Unveiling the Council of the European Union

Unveiling the Council of the European Union: Games Governments Play in Brussels , edited by D. Naurin and H. Wallace ( Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan , 2008 , ISBN 9780230555044 ); xiv + 320pp. , £60.00 . This book is a welcome addition to the burgeoning literature about the Council of the European Union though, with such a hefty price tag, it is clearly destined for the specialist and the library. The subtitle is both slightly misleading and rather revealing. What is meant is ‘play’, as in game theory. Game theorists need data to build their models and that is the key to this set of studies. As the editors note in their introduction, recent years have seen not only a growing literature about the Council but also a transformation in the amount and quality of raw data available, in considerable part because of new rules and regulations concerning transparency and access to data. The availability of such raw data has been complemented by the availability of a number of collective and individual data compilations. Although there are still some striking lacunae (studies on behaviour in the CAP, for example), better data collection leads to better data exploitation and better theorizing. The contributors to this volume study in turn coalition-building (after enlargement, east–north–south); consensus mechanisms (including a case study on Community asylum policy); deliberation (the previous ‘113’ Committee and the 1996/97 IGC Representatives Group; risk regulation; strategic bargaining) and leadership (two studies of the Presidency; the impact of the secretariat and a comparison of old and new Member States). Two theoretical chapters in the closing section discuss the methodology of studying the Council. Despite its power and position, for a long time the Council remained a relatively obscure institution. The editors persuasively argue that the debate is now shifting. Empirical data, the life stuff of the political scientist, is increasingly available and of increasing quality. That means that researchers can begin seriously to answer questions such as which conflict dimensions structure the interactions between the Member States? What type of bargaining goes on? Who has power and how is it exercised? What are the mechanisms of conflict and consensus and so on? Thus, this book represents a step-change in analyses of the Council and of Member State behaviour, both in terms of methodology and empirical basis. Perhaps its most reassuring finding is that all Member States have the ability to influence outcomes; quite simply, you win some, you lose some. As the editors conclude, ‘it is not difficult to see the importance of such a state of affairs for the legitimacy and long-run stability of the European Union as a whole’

Deliberation · Economics · European union · International trade · Law and economics · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidency · Raw data · Sociology · Transparency (behavior · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Public Administration