Understanding the Policy Portfolio

As seen in Chapter 1, the EU’s policy portfolio is extensive, with just about every area of public policy featuring in some way. It is furthermore an evolving policy portfolio, with new policy responsibilities frequently being added and existing policy responsibilities being extended almost constantly. And it is also a highly complex policy portfolio, most particularly in respect of the varying degrees of EU involvement, which range from the extensive — as with agriculture, fishing and external trade — to the marginal — as with education, health and social welfare.