The Penguin Companion to European Union (Paperback, 3rd Ed)

‘Required reading … it leads us with admirable clarity and lack of techno-jargon through the history, composition and machinery of the EC’
Independent on Sunday

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Europe is undergoing a process of rapid change. Countries of central and eastern Europe are negotiating to join the European Union; the single currency has been launched; the Treaty of Amsterdam has come into force; the Treaty of Nice has been adopted; and radical reforms are reshaping security organizations such as NATO and the WEU as well as the Union itself. All these and many other developments across the whole field of European integration are surveyed in this new edition of the best-selling Penguin Companion to European Union, now completely revised and brought up to date with more than fifty new entries. Arranged alphabetically, the Companion provides a balanced and comprehensive picture of the ideas, institutions, personalities and political pressures which are shaping the Europe of today. In particular, the Companion covers:

· the historical background to European integration

· the basic Treaties, backed by extensive quotations from the key articles

· how decisions in Europe are taken - and by whom

· technical terms, legal, political and economic

· the main policy areas, with summaries of progress to date and references to legislation

· an extensive bibliography as an aid to further study

The original edition of The Penguin Companion to European Union was awarded joint first prize in the European Information Association awards for 1995.