Process of Politics in Europe

Katja Seidel is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the German Historical Institute in Paris. She holds a PhD in European History from the University of Portsmouth.

• IntroductionPART I: THE HIGH AUTHORITY OF THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITYChapter 1. Establishing a supranational administration: Challenges and constraints 1.1 Organisation1.2 Working methods1.3 Recruitment patternsChapter 2. Towards a European administrative elite? The first European civil servants2.1 The officials’ biographical background2.2 Living and working in Luxembourg2.3 Biographies of High Authority officialsPART II: THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITYChapter 3. Prudence and Pragmatism: the institutional establishment of the Commission3.1 The institutional set-up of the Commission3.2 The establishment of practices and working methods3.3 Recruitment patterns and personnel policy3.4 Inflexibility, inefficiency and dissatisfaction: reforming the administrationChapter 4. Biographical studies: high officials in the Commission4.1 Internal factors of Europeanization: biographical background4.2 Space and time: external factors of Europeanization4.3 Biographies of Commission officials4.4 Identities, images and roles of Commission officialsChapter 5. Institutions, administrative cultures and their role in EU policy-making: the Directorates-General for Agriculture and Competition5.1 Step One: The legacy of context and previous experiences5.2 Step Two: The emergence of administrative cultures5.3 Step Three: Socialisation processes in DG Agriculture and DG Competition Conclusions

'Katja Seidel's book will be the first study of the supranational institutions in action in the formative years of the present-day European Union. - it will be of interest also to current and former 'Eurocrats', as it includes substantial evidence from private papers and interviews about 'culture clashes' and social life in Brussels, for example, obviously contextualized and interpreted appropriately for the purposes of academic analysis, but still making for an interesting read for non-specialists.' - Wolfram Kaiser, Professor of European Studies, University of Portsmouth and Visiting Professor, College of Europe, Bruges; 'A genuinely original and path-setting study, which should be of interest to both contemporary historians and political scientists. Seidel's approach, which focuses in on those men and women responsible for implementing the various European treaties, is entirely new and should constitute a very refreshing addition to the current literature. I would certainly recommend the book warmly to those in the field, both undergraduates and postgraduates.' - N. Piers Ludlow, Reader in International History, London School of Economics and Political Science