The European Union is a uniquely successful experiment in international cooperation and modern governance. The creation of a single currency and impending eastern enlargement make EU decision-making more important than ever before in determining how Europe is governed. Based on exhaustive and original research, this book provides a clear and theoretically grounded analysis of how the European Union makes decisions. The book provides in-depth coverage of a number of major policy sectors: the internal market, external trade, agriculture, cohesion, the environment, research and technological development, and the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Its central themes--that informal norms often matter more than formal rules, that agency often matters more than structure, and that abrupt change often punctuates deadlock--are developed systematically throughout.