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How are the deals and decisions of the EU made - in the meeting rooms and at the conference tables, or by informal networks in the back corridors of power?

This book addresses an issue of paramount importance concerning the politics of the European Union: aspects of governance and policy making in the EU that are labelled 'informal'. Much of the literature on the EU focuses on the formal facets of EU politics, but uniquely, the subject matter within this book deals with informal aspects such as: the role of personal relationships, the presence of non-hierarchical policy-networks and non-institutional channels of interest representation, and the relevance of the unwritten rules and routines which govern these aspects of EU politics.

The contributors ascertain that the study of sectoral policy making in the EU is incomplete without attention to this informal governance, which is normatively and conceptually more complex than is generally assumed. They provide a number of different approaches to the subject, illuminating the nature of informal governance in the EU and demonstrating the way in which its analysis can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of politics and policy making in the EU.

This highly original book will be a fascinating read for a wide-ranging audience - including academics, students, researchers and practitioners - with an interest in the governance of the EU.