The countries in "the class of 2004" are now full-fledged members of the European Union, with equal rights to participate in the policy process shaping its future. This implies a quality leap in their political status.

The last decades have been characterized by deep regional integration in Europe as well as the emergence of new integration agreements in other parts of the world. This process has spurred an extensive debate about what the economic effects of integration are, both on insiders and outsiders.

This paper looks at the evolution of Britain’s role in Europe in the light of the issues facing the UK Presidency in the second half of 2005 The report was presented at the seminar The UK 2005 Presidency: Beyond the British Question? and is a part of the research project The EU Presidencies.  2005:2op The UK 2005 Presidency: Beyond the British Question? (168.

Published in April 2005, this paper assesses the Luxembourg presidency, with a particular focus on the Stability and Growth pact and the Lisbon Process, two major challenges for the presidency. The report was presented at the seminar The Luxemburg 2005 Presidency: Priorities and Strategy and is a part of the research project The EU Presidencies.

This paper looks at the key political dynamics involved in the process of Turkish accession to the EU, on both the Turkish and the EU sides. It asks: whether Turkish political reforms will be successfully completed and what are the main challenges; what will be the most important issues in negotiations and how the political dynamics around the negotiation process may develop, and what political impact Turkey will have on the EU, given its size, location, and its ongoing and radical political, economic and social transition? The report was presented at the seminar The Political Implications of Turkish Accession to the EU and is a part of the research project Borders of the new EU - possibilities and challenges.

This report gives an overview of the Commission’s agenda for European governance reform as set out in the White Paper of Governance adopted by the Commission in 2001, focusing on how the Commission envisages its own role in the EU decision-making process. Furthermore, it describes how a number of follow-up documents adopted by the Commission have essentially given effect to the initial recommendations and proposals set out in the White Paper.

This paper discusses the domestic backgrounds and challenges of the 2004 Netherlands European Union Council Presidency. The paper reviews the national organisation and management of the Presidency with the use of empirical results from a written survey covering some 550 government officials.

The relationship between Council and Parliament within the codecision procedure involves a plethora of informal and semi-formal meetings in which many of the real decisions about legislation are taken, with little scope for public oversight. In the light of the current debate on the future of European Union, the report will address the question what this informalization of the decision-making process means for the legitimacy of the legislative process.

The purpose of the report is to give an overview of economic literature on three questions: the risk of tax competition between European countries; the welfare effects of a possible tax competition; and the possibilities of correcting any such development through tax harmonisation. The author contends that there are two points of view for those who welcome globalisation and tax competition.

In this report the authors discuss the proposal for a hierarchy of legal acts as that was the result from the work of the European Convention on the Future of Europe. One objective with the proposal was to reduce the number of legal instruments and give them names which are readily understandable to the public.