'Insightful and incisive, accessible yet profound, this book allows the reader not just to understand what the EU is, but to form an opinion on what it can and should be for. This contextual, critical approach is empowering, and befitting the dynamic project of European integration within which law occupies a privileged, and peculiar, position - as expertly explained by the authors.' Sacha Garben, College of Europe

'This is a rare kind of book that manages, both impeccably and attractively, to introduce the fundamentals of European Union Law and engage in a thoughtful reflection on the justifications and the underlying assumptions of European integration and its law. This book will contribute to a smarter, more critical and reflective knowledge of Europe and its law. A way to look forward with a clear consciousness of the achievements and shortcomings of today's Europe.' Loic Azoulai, Sciences Po, Paris

'This is an EU law textbook with a difference: it is an accessible introductory text aimed at students, but the authors bring their distinctive voices as critical and contextual scholars of EU law and governance to offer a keenly argued monograph, as well as a clear path through key questions of the 'why', not just the 'how', of EU integration. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, Dawson and de Witte enable readers to place the constitutional, institutional and substantive law of the EU into its wider historical, political, social and economic context.' Diamond Ashiagbor, Kent Law School, University of Kent