Publisher’s acknowledgements

Author's acknowledgements

Preface to the Second Edition

Abbreviations

Chronology

Who’s Who

Glossary

Maps

PART ONE: BACKGROUND

1. THE PROBLEM OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

PART TWO: ANALYSIS

2. THE ROAD TO ROME: 1945–57

The Emergence of European Unity

The Hague Congress

The Coal and Steel Community

The Failure of the European Defence Community

3. CONSTRUCTING THE COMMUNITY: 1958–70

Institutional Design

Policies and Competencies

The Nationalist Backlash

The Spirit of the Hague

4. THE ENLARGED COMMUNITY: 1970-84

The First Enlargement

Britain’s Indecision

Eurosclerosis

Transatlantic Difficulties

Britain’s Budgetary Question

5. THE TRANSFORMATION OF EUROPE: 1985-1993

Creating the Internal Market

The Single European Act

The Road to 1992

Europe’s Changing Map

The Maastricht Treaty

6. BUILDING A NEW EUROPE: 1994-201nbsp;

Enlarging the EU

Treaty of Amsterdam

Treaty of Nice

The Fifth Enlargement and Constitutional Reform

Lisbon and Beyond

PART THREE: ASSESSMENT

7. THE FUTURE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Boundaries of Europe

Nature of membership

The future of European integration

PART FOUR: DOCUMENTS

Further reading

References

Index

“The European Union Since 1945 should be read by undergraduates in introductory EU courses, policy practitioners who are interested in how the European project developed over time, and by the intelligent general reader. This is an excellent example of how an accessible textbook with crucial supporting documents should be written, documented and presented.”

Neil Winn, European Foreign Affairs Review

“...The most concise and accurate description of the development of European institutions and their policies.”

Michael J. Steffens, Political Studies Review

“The author is balanced in his presentation of the controversies surrounding the organisation and its future.”

Dr James Munson, Contemporary Review

The European Union faces a crossroads in the twenty-first century. While there is evidence of declining enthusiasm for European integration, the EU plays an increasingly vital role in tackling problems that can no longer be dealt with at member state level.  In recent years, the EU has developed a stronger foreign, security and defence policy, and has had to face up to the challenges of tackling organised crime, human trafficking and drug smuggling.

In this fully updated new edition, Alasdair Blair examines the economic, political, social and personal factors that have shaped the process of European integration from the end of the Second World War until the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. Written in a clear and jargon-free style, the book explores:

• The context of European integration and expansion
• The relations between the European Union and its member states
• The institutional evolution of the European Union
• Methods of decision-making
• Key policies of the European Union
• The future direction of the European Union

Comprehensive and accessible, this book is an essential guide to understanding the relevance of the European Union in the twenty-first century.

ALASDAIR BLAIR is Professor of International Relations and Head of the Department of Historical and Social Studies at De Montfort University. He is the author of eight books, including International Politics: An Introductory Guide (2009) and Companion to the European Union (2006).

A concise, accessible introduction to the EU since 1945, this Seminar Study introduces readers to the basic concepts and the history of the organisation, and has been fully updated to include developments from 2000 – 2010.

• Fully updated and expanded
• Contains diagrams and statistical material to support the text
• Wide range of primary source material, including maps, documents and photographs
• Contains all the pedagogical features associated with Seminar Studies – chronology, glossary, who’s who, documents, and bibliography.

·        A new chapter 7 entitled ‘Building a New Europe’ would provides a focus on the period since 2000, including the 2004 and 2007 enlargements and the Lisbon Treaty.  The chapter also develops stronger themes analysing the nature of the European project in the 21st century.

·        An expanded final chapter: ‘The Future of European Integration’, which seeks to offer different models for the future of the EU

·        Greater use of diagrams and statistical information to support the material in the book.

·        Now in the new Seminar Studies format, with a Timeline, Who’s Who, and expanded contemporary Documents section. This will contain new documents as well as expanding some from the previous edition.