*** L'Europe en formation. Revue d'études sur la construction européenne et le fédéralisme - Journal of Studies on European Integration and Federalism. Centre international de formation européenne (10 av. des Fleurs, F-06000 Nice. Tél.: (33-4) 93979397 - Fax: 93979398 - email: europe.formation@cife.eu - Internet: http: //http://www.europeenformation.eu ). 2010, No. 355, 237 pp, €12. Annual subscription: €40.
What a delightful initiative by the ever-courageous Jean-Pierre Gouzy, a long time fellow traveller of this review founded by the inventor of 'hard-line federalism,' Alexander Marc, some fifty-one years ago, namely Gouzy's decision to devote this issue to Marc's ideas in the current day and age. This is a delightful initiative because ten year after Alexandre Marc's death, few people have heard of him apart from a handful of loyalists who were able to take the courses that he gave at his International European and Scientific Training Centre to explore various aspects of his intellectual reflections. Who these days knows what this great 'personalist' federalism was (federalism based on the irreducibility of the human person to any totalitarian-type system of thought)? Not many people, certainly, and that is such a shame because the perception of Marc's world set out by Frédéric Lépine, Editor-in-Chief of "L'Europe en Formation," resonates with the current situation, although based on the many bad ways of the last century: "Alexandre Marc concludes (…) that society is in an over-arching crisis, a crisis of values, that affects the whole of humanity. The answer to this needs to be global, to break with materialism and put human beings at the top of the tree. Likewise, we need to drop the idea of human beings as subject both of the State and of productivism, to put human beings back on top (…). This will enable humanity to regain its freedom, its authority over itself, and become a full being who is both an individual and a social being at the same time, who is able to follow and build their own path". In the full-blown crisis sparked off by the subprime crisis, looking through Marc's personalist eyes to understand the world and get a new take on the life of society is an excellent use of one's time…
Does that mean that Alexandre Marc's ideas, his global federalism with its roots in the libertarian socialism of Proudhon and the personalist movement of non-conformists of the 1930s, have not aged in any way? No. Far from taking a hagiographical approach, this issue helps readers become aware of the issues and explains the extent to which some of his intuitions, always characterised by complexity, are still relevant for readers tempted to transpose them to the present day. For example, Jean-Pierre Gouzy reminds us that as far as Alexandre Marc was concerned, there was only "one unifying element - the community (…), regions, countries, nations even can connect up, certainly, but only through the intermediary of the communities of which they are comprised". Likewise, when Christian Roy writes in an article where he describes how Marc in