Committees are a pervasive presence in the EU policy process yet little is known about the way in which they operate. This volume, newly available in paperback, brings together an international group of experts from a number of disciplinary backgrounds to provide a comprehensive account of the role played by committees in the European Union.

The book looks at committees in the context of inter-institutional relations, a focus based on the recognition that the relationships between Commission, Council, Parliament and national authorities - rather than the institutions themselves - are crucial to the understanding of European policy-making. Much of that interaction is regularised in various kinds of committees and the book provides an in-depth analysis of the nature and the effects of 'committee governance' in the EU system.

A number of case studies (monetary, policy, trade, environment, spatial planning and foreign policy) examine the role of committees in specific areas. These are framed by broader perspectives which provide theoretical, statistical and normative analyses of the phenomenon of committee governance.