Just as European influence is making itself felt in a great many areas, its action remains paradoxically misunderstood. This work offers a complete view of the institutional system, the actors, the political game and modes of action of the European Union. It re-articulates the different spheres in which its intervention is ancient (agricultural politics, domestic markets) and elaborates on those in which its influence is both more recent and more innovative (security and education).

This manual is a precious tool for teaching any introductory study of the European expansion. It also aims to offer the fundamental elements for comprehending current challenges to which Europe must face.

Rich in contexts, documents, maps and in-depth analysis to facilitate academic work, this edition was written specifically to avoid compromising clarity or intelligibility, making the content and concepts easily accessible. Finally, it offers bibliographical guidance to allow further study of acquire knowledge and to analyze Europe's advancement in each of the related disciplines.

Renaud Dehousse, who directed the publication, is a university professor at Sciences Po and is Director of the Center for European Studies. For the occasion he assembled a team from among the Center's membership.

KEY WORDS : EUROPE - EUROPEAN UNION - EUROPEAN POLITICS - EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS - EUROPEAN INTEGRATION - EUROPEAN EXPANSION