Without a number of individuals and institutions, the completion of this dictionary would not have been possible. To all of them, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude.
In particular, we would like to thank the European Commission for its grants and support of the Miami European Union Center and the Jean Monnet Chair, the European Union officials who have advised and supported us along the way, and those who have shared their expertise in locating resources in the libraries of the European Commission (Brussels), the Patronat Català Pro-Europa (Barcelona), and the Richter Library of the University of Miami (Coral Gables, Florida).
Several research assistants and colleagues have provided the following invaluable assistance: entry and bibliography suggestions from Nuray Ibryamova and Wendy Grenade; entry and bibliography suggestions and research from Markus Thiel; bibliography suggestions and organization from Roberto Domínguez; member state and candidate country research from Jaelle Thackoorie; research and bibliography organization from Melanie Mitchell; and entry suggestions, research, and editing from Eloisa Vladescu. Thank you.
To Valérie Panis, who works at the European Commission and is a former Commission USA Fellow at the University of Miami (Fall 2004), we could not have done this without you. Your untiring efforts to assist us with all aspects of this project, and the energy and dedication you not only inspired in us but demonstrated yourself, will always be appreciated.
We thank our editors for their patience and suggestions.
We extend a special thank-you to our respective families and friends, who consistently stand by us in all of our professional endeavors.
This being said, the views presented in this book are strictly those of the authors.