The first part of this book provides an overview of political science approaches to European political economy, both mainstream and critical ones. As such, it contributes directly to the current debate among scholars of political science and international political economy concerning the nature of the process of European integration. The second part provides alternative explanations of some European economic policy events - the ECB, banking regulation, fiscal coordination, the crisis of the euro-zone, social policy and unemployment - allowing the reader to assess the explanatory value of competing approaches.

Leila Simona Talani is a Reader (Associate Professor) in International Political Economy at King's College London, UK.

Introduction; Part 1 Theoretical Concerns: European political economy: an international political economy perspective on Europe; Mainstream approaches to European political economy; Critical approaches to European political economy. Part 2 Application of EPE Theories to Selected EU Issues: The making of EMU: political economy explanations of European monetary integration; Between growth and stability: assessing the monetary policy performance of the ECB in its first years from establishment; The stability and growth pact and the political economy of fiscal coordination in the Eurozone; The future of EMU: the crisis of the Eurozone within the context of the global financial crisis; The progress of the social dimension in Europe: spillovers or organised interests?; The political economy of the European employment strategy: an IPE perspective; The theory and practice of EU migration policy: an IPE perspective; Conclusion: the European political economy in the globalisation era; Index.