For many observers, the European Union is mired in a deep crisis. Between sluggish growth; political turmoil following a decade of austerity politics; Brexit; and the rise of Asian influence, the EU is seen as a declining power on the world stage. Columbia Law professor Anu Bradford argues the opposite in her important new book The Brussels Effect: the EU remains an influential superpower that shapes the world in its image. By promulgating regulations that shape the international business environment, elevating standards worldwide, and leading to a notable Europeanization of many important aspects of global commerce, the EU has managed to shape policy in areas such as data privacy, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, antitrust, and online hate speech. And in contrast to how superpowers wield their global influence, the Brussels Effect - a phrase first coined by Bradford in 2012- absolves the EU from playing a direct role in imposing standards, as market forces alone are often sufficient as multinational companies voluntarily extend the EU rule to govern their global operations. The Brussels Effect shows how the EU has acquired such power, why multinational companies use EU standards as global standards, and why the EU's role as the world's regulator is likely to outlive its gradual economic decline, extending the EU's influence long into the future.

THE POST-BREXIT EDITION - brand new chapters with extra EU chaos for Englishman Paul West. An Englishman, Paul West, goes to Brussels to work for a French MEP. There he gets an insider's view of what really goes on in the massive madhouse that is the EU Parliament. With the referendum on the horizon, things are even more hysterical than usual. When the Brexit result comes in, Paul has to make a decision. If he wants to work in Europe, should he apply for a French passport? But can an Englishman really become French? Can he sing the bloodthirsty 'Marseillaise'? Can he even pronounce the word 'Marseillaise'? And as Paul contemplates his own personal Brexit, the whole of Brussels seems to be going into meltdown ...

Fifty years after the conclusion of the Treaties of Rome (25 March 1957) and the foundation of the European Economic Community, Brussels has become a political world city and international capital with global influence. The acta of the interuniversity and international colloquium, held in Brussels on 18 and 19 December 2006, present a general outline of the research results and 26 contributions, based on original research and divided into three parts. The first part focuses on Brussels' position in the 'world city network'. How has Brussels grown into the European and international 'capital' we know today? What exactly is its legal status as the European 'Capital'? Of course, other aspects such as the relationship between the Brussels-Capital Region and the Europe of Regions and the role of Brussels as the place for lobbying the European Union are also examined. The second part focuses on the interaction between the European institutions and Brussels. What are the socioeconomic, demographic, political and linguistic effects of their presence? Finally, a number of pressure points and areas of tension are analysed. How is Brussels 'imagined' or represented as the capital of Europe? And what is the impact of the European presence on urban planning and security policy? -- Back cover.

With over 30,000 lobbyists in town, Brussels is often called the European capital of lobbying. Despite this, little is known on how this political system works in practice. This book offers an unprecedented window into the everyday relationships between bureaucrats and interest representatives. Where the media only shows lobbyists as they meet MEPs and submit amendments, the book argues that the bulk of their work is done in close contact with EU bureaucrats – a form of ‘quiet politics’ developed by the business community, targeting officials with little public exposure. Based on official archives, the book first sets the historical picture for the emergence of a new layer of bureaucrats; fuelled by European and transatlantic capitalism, it altered the political façade of the business community to fulfil its need for legitimacy. Drawing from observations of internal meetings of the main lobbies operating in Brussels and interviews with lobbyists and Commission officials, the book then shows lobbyists at work. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of the European Union, interest groups, and more broadly to political science and sociology.

How are prestige and power anchored in EU-Brussels? Which performances are valued, and which are not? Pawel Lewicki's ethnographic analysis gives insight into how different understandings of modernity and class structures reproduce national performances and stereotypes among EU civil servants. Divisions permeate both political and private life and are visible not only on the map of the city, but also in the lifestyles of people living and working in EU-Brussels. In such a cultural setting the strategies applied by newcomers to the EU, Lewicki shows, reveal deeper postcolonial and (post-)imperial dynamics at the heart of the union.

This book deals with the interconnection between the Brussels I Recast and Rome I Regulations and addresses the question of uniform interpretation. A consistent understanding of scope and provisions is suggested by the preamble of the Rome I Regulation. Without doubt, it is fair to presume that the same terms bear the same meaning throughout the Regulations. The author takes a closer look at the Regulations’ systems, guiding principles, and their balance of flexibility and legal certainty. He starts from the premise that such analysis should prove particularly rewarding as both legal acts have their specific DNA: The Brussels I Recast Regulation has a procedural focus when it governs the allocation of jurisdiction and the free circulation of judgments. The multilateral rules under the Rome I Regulation, by contrast, are animated by conflict of laws methods and focus on the delimitation of legal systems. This fourth volume in the Short Studies in Private International Law Series is primarily aimed at legal academics in private international law and advanced students. But it should also prove an intriguing read for legal practitioners in international litigation. Christoph Schmon is a legal expert in the fields of Private International Law, Consumer Law, and Digital Rights. After serving in research positions at academic institutes in Vienna and London, he focused on EU policy and law making. He is appointed expert of advisory groups to the EU Commission.

This book focuses on major amendments introduced in the Brussels I regulatory framework. The contributions scrutenise the changes introduced in the Brussels Ibis Regulation, a legal instrument that presents a core of the unification of private international law rules on the European Union level. It is one of the first publications addressing all the changes in the Brussels I regulatory scheme, which takes into consideration relevant CJEU case law up to July 2016. The texts, written by legal scholars who have published extensively in the field of private international law and international civil procedure, will add to the development of EU private international law. In addition, the authors’ critical analysis may open further discussions on the topic and so benefit a consistent and harmonised application of the Regulation. In this respect the book takes a different approach than the commentaries which have so far been published. It is primarily meant for legal academics in private international law and practitioners who are regularly engaged in cross-border civil proceedings. It may also be of added value to advanced students and to those with a particular interest in the subject of international litigation and more generally in the area of dispute resolution. Vesna Lazić is a Senior Researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, an Associate Professor of Private Law at Utrecht University and Professor of European Civil Procedure at the University of Rijeka. Steven Stuij is an expert in Private International Law and an external Ph.D. candidate at Erasmus School of Law, Rotterdam.

Summary: Written by some of the leading experts on lobbying transparency in Europe, this collection provides an eye-opening insight into decision making within the European Union - and offers a valuable guide to fighting for greater transparency and accountability. "Bursting the Brussels bubble" is a valuable tool for anyone concerned with decision-making and democratic accountability within the European Union. It reveals how lobbyists from the world of big business have successfully embedded themselves inside the European Union's decision-making process, creating a political culture where, behind closed doors, the influence of business has become the norm.

Countless interest groups representing governments and civil societies try to lobby the European Union effectively in pursuit of the desired legislation, subsidies and more. This book describes the everyday practice of lobbying in Brussels, drawing on extensive research and the author's personal experience. The objective of these interest groups is to influence the EU decision-making, of which they see themselves as a stakeholder. To the existing representative bodies such as the Parliament and the Council, they add their practice of lobbying for a desired outcome by making their interests present or represented at the EU level. In a roundabout way, they contribute to the EU integration and also to its democracy, so long as the following conditions are fulfilled.

"Brussels - a manifesto : towards the capital of Europe is based on the results of the second year advanced research studio 'Brussels Capital of Europe', organized at the Berlage Institute from September 2004 to July 2005, and coordinated by Pier Vittorio Aureli. Parallel to this publication, and in the framework of the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome (the official start of the European project), the exhibition and the international symposium 'A vision for Brussels: imagining the capital of Europe' will be held in the Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, from 16 March to 20 May 2007. The publication, exhibition and symposium are an initiative of the Berlage Institute and are conceived and executed together with NAi Publishers, the Information Centre for Architecture, Town Planning and Design (Brussels) and the Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar, Brussels)."--Publisher.