Dividing Lines between the European Union and Its Member States - The Impact of the Treaty of Lisbon

In the European Union the balance of power between Brussels and the Member State governments is an ongoing matter of contention. With each treaty amendment during the Union’s first 50 years, EU competences have grown, and each time critics have questioned whether the national governments are being weakened. The Treaty of Lisbon is now being considered as a replacement for the ill-fated European Constitution, and the atmosphere is one of heightened sensitivity.

This timely book examines the Lisbon Treaty to determine whether the current ‘dividing lines’ between Member State and Union authority will be affected. Taking a broad view of what the EU is and what its members are trying to accomplish collectively, the author contrasts these aspirations for Europe with the insistence of each Member State that it must never lose its national sovereignty.

Specific to this book:

• A broad and unique perspective on the EU, combining a broad political point of view with highly detailed legal analysis of the new Lisbon Treaty
• In-depth legal and textual analysis of the new Lisbon Treaty, with abundant citations to sections of the Lisbon Treaty and the existing EU treaties
• An important book in the field of European Union integration and constitutional development, which will be of interest to public officials, judges, lawyers, scholars and students

With a foreword by Jaap W. de Zwaan, Director of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, ‘Clingendael’, The Hague; Professor of the Law of the EU at the Law School of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.