Handbook on the European Union [antikvár]

INTRODUCTIONIt gives me great pleasure to introduce this book which is something of a milestone. In recent years I have been a spectator as the volume of books, papers and articles about European integration has swollen to a veritable flood. The study of European integration is a young discipline. A generation ago, it was in its infancy and two generations ago it did not exist. Now, it is the object of a great deal of technical and political attention and much learned production. In this decisive phase of Eastern enlargement it's increasingly important to move from the general questions of European integration to the details, as a thorough understanding of how the Union works is an essential prerequisite of making the best of EU membership.The Handbook on the European Union, which has already seen five Hungarian editions and is a must-have book sitting on the shelf of a large number of Hungarian politicians, experts, students and people of all walks of life, is one of the key reference volumes on the EU. This book is a milestone because it is the first comprehensive book on the European Union to be written by an expert from a candidate country, and written for other experts or interested citizens from candidate countries. For the first time, politicians, legal specialists, economists, journalists or any other citizens from the candidate countries can learn about the legal and institutional structure of the EU, the operation of the EU policies and the issues of the enlargement process from one of their own, and not through the filter of the viewpoint of the Member States.The first reason that this book appears in English is not to appeal to an international audience, although I am sure that it can be very interesting for experts in the EU to study how the European Union and its enlargement is introduced from a viewpoint of an expert of a future15