The European Union has flourished and expanded over the last fifty years
as a unique system that lies midway between a federal state and an anarchical
international system. Different actors coexist within a cooperative hegemony
of Member States, and the allocation of competences and decision-making among
them has always been at the centre of the integration process. In fact,
demands for clearer limits to the Unionand#8217;s decision-making power and enduring
tension over the nature and purpose of European integration have been the key
drivers of integration and change.

This deeply informed and thoughtful book thoroughly examines the manner in
which the principle of division of powers has developed in EU Law over the
course of European integration, and casts light on the path towards a more
efficient delimitation of internal competence between the main actors: namely,
the European Union and the Member States. Among the topics investigated in
depth are the following:

• 
  the place of the and#8216;competence provisionsand#8217; in the current and future EU Treaty
  structure;
  


• 
  the scope and limits of the powers of institutional actors involved in EU
  decision-making;
  


• 
  the contribution of the Court of Justice in declaring the pre-emptive effect
  and overarching precedence of Community law;
  


• 
  the role of subsidiarity as a tool for monitoring the jurisdictional limits of
  the Communityand#8217;s legislative competence;
  


• 
  areas where and#8216;creeping competenceand#8217; occurs;
  


• 
  the constitutional checks and balances available to Member States against
  unprecedented expansion of EU competences; and
  


• 
  the spectre of a powerful and#8216;coreand#8217; Europe and a and#8216;multi-speedand#8217; Europe of
  pacesetters and laggards.
  

Addressing numerous crucial issues and#8211; among them the degree of permanence of
the nation-state in a context of ambiguous constitutional authority, and the
width of the democratic base of the Unionand#8217;s and#8216;institutional dynamicand#8217; of
cooperation and consensus and#8211; the author lucidly describes a seeming paradox: an
and#8216;ever-closer unionand#8217;, with a growing democratic legitimacy, congruent with a
supranational community that falls short of a fully-fledged democratic
political entity. The countless perspectives and clarifications discovered
along the way are sure to engage academics and policymakers working in the
fields of the European integration project, and will provide ample insights
and food for thought.