Rethinking the European Union draws together contributors from across Europe to reflect upon methods of conceptualising the European Union within both changing global and European contexts. The book takes the themes of institutions, interests and identities as its organising framework within which each contributor offers a distinctive commentary on the EU. The outcome is a text that goes beyond an exploration of the existing methods of conceptualising the European integration process and reflects upon the nature of the EU itself.

Notes on the Contributors - Introduction: The European Union in a Changing Context; A.Landau - PART 1: INSTITUTIONS AND IDENTITIES: EUROPE AND THE INTERNATIONAL - The New Pattern of International Relations in Europe; A.Hyde-Price - The European Union in Its International Environment: a Systematic Analysis; A.Herrberg - The International Identity of the European Union: Instruments as Identity; R.Whitman - PART 2: INSTITUTIONS AND INTERESTS: BETWEEN SUPRANATIONALISM AND INTERGOVERNMENTALISM - The European Union at the Cross Roads: Sovereignty and Integration; L.Aggestam - The Capacity to Act: European National Governments and the European Commission; K.Armingeon - Forging European Union: What Role for the European Parliament?; D.Viola - PART 3: INTERESTS AND IDENTITIES: CLEVAGES AND COMMONALITIES - European Values and National Interests; E.Barbe - The Cultural Semiotics of 'European Identity': Between National Sentiment and the Transnational Imperative; U.Hedetoft - Conclusion; A.Landau & R.Whitman - Bibliography - Index