Straitjacketing the state: how local and national governments have lost power over public service governance to Brussels

How do EU rules affect the ability of governments to provide public services? Judith Clifton writes that Europeanisation has effectively become a ‘ball and chain’ for domestic policy-makers. She argues that the EU has gradually and subtly created an ever more important layer of governance over how public services can be delivered, effectively straitjacketing the state.