Going Europe or Going Dutch: How the Dutch Government Shapes European Union Policy

How can a national government influence the making of European Union (EU) policies? In times of increasing impact of the European Union on national politics and policies, the relevance of this question is undisputed. This book discusses relevant academic insights from the EU studies literature and presents a framework for analysing the shaping capacity of a national government in the EU. The empirical part discusses the ambitions and capacity of the Dutch government's EU policy throughout the 1990s and presents a reconstruction of the negotiations around two EU internal market directives. It thereby offers to academics and practitioners a clear oversight of the state of play of EU studies literature and the relevant moments and instruments for the shaping of new EU policies in Brussels and in the national capitals of its member states.