Complying with Europe EU Harmonisation and Soft Law in the Member States [Hardcover]

This book presents an in-depth empirical study of the effects of 'voluntaristic' and (partly) 'soft' EU policies in all 15 member states.What does EU law truly mean for the member states? This book presents the first encompassing and in-depth empirical study of the effects of 'voluntaristic' and (partly) 'soft' EU policies in all 15 member states. The authors examine 90 case studies across a range of EU Directives and shed light on burning contemporary issues in political science, integration theory, and social policy. They reveal that there are major implementation failures and that, to date, the European Commission has not been able adequately to perform its control function.What does EU law truly mean for the member states? This book presents the first encompassing and in-depth empirical study of the effects of 'voluntaristic' and (partly) 'soft' EU policies in all 15 member states. The authors examine 90 case studies across a range of EU Directives and shed light on burning contemporary issues in political science, integration theory, and social policy. They reveal that there are major implementation failures and that, to date, the European Commission has not been able adequately to perform its control function.What does EU law truly mean for the member states? This book presents the first encompassing and in-depth empirical study of the effects of 'voluntaristic' and (partly) 'soft' EU policies in all 15 member states. It examines 90 case studies across a range of EU Directives and clarifies contemporary issues in political science, integration theory, and social policy. The study concludes that major implementation failures prevail and that, to date, the European Commission has not been able to adequately perform its control function.Preface; 1. Introduction: flexible EU governance in domestic practice; 2. Theorising the domestic impact of EU law: the state of the art and beyond; 3. EU social policy over time: the role of Directive; 4. The Employment Contractl#Œ