ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses European Union (EU) decision-making using the tools and schemes developed by public policy analysis. It focuses on three concepts which can account for the principle characteristics of the EU's functioning: community, network and thematic network. The concepts of community and public policy networks are able to account for the complexity of EU decision-making processes and the distance that often exists between treaties and practice. "Communities" and "networks", better organized and more invested in duration and routine, are more likely to identify compromise. The concept of thematic network is useful to understand the complex and conflicting policies that combine many areas in an uncertain manner. The chapter highlights the general features of the functioning of the Union, namely the extreme asymmetry between the "openness" of agenda-setting and the "conservatism" of policy formulation. The openness of EU agenda-setting is largely offset by much more restrictive decision-making.
