Assuming no prior knowledge, this is a textbook on the political dynamics of the EU which offers a refreshing alternative to the traditional history-policy-institutions model. - Съдържа: The limits of the domestic analogy 1 -- Understanding cooperative sovereignty 4 -- 1 Europeanization and its Limits 11 -- The founding compromises 12 -- The Maastricht moment 19 -- The uneven vectors of Europeanization 23 -- 2 Policy-making in a Union of States 30 -- In which spheres does the EU matter? 31 -- How are the Union's policies made? 37 -- 3 Cooperation and Conflict: the Union and its States 48 -- How the states control the Union 49 -- The states under the Union's control 58 -- 4 Competing for Leadership: Commission vs. Council 64 -- What is the Community model? 64 -- The governments' omnipresence 69 -- Why the Commission cannot be a European government 74 -- What does the Commission do? 83 -- 5 Building Compromise in a Divided Polity 89 -- The Council and the logic of conflict avoidance 89 -- The Commission's spirit of collegiality 99 -- 6 Representation and Accountability: a Semi-parliamentary Regime 106 -- The rise and stagnation of the EU's Parliament 107 -- Forging consensus in a divided assembly 111 -- The logic of co-decision 117 -- The spirit of compromise 123 -- 7 In the Shadow of the Law: Politics and the Court 127 -- Why a Court? 127 -- Judges facing political actors: prudent audacity 129 -- Politicians vs. judges: voluntary servitude 136 -- The Court and the future of EU politics 140 -- 8 Politics and the People: a Fragmented Public Sphere 146 -- The polyphony of interests 148 -- Embryonic parties 157 -- Unstructured opinions 163 -- 9 Participation and Citizenship: Towards a transnational Democracy? 167 -- The EU's democratic deficit: a powerful myth 167 -- Parliamentary tropism 171 -- From parliamentary government to democratic governance 174 -- Beyond pluralism 183 -- 10 Conclusion: the Union, its Nature and Value 189 -- Rethinking sovereignty 190 -- Why the EU cannot become a state 195 -- Towards a regime change? 198.*