Understanding the European Union

To forestall disappointment, or contrariwise to encourage the readership, we need to explain that we have not set out to write a treatise on integration theory. There are textual refèrences to theoretical underpinnings and to writings on theory in the notes and bibliography.

The plan of this work is as follows:

• Part 1 is a concise history of the building of European Union, pointing out some of the countervailing pressures that have existed from time to time.
  
• Part 2 describes the institutions, their functions and interactions that produce Community and European Union policy.
  
• Parts 3 and 4 analyse the policies of the first, second and third pillars of the European Union.
  
• Part 5 examines the attitudes of the existing fifteen Member States of the European Union and explores some of the issues relating to the enlargement of that Union. There is also an Extended Glossary that seeks to give rather more detail on specific points and to note features not in the text.
  

Most money values are given in ECUs, as they were originally presented. The sterling value of the ECU fluctuated, as bas the value of the euro. There is no fixed £/euro rate but in the first half of 1999 the euro was roughly equal to 65-70 pence.

The signing off point for the book was the end of autumn 1999 and the nomination of the Prodi Commission.

We are grateful to the European Commission for permission to reproduce source material. We are also grateful to Liz Mackie of Aberdeen University European Documentation Centre and Janet Michaelsen for all the help provided.