*** CATHERINE FLAESCH-MOUGIN (Ed.): Union européenne: et sécurité: aspects internes et externes. Etablissements Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5129842 - Fax: 5119477 - email: jean@bruylant.be - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ). 'Rencontres européennes, ' No. 10. 2009, 441 pp, €50. ISBN 978-2-8027-2696-8.
According to popular wisdom, taking on too many things at once, leads to failure. As with all the rules, there is undoubtedly a degree of truth in this notion but there are also always exceptions and this book is obviously one of them. On first impressions, a certain lack of awareness is required if a reflection on so many different subjects is sought (an ever increasing number of them) ranging from the concept of security at a European Union level to questions relating to convergence in a variety of situations at both external and internal levels. After all, in addition to maritime, food and energy security, the issue of security of individuals and many other areas presents certain features and questions in common, for example, Common Foreign and Security Policy, which would perhaps not be in the limelight if it were not for the organisers of the European Summer University in September 2007 (Centre d'excellence Jean Monnet de Rennes). Their daring certainly paid off because the systemic approach of the lecturers and PhD students (mainly those studying law and politics, as well as specialists invited from the political world and senior levels of government) developed clarification on transversal power lines through a credible and scientific critique (which is even more powerful because it is not tinged with any political agenda) of the fundamental stakes at play in contemporary European construction.
A book on such a scale is not limited to any exhaustive presentation or commentary but rather seeks to illustrate the parties involved in structuring it and in so doing reveal the richness of such an enterprise. In his introductory address, Rear Admiral Jean Dufourcq, the director of research at the Study and Research Centre at the Military School in Paris provides an idea of the approach adopted in this book when he points out that the Union's most important challenge over the next few years will be to, “survive on its own” despite, “limitations that appear to have been created by a global de-compartmentalisation and national deregulation that demanded the adoption of a common liberal economic doctrine”. According to Rear Admiral Dufourcq, the Union's second major challenge will be to consolidate the stability of the Euro-Asian continent. This will require the Union making a decision on the fate of Turkey and “two equi-potential projects”, namely that of, “the European family” based around a limited circle or, “European club”. Dufourcq believes that this would involve a further opening up in the European Union to those who are more similar to members within it rather than necessarily to countries closest to it. He also asserts that the future of the Union will depend on what choice is made, with implications on how the Western world is structured and, in a broader context, what level of active participation will Europeans have in the organisation of a world in full transformation due to the ongoing demographic revolution and “rehabilitating the longitudinal solidarity of Europe and Africa”. In addition to the successive strategic digressions in the second part, we are treated to a superb insight into developments involving the imperatives contained Community security policies (Professor Blanquet, Université de Toulouse), the concept of security in the Freedom, Security and Security Space (Professor Labayle, from the Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour), and whose axiom is that the Union should rapidly develop its internal security, “without there being a minimum agreement in ' the deepest sense of the word' on this vague concept”) and on the concept of security in the Common Foreign And Security Policy and European Security and Defence Policy. On this basis, the other writers provide a deeper exploration into “conflicts and convergence” involving the determination to protect the security and values of the Union in light of the democratic deficit (judged as being “uncertain”) and security policy in more ambiguous areas such as transport, human rights and the protection of personal data. This same approach is then applied to gauge security in internal policies (consumer products and information security, the relevance of flexi-security in Community policy regarding workers' security, maritime security and civil protection). The big external dimensions for the EU27 are then explored (external operations, crisis management operations, Frontex agency operations and energy security).
Throughout this insightful book a number of difficult questions are clearly explained. There is, for example, the answer provided to the question linked to the affirmation that security is, “an experimental domain benefiting from new governance… carried out by an array of agencies”, which is in danger of incurring a democratic cost and“ restricting legal accountability”. There is also the question linked to the fact that by responding to citizens' calls for the Union to improve its image and reduce its remoteness from the people, it could also risk damaging its “credibility” because it would be unable to keep risks to a utopian zero and will always have to confront the sometimes negative reactions from its member states. There is ultimately, and above all, judging by this evidence provided, a need to repeat the fact that security cannot, “beyond what is strictly necessary”, encroach upon respect for fundamental freedoms. Moreover, from the preface written by Professor Flaesch-Mougin (Université de Rennes I) to the scientific conclusions drawn by Professor Inge Govaere (University of Ghent and College of Europe), everything in this book would suggest that a “total security approach” is still in dire need of legal and democratic safeguards.
