European Union Policy and Governance

The European Union represents one of the most ambitious experiments in supranational governance in modern history, binding together dozens of sovereign states through shared institutions, laws, and an evolving sense of collective identity. Scholars study how authority is distributed across EU institutions, national governments, and regional bodies—a layered arrangement known as multi-level governance—and how this structure shapes policy compliance, democratic accountability, and the EU's capacity to act as a normative force in global affairs. A persistent tension runs through the research: the EU has expanded its reach into areas from monetary policy to environmental regulation, yet many citizens feel disconnected from Brussels, giving rise to the long-debated "democratic deficit." Active questions include how far European integration can advance before national political resistance hardens, and whether the EU can sustain cohesion as member states increasingly diverge on fundamental values and political priorities.

Works

143,161

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1,115,215

Keywords

European integrationgovernanceEuropean Unionnormative powerpolitical dynamicsmulti-level