Ingeborg Tömmel is Professor Emeritus of International and European Politics, Osnabrück University, Germany. She has also held positions at the Free University of Berlin, Germany and the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Her research interests focus primarily on the political system of the EU and European governance, and her recent publications include the co-edited book Innovative Governance in the European Union (Rienner, 2008).

• 1. Introduction: The Political System of the EU2. Theorizing European Integration and the Union as a Political System3. Building the European Union: Supranational Dynamics and Intergovernmental Configurations4. Consolidating the European Union: Enlargement, Deepening Integration and Crisis Management5. The Core Institutional Structure6. Decision-Making: Cooperation and Conflict among the Core Institutions7. Decision-Making and Consensus-Building within the Core Institutions8. Expanding and Diversifying the Core Institutional Structure9. Promoting Integration: Policy-making and Governance10. Building a Multi-Level System11. Building a Multi-Actor System12. Assessing the European Union: Efficiency and Effectiveness13. The Democratic Legitimacy of the EU14. Conclusions: The Nature of the European Union.