Michel Theys
*** JOHANNES KRAUSE: Die Grenzen Europas. Von der Geburt des Territorialstaats zum Europäischen Grenzregime. Peter Lang (1 Moostrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2009, 420 pp, €59-80. ISBN 978-3-631-59209-0.
Over the past few years, the question of immigration in Europe has not ceased to provoke discussion and controversy. The subject has perhaps been made sharper by the possible perspective of Turkish accession. Suddenly, the theme of Europe's borders, and the identity of the Union are under the spotlight. In this book, Johannes Krause analyses this question from a number of different angles: geographic, statistic, sociological and economic. The book is divided into two parts. The first focuses on the question of territory and sovereignty. The book initially takes on an historical approach and looks at the effects of regionalisation. The social dimension in European construction and that of producing statistics and cartography are then analysed. The fourth and final section in the first part of the book focuses on the question of regionalisation in the social sciences. The second part of the book concentrates on the European dimension of European construction, including question regarding identity. Finally, immigration policies, as well as the debate on the Union's borders are then explained and analysed.
(JD)
*** ANDRE BACHOUD, JOSEFINA CUESTA, MICHEL TREBITSCH (Eds.): Les intellectuels et l'Europe de 1945 à nos jours. L'Harmattan (5-7 rue de l'Ecole polytechnique, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40467920 - Fax: 43258203 - email: diffusion.harmattan@wanadoo.fr - Internet: http://www.librairieharmattan.com ). "Inter-National" series. 2009, 297 pp, €29. ISBN 978-2-296-08960-0.
Paul Valéry, Jules Romain, Julien Benda, Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Stefan Zweig, Ortega y Gasset, Salvador de Madariaga, Unamuno and many others during the first part of the last century were forged into the memory of the bloodletting of the First World War and the irrepressible and idealistic determination to contribute to the awakening of “European consciousness”. Since the turning point of the 1950s, during the period in which the European Utopia was crystallising in to treaties and institutions for the first time, intellectuals were, for the most part, apart from a few brilliant exceptions, absent from this project. In this book, researchers have sought to explore this, “paradox of European intellectuals” in an effort to bolster and support a feeling of shared belonging in Europe. The veteran Professor René Girault, supported by the Liaison Group of History Lecturers attached to the European Commission initiated this programme, which, in 1998 held a colloquy at the University of Salamanca. The results of this event are the subject of a new publication and book. This is a timely initiative because the questions tackled, “ does a community of intellectuals exist with no link to any of the institutions exist and which can pose questions relating to European identity and put forward and propound European values?... can we affirm the existence of a European consciousness of identity that goes beyond the benefits represented in a passport and a single currency?”. It is in fact only the way in which this book is structured that appears dated given the distinction made between “thinkers and thoughts from Europe”-meaning “Western”, and questions related to Benedetto Croce, Salvador de Madariaga, the European Centre of Culture set up by Denis de Rougemont and the, “German intellectuals in search of Europe and the European Germany from 1945 to 1949”, to the, “intellectual struggle for Europe… after 1950” through the figures of Raymond Aron and Edgar Morin in the “other Europe”. In fact, with hindsight, it is the “East”, at the time denied any freedom in Europe, which has provided the intellectual support garnering the most attention because, as well as the writer Andrée Bachoud and late Michel Trebitsch, “ the European thematic, and embodying possibility and reality” gave a “sense to the struggle for freedom and democracy”. As well as those relating to Milocz and Bibo, it is essential to recall or discover the burning issue of, “ what the European idea is all about, including the dissidents” as explained by the Czech philosopher Jan Patocka, of whom Alexandra Laignel-Lavastine continuously clarifies the lessons and reflects upon. The two final parts of the book explore the European imaginary world by way of the myth of “L'Enlèvement d'Europe” (kidnapped Europe), the “ European Ulysses”, “ memories for a united Europe” and a critical analysis in a special edition of Le Monde Diplomatique”, before tackling European cultural policies in light of the slow and problematic development of the European University Institute of Florence and the Conference of European University Rectors, Franco-German University Cooperation, the Charlemagne prize and Spanish cultural policy in relation to Europe.
