Frank M Häge is Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

The Council of Ministers is one of the most powerful institutions of the European Union (EU) and plays a major role in the European policy-making process. Drawing on formal theory and combining quantitative and qualitative methods in an innovative fashion, this book provides novel insights into the role of national bureaucrats in legislative decision-making of the Council of the EU.

Part 1: Introduction and Background 1.The Study of Council Committees 2. The Council's Committee System 3. Existing Research on Council Decision-Making 4.Theoretical Perspectives on Committee Decision-Making Part 2: Quantitative Analysis 5. Sample Selection 6. Describing the Extent of Committee Decision-Making 7. Explaining the Variation in Committee Decision-Making Part 3: Qualitative Analysis 8. Methodological Issues 9. Agriculture 10. Environment 11. Economic and Financial Affairs 12. Summary and Between-Sector Comparison Part 4: Synthesis and Conclusion 13. Discussion of Research Results and Theory Building 14.Conclusion