The recent case of Steve Thoburn, a local grocer in Sunderland, convicted because of his refusal to sell products by the imperial kilo (Scott 2001), demonstrates how ‘Europe’, and its laws are increasingly encroaching on the daily lives of many. Europe, no longer simply a geographical space with various imaginings attached, has become a centre of decision making whose rules extend to its vast populace. Cris Shore, tackling the growth of the bureaucratic influence of Europe in his recent work, rightly points out that: ‘The construction of the EU represents the most exciting and profound development in European politics and society of the twentieth century. It therefore deserves careful and rigorous analysis’ (p. xi).