(MT)
*** MATTHIAS THEODOR VOGT, JAN SOKOL, BEATA OCIEPKA, DETLEF POLLACK, BEATA MIKOLAJCZYK (editors): Bedingungen europäischer Solidarität. Peter Lang (see address attached). 2009, 296 p., €48.10. ISBN 978-3-631-58030-1
This book is the first in a series of four. In this one, the very complex question of European identity and solidarity between citizens resulting from it is tackled. This question is made even more complex due ro enlargement of the Union and countries from Eastern Europe. This identity is important as part of the effort to create solidarity in the Union between member states and their citizens; This book consists of contributions from the Pontex College, set up by foreign affairs ministers from Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. It seeks to provide answers to questions relating to the issue of solidarity and through this prism of several scientific disciplines. Following the two introductory articles on solidarity in Europe expanded to 27 members, the issue is explored and presented from a range of different angles. The authors then focus on economic and cultural questions.
(JD)
*** MEINRAD MARIA GREWENIG (Ed.): Staatsgeschenke. 60 Jahre Deutschland. Edition Völkinger Hütte, Europaïsches Zentrum für Kunst und Industriekultur (D-66302 Völklingen/Saarbrücken. Tel: (49-6898) 9100132 - Fax: 9100111 - email: Communication@voelklinger-huette.org - Internet: http://www.voelklinger-huette.org/de ). 2009, 196 pp, €19-90. ISBN 978-3-89857-260-6.
This truly iconographic book was published as part of the 60th anniversary of the Federal German Republic. It pays a succinct tribute to the successive accomplishments of presidents and chancellors since independence and provides a number of historical explanations on events in history, as well as the personalities involved in them. The book is divided into six chapters with each of them accounting for a decade in German history. They e ach present an account of the actors, events and opportunities.
(JD)
*** HUGHES BELIN, SOPHIE WOZNIAK: Brussels' Eurodistrict Restaurants 2010. Guide critique - Critical Guide. Homes International (119 rue Froissart, B-1040 Brussels. Internet: http://www.eurodistrictresto.com ). 2009, 250 pp., €9.95. ISBN 978-2-74237000028-7.
Put together by an excellent journalist and young lobbyist, this guide of good restaurants and bars in the European quarter of Brussels fills a void. The authors of the guide have taken care to list, test and evaluate all the restaurants and bars used by the different European institutions in a way that enables those who go to them (everyday or occasionally) to choose where to dine. It is a useful approach because, contrary to the majority of good food guides, which only name the best places to eat, this guide provides a list of all the different choices. It is an easy-to-use publication and focuses on the different neighbourhoods in Brussels: Jourdan, Loi, Luxembourg, Madou-Liberté, Madou Saint-Josse, Meeûs, Mérode, Schuman-Charlemagne, Schuman-Archimède and Schuman-Auderghem. It does not leave out any address at all not even the least prestigious of them. On the contrary, the writers of the guide even add a few interesting shops that can be included in a good eating context. Quality-taste, freshness of food, creativity of the cuisine, blend of ingredients and the quality-price relationship constitute the different factors of interest to the guide's writers. The guide contains pictograms of different colours that help the reader locate the different information sought. In this culinary adventure, Hughes Belin is true to form in his spirit of total journalistic independence and the subjective but credible assessments he makes in his guide.
(MT)