Adapting To European Integration PDF Download

One of the most noticeable features of recent studies of European integration has been the growth in the number of publications that have focused on the impact that membership of the European Union has had on its member states. One element of this has been the emergence of a significant body of work that has been concerned with domestic patterns of adjustment, thereby helping to address an important gap in the literature (Knill and Lehmkuhl, 1999: 1; Börzel and Risse, 2000: 1). In this sense, it is striking that the majority of the EU literature has tended to focus on developments at the European level rather than paying attention to developments at the domestic level and in particular the impact of European integration. And those studies which have sought to examine the nature of a member state's relationship with the EU have principally charted the negotiating stance taken by government in a historical perspective. This is significantly different from offering an analytical review of the extent to which European integration has impacted on member states, for example on the activities of government. This is a point of which Claudio Radaelli is perfectly aware: 'Europe matters, but how? The political systems of the European Union (EU) member states are penetrated by European policies, but what is the effect of this process? Is Europeanization making the member states more similar? Or do different domestic political structures “refract” Europeanization in different directions? Has “Europe” changed domestic political structure (for example, party systems and public administration) and public policy? If so, what are the mechanisms of change?' (Radaelli, 2000: 1). This article is concerned with the impact that membership of the European Union has had on member states by examining four books that seek to cast light on the nature of the relationship between the domestic and the EU level.