Integrating Europe —— Informal Politics and Institutional Change

Jeff Stacey has written a richly informative book that offers a whole new perspective on how most of the world's former great powers--superpowers during their imperial days--have been actually giving up power as partners in the boldest geo-strategic gambit in modern history: integrating through the European Union (EU). But here's the catch: they are doing this in a technically illegal way, as well as a way that many would consider undemocratic. Most experts on the concept of giving up national sovereignty assume that France, Germany, the UK and others give up power via treaty negotiations in the EU context, the results of hard core bargaining by Prime Ministers sitting late into the night around some international conference table. But Stacey is like some detective assigned to get the real story on how this happens, and what he's uncovered is some pretty illuminating stuff: these governments actually give up many of their powers long before these high profile negotiations of national leaders, through informal bargains with the European Parliament that create informal rules that re-allocate power away from governments to EU institutions like the Parliament. I was particularly bowled over to read Stacey's evidence that every time one of these non legal informal rules contradicts EU law from long ago treaties, the EU's policy making actors actually adhere not to the law but the newer informal rule! I wonder how much of the European public knows this is going on...fascinating. Also like any good detective, Stacey has to persuade his audience that his evidence is legit--a clear highly readable text is put to good use here--and I recommend this book to anyone interested in today's Europe.

Jeffrey Stacey of the U.S. State Department has written the best book on Europe I've seen in a while. If you want to understand what the European Union (EU) is and how it works, I highly recommend this book. As Stacey works in the State Department, he no doubt interacts with European diplomats a lot. I'd recommend this book for them as well, as the author writes with the knowledge of an insider. Citizens of the EU: If you want to get to the heart of a massive irony about European democracy that affects your livelihoods, here is a good source. No countries in history have done what those in Europe have, in coming together in the political community we now call the EU. Stacey's account of how and why these once proud imperial powers have come together is a must for understanding today's Europe. This book no doubt will stand the test of time and makes for lively read to boot.

This great book is for anyone who has any interest in Europe. And to my surprise it is written as well as a good work of fiction. It turned out to be such a page-turner that I have to say this guy boils down really complex stuff in a remarkably readable way. I am no expert on Europe, but after reading this I feel I know a lot more than I did before I opened it for the first time. I just read on the website that he now works for the state department and it seems like our relationship with Europe could use a lot of improvement. Hopefully the author is applying the stuff in his book to help improve what I think is really key especially with all the craziness in the middle east right now.