This title provides a guide to these three important treaties that have brought institutional changes to the European Union. The texts if the treaties are layed out side-by-side to enable comparison, and ammendments or new articles are marked in italics.

CONTENTS.

The Nice treaty was adopted on 10 December 2000 by the fifteen Heads of State and Government at the end of the French Presidency of the European Union. The Treaty is the cornerstone of an EU enlargement process which is unprecedented in the history of European construction and which will put an end to several decades of painful division. This title, a follow-up to the Rome, Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties - Comparative Texts, published in 1999, highlights the amendments and new Articles contained in the Nice Treaty compared with its precursors.

A guide to the institutional changes to the European Union brought about by the ratification of the Treaty of Nice.

Given the controversies and difficulties which preceded the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, it is easy to forget that the Treaty is a complex legal document in need of detailed analysis for its impact to be fully understood. Jean-Claude Piris, the Director General of the Legal Service of the Council of the European Union, provides such an analysis, looking at the historical and political contexts of the Treaty, its impact on the democratic framework of the EU and its provisions in relation to substantive law. Impartial legal analysis of the EU's functions, its powers and the treaties which govern it make this the seminal text on the most significant recent development in EU law.

The Oxford Handbook of the European Union brings together numerous acknowledged specialists in their field to provide a comprehensive and clear assessment of the nature, evolution, workings, and impact of European integration.