Linking EU and national governance

European governance ranks high on the present research agenda on Europe and has attracted considerable attention in public debate over the course of the past decade. This book takes a special approach as it highlights the multi-faceted interconnectedness of EU and national governance that comes with public policy making in the European space.
The volume is a well-chosen selection from the research of leading scholars working on the EU. These scholars provide an insight into the current debate on European governance by using state-of-the-art theory-driven empirical research. The individual chapters give evidence of the functioning and the deficiencies of the penetrated system of governance that has emerged within the European Union. The contributions highlight the diverse mechanisms which link EU and national governance and, alongside the constraints, also demonstrate the readiness and capacity of political bodies to adapt to demands from their environment. Apart from this more functional view, individual chapters look at the penetrated system of European governance from a normative perspective and investigate the prospect of improving parliamentary accountability and the formation of a European public space.

Beate Kohler-Koch is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Mannheim.