Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Figures and tables -- Chapter 1. Opening the black box -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Why study governments in the EU? -- 3. About definitions and scope -- 4. Organisation of the book -- Chapter 2. Governments in European integration theory -- 1. A tale of two why-questions -- 2. Neofunctionalism -- 3. Intergovernmentalism -- 4. Discussion -- Chapter 3. Governments in the theoretical new Europe -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Integration theory on the move from 'why' to 'how' -- 3. Multi-level governance: the messy state -- 4. How Europe hits home: studies of Europeanisation -- 5. A new 'opportunity-structure' for national governments -- 6. Discussion -- Chapter 4. Designing a framework for analysis -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Relevant variables: a literature review -- 3. Fitting variables into a framework -- 4. Discussion -- Chapter 5. How the Netherlands shapes EU-policy -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Stable core values in the Netherlands' EU policy -- 3. The growing doubts of a founding father -- 4. The shaping potential of the Dutch government -- 5. Relevant developments in the 1990s -- 6. Discussion -- Chapter 6. Research design for the case-studies -- 1. Introduction -- 2. In search of a research method -- 3. Intensive process tracing and analysis -- 4. Sources and methods of data collection -- Chapter 7. Shaping the Gas Directive -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The decision context: backgrounds -- 3. Identifying key actors -- 4. A bird's eye view on the decision-making process -- 5. Reconstructing negotiations around key issues -- 6. A reconstruction of Dutch shaping attempts -- 7. Discussion -- Chapter 8. Shaping the Biopatent Directive -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The decision context: backgrounds -- 3. Identifying key actors -- 4. A bird's eye view on the shaping process -- 5. Reconstructing negotiations around key issues.

6. A reconstruction of Dutch shaping attempts -- 7. Discussion -- Chapter 9. Discussion and Conclusions -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Discussing the Dutch government's shaping capacity -- 3. Confronting results with theory -- 4. Avenues for further research -- 5. To conclude -- References -- Appendix: The EU Policy Process in Brussels and The Hague -- Nederlandse samenvatting -- About the author.