This book focuses on the major challenges facing the EU and addresses several crucial questions: Will the EU succeed in fostering greater cooperation among members and achieving "ever closer union"? How will the less-developed applicants for EU membership from the east and south affect cohesion and institutional design? Will the Union succeed in becoming more democratic and less bureaucratic?

The authors examine the nuts and bolts of European Union machinery and present a compelling argument that "ever closer union" will only be possible with greater balance and flexibility among supranational, national, and subnational actors.