Up to date coverage of policies: contemporary coverage of all major EU policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy and the highly topical recent EU enlargement. This content aims to stimulate debate amongst students.

Broad appeal/flexible approach: the text can be used with students from a range of disciplines such as economics, business, politics and European studies. The material is also designed to be flexible enough to be directed at students of all levels. This allows instructors to cater for a multidisciplinary audience.

Website updates: the author will keep the text up to date by regularly adding essays concerning the topical issues in the EU. This is important when studying such a fast-moving area.