*** WILLY HELIN: L'enfant de Berlin, la vie tumultueuse de Maximilien Ebert. France Europe Editions (B.P. 4049, F-06301 Nice Cedex 4. Internet: http://www.france-europe-editions.com ). 2009, 283 pp, €`6. ISBN 978-2-84825-234-6.
It is not often that European Library reviews novels- quite the opposite in fact. It does not have the vocation of competing with the literary columns in the world's main newspapers, still less to compete with specialist magazines. In the final issue before the summer break, however, we believe it is necessary to break this rule. Why? For several inter-meshing reasons.
The first reason is that we are entering the holiday period and this allows time for less 'serious' reading that is our wont.
The second reason is that any father or mother worth their salt could take this volume along with them on their summer holidays with a good conscience, announcing that they want their teenager(s) to read it.
The third reason is that this novel speaks volumes about Europe. In fiction, of course, but highly plausible nevertheless. The author explains at the start: 'Historians will not resent my having put into the mouths of famous people words that they probably did not say: I prefer to replace dry truth with invented flesh, passion, love, sadness, hatred and imagination. The founding fathers of the European project and their inheritors will forgive me for taking this liberty - my tale doe s not in any way alter the value of the action taken by these people. People who wrote a crucial chapter in our History, History with a capital H.'
The fourth reason is that the book's author worked at the European Commission for thirty years and now heads Belgium's Representation to the a European Commission. He is a former journalist and he still writes in the style of the dispatch writer that he once was. For a long time, he was an emblematic figure in the spokesperson's group. His plain speaking and rejection of meaningless phrases have enabled this typical Brussels lad to preserve the recognition and friendship of a number of his former colleagues, at Agence Europe and elsewhere. The book is dedicated to two of his former Belgian 'bosses' namely the late Karel Van Miert - 'a great European, a human being, my friend' - and Etienne Davignon - 'a builder of Europe, an unusual boss, a rare statesman whom I thoroughly admire.'
What more is there to say? One should not give away too much of a story's plot. Suffice it to say that Maximilien Ebert was born in Berlin of a French mother and a German father, an opponent of Hitler. On 12 May 1945, the first day of the novel, Maximilien is nearly fourteen. He is a starving orphan subsisting in the ruins of the Souvenir Church in Berlin. A European's life starts in suffering. He returns to Berlin in different circumstances at the time of President Kennedy's visit in June 1963, and then again after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The novel ending it happier than the beginning. Maximilien experiences much in his time in Paris, then Charente, Brussels and Messine…
Michel Theys
*** Esprit. L'Europe après la crise grecque. 'Esprit' review (212 rue Saint-Martin, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 48049290 - Internet: http://www.esprit.presse.fr ). July 2010, No. 366, €24. Annual subscription: €113.
In this review founded by philosopher Emmanuel Mounier in 1932, there are rarely any articles on Europe but the July issue is to be welcomed for three high-quality articles on the subject.
The first, by Jürgen Habermas, has been translated from German into French. Entitled 'Europe's Destiny,' it focusses on the German government's attitude to the current monetary crisis. The author does not mince his words: 'Germany today is insensitive and constipated and the reasons for this are to be found in the past. Since reunification, people have changed their outlook in the newly enlarged Germany concerned with its own business. (…) Today, German elites are delighted to have a nation state that enables them to return to normality.' A severe criticism that should have been balanced by listing a few ideas that came from Germany, ideas that the French government of the time did not deign to respond to.
The second contribution is by Pierre-Yves Cossé, former French commissioner for the state plan, on 'La crise de confiance dans l'Europe.' He criticises the inconsistency of the initial responses to the crisis, due to lack of economic government/governance in Europe. Here, the author is close to Jacques Delors' oft-quoted view that' Economic and financial coordination must be introduced.' At the same time, nation states must take the steps required to sort out their economies, each of them taking the broad view and an over-arching approach to their problems.
The third contribution is by Jean-Claude Barbier, a lecturer at Paris-Sorbonne University, and will be of particular interest to people with the power to inform public opining and help train citizens. European have to learn what international solidarity and mutual trust are. Various socio-political and socio-cultural initiatives should help. The author points out that the Eurobarometer opinion poll can be used as a measuring tool. That will, of course, require having the intelligence and courage to ask the right questions.
(J-RR)
*** ANDREAS FISCHER-LESCANO: Europäische Rechtsopolitik als transnationale Verfassungspolitik. Soziale Demokratie in der transnationalen konstellation. Zentrum für europaïsche rechtspolitik, Universität Bremen, (Universitätsallee, GW 1, D-28359 Bremen). "ZERP -Diskussionspapier" series, No. 2. 2010, 28 pp, €8.
There has never been wholly unanimous backing for the European project in the European Union Member States. Political fractions continue to mobiles to challenge the EU's legitimacy, or at least to challenge policies developed in its name. Most of this criticism comes from the United Kingdom, Denmark and some of the 'new' Member States. It is not as well-known, but dissent about the European Union is very real in Germany too. A front made up of 'Die Linke' (The Left) and the CSU, represented respectively by Diether Dehms and Peter Gauweilers, is now a fully-fledged member of the Eurosceptic fold. The EU is seen by some Germans as not only an executive for neo-liberalism but also as a top-heavy, militaristic bureaucracy that caused German troops to be sent into the 'Atalanta' operation and also into Afghanistan. In the social field, the author comments that the very slender progress made by the EU comes from European Court of Justice case law alone. Moreover, for more than a decade, the EU has spent more than a decade enwrapped in a seemingly endless constitutional error. When heads of state finally agreed on the Lisbon Treaty, the issue was sent to the German constitutional court, which responded to the question of whether the treaty should come into force by a very ambiguous 'Yes, but…' which certainly fed into the EU's negative image as far as the EU's opponents were concerned. This book of Andreas Fischer-Lescano's is above all a reflection on transnational, constitutional policy based on this controversial court ruling. The first section analyses the ruling itself and the author takes advantage of this to consider the feasibility of setting up a federal European state. Several topics are examined in the light of transnational constitutional policy in the second part of the book, like the idea of transnational democracy or transnational social law. Finally, the book examines the possibility of putting social law on a par with constitutional law.
(JD)
*** OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER, JACQUES LENOBLE (Eds.): Reflexive Governance. Redefining the Public Interest in a Pluralistic World. Hart Publishing (16C Worcester Place, Oxford, OX1 2JW, UK. Tel: (44-1865) 517530 - Fax: 510710 - email: mail@hartpub.co.uk - Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). "Modern Studies in European Law," No. 22. 2010, 235 pp, £50. ISBN 978-1-84946-068-2.
This very dense book is one of the outcomes of the EU's research programme funded by the Sixth 'Framework Programme for R&D' piloted by the 'Centre pour la Philosophie du Droit' at the 'Université Catholique de Louvain' in Belgium. It examines reflexive governance and has political scientists, lawyers economists and other philosophers examining how reflexive governance could pave the way for new forms of governance that are more based on learning than other governance, in other words that are based more on listening to others. After introductory chapters on theoretical aspects, the implications of reflexive governance are examined in a number of domains ranging from services of general interest to fundamental social rights via healthcare, the institutional framework for markets, corporate governance, regulatory governance and common goods.
(PBo)