Law, Politics, and Society in Europe

Provides an introduction to the book, giving a general overview of the evolution of EU law and politics with emphasis on the growing intersection between these two disciplines. The first section describes the approach taken (use of the dynamic interaction between law, politics, and society as a starting point to think critically about recent developments and future innovations in European integration and EU studies), and the objectives. These are: to provide an overview of key events of 2000–2002 in the EU, while illuminating how these institutional (formal legal) developments are linked to an ongoing interaction between law, politics, and society; to illuminate why the key events since 2000 are also distinct from previous trends; and to provide a unique and interdisciplinary approach to studying the EU by bringing together both legal scholars and political scientists. The second section looks at law, politics, and society as a process of institutional change, and outlines the varying approaches taken in the different chapters. The last section provides an overview of the book by part and chapter.