The European Union and National Industrial Policy

Although the implications of EU membership have been the subject of intense political debate and academic enquiry throughout the member states, the actual impact of EU action on those states remains under-researched. The lack of empirical investigation has meant that it has not been possible to arrive at any informed judgement about how the EU has affected traditional policy making in the member states or to evaluate competing claims. The European Union and National Industrial Policy investigates the extent to which action at the EU level in a range of industrial, financial and service sectors has affected the substance of national policy and the behaiviour of, and relationships between, national actors. It looks at the policies pursued by the four larger member states in these areas, discussing the initiatives launched by the EU and assessing the Union's impact on national policy, compared with other internal and external factors. The European Union and National Industrial Policy offers a unique investigation of the relationship between the Union and member states that is empirically-based and theoretically reflective. In an attempt to overcome the boundaries that have traditionally seperated international relations, political science, public policy and other social sciences, it uses insights from a number of perspectives to assess the impact of the EU on the ability of member states to chose and implement their goals.