This series brings together established views and new ideas in contemporary European studies and is aimed both students and at the professional wishing to keep up with European developments. The aim of the series, written by experts from both academic and European Union institutions, is to make complex subjects understandable to a wider readership in short succinct publications. The focus is on the activities of the European Union itself, but the series also ranges beyond to contemporary Europe in a wider sense. The series is published in conjunction with UACES, the University Assocation for Contemporary European Studies. UACES is the UK representative of the international network of European Community Studies Assocations (ECSA)s.