ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the most recent evolutions of the EU's modes of governance. It aims to capture incremental changes in the power relations among the European Commission, the European Parliament (EP), the Council and the European Council. The chapter illustrates the 'adaptability and resilience' of EU policy-making; that is, the ability of EU institutions to adapt to incremental change and sudden disruptions. It examines the changing features of the intergovernmental method; it portrays the EU's policy-making process in light of the new intergovernmentalism and focuses on the shifting roles of the Council and the European Council. The chapter focuses on the open method of coordination and the emergence of the European semester, which is the new policy tool designed in 2010 for the coordination of macroeconomic policies. The community method is the decision-making procedure through which the EU produces legally binding decisions in areas in which Member States have agreed to assign competences to the EU.
