The complex patterns of policy making and implementation in the European Union pose particular challenges for policy analysis. This groundbreaking new text equips readers with a thorough understanding of how EU policy is formulated, implemented and evaluated and with the tools and concepts needed to analyze the EU policy process
The first half of the book examines the theory and methodology of policy analysis. The authors then conduct a detailed analysis of the five stages of policy making: agenda setting, policy shaping, decision making, implementation and evaluation. Case studies and real-life examples are included throughout to illustrate how theory translates into practice. The book concludes by considering the constantly changing political environment in which EU policy is made and discusses the distinctiveness of the policy process as a whole
List of Boxes, Tables and Figures
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Contributors
Introduction 1
Analyzing the EU 1
The philosophy behind the book 2
The framework of the book 4
Part I Theory and Methodology in EU Policy Analysis 9
1 Doing EU Policy Analysis 11
What is policy? 11
What is policy analysis? 14
The policy process: ástages' as an approach to analyzing policy 19
Using theory in policy analysis 24
Conclusion 30
Suggestions for further reading 30
2 Whom Do We Analyze 31
Introduction 31
The institutional structure of the EU 31
The institutions 33
The advisory bodies 42
Informal actors - the role of lobbying 46
Different modes of interaction 49
Conclusion 52
Suggestions for further reading 53
3 What Do we Analyze? 55
Introduction 55
Categorizing policy 55
Overview of EU policy instruments 57
Overview of EU policy fields 63