involved? Using a combination of detailed evidence and theoretical rigour, this volume addresses these questions and others that are central to understanding how the EU works in practice. It focuses on the practice of day-to-day decision-making in Brussels and the interactions that take place among the Member States in the Council and among the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament. A unique data set of actual Commission proposals are examined against which the authors develop, apply and test a range of explanatory models of decision-making, exemplifying how to study decision-making in other political systems using advanced theoretical tools and appropriate research design.

Table of Contents

List of figures	vii
List of tables	ix
Notes on contributors	xii
Preface	xvii
1 Explaining legislative decision-making in the European Union
ROBERT THOMSON AND MADELEINE O. HOSLI	1	(24)
2 Research design: measuring actors' positions, saliences and capabilities
ROBERT THOMSON AND FRANS N. STOKMAN	25	(29)
3 Testing procedural models of EU legislative decision-making
BERNARD STEUNENBERG AND TORSTEN J. SELCK	54	(32)
4 Institutional realism and bargaining models
CHRISTOPHER H. ACHEN	86	(38)
5 Compromise, exchange and challenge in the European Union
JAVIER ARREGUI, FRANS N. STOKMAN AND ROBERT THOMSON	124	(29)
6 Nash versus Schelling? The importance of constraints in legislative bargaining
STEFANIE BAILER AND GERALD SCHNEIDER	153	(25)
7 A cooperative approach to decision-making in the European Union
VINCENT BOEKHOORN, ADRIAN M.A. VAN DEEMEN AND MADELEINE O. HOSLI	178	(33)
8 A procedural exchange model of EU legislative politics
THOMAS KONIG AND SVEN-OLIVER PROKSCH	211	(28)
9 Beyond informal compromise: testing conditional formal procedures of EU decision-making
MIKA WIDGREN AND ANTTI PAJALA	239	(25)
10 Evaluating political decision-making models
CHRISTOPHER H. ACHEN	264	(35)
11 Evidence with insight: what models contribute to EU research
GERALD SCHNEIDER, BERNARD STEUNENBERG AND MIKA WIDGREN	299	(18)
Appendix I Selection of Commission proposals	317	(12)
Appendix II Comparison of expert judgements with each other and with information from Council documentation
ROBERT THOMSON	329	(19)
References	348	(19)
Index	367