The Influence of International Institutions on the EU

'Whereas the 'Brussels effect' stresses the influence of the European Union on policies around the world, this book innovatively turns the tables around and asks how international institutions such as the ILO, the WTO and NATO influence the EU itself. Arguing that international institutions help Brussels pressure member states to adopt policies they might oppose, it suggests that the EU is more open to such outside influence when this expands Brussels's own governance spheres. The Influence of International Institutions on the EU thus opens up an array of new questions and ideas about the EU in the world.'

- Judith Kelley, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science, Duke Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, USA

'Most scholarship on the EU is surprisingly inward-oriented. It looks at the emergence of EU institutions and policies and their effects on member states. There is also increasing work on the diffusion of EU institutions and policies outside Europe. But there isalmost no literature on external influences on the EU itself. This book fills this gap. It investigates through detailed case studies the influence of multilateral institutions on the EU itself. An extremely important contribution to EU studies and to our understanding of international institutions in general!'

- Thomas Risse, Professor of International Politics, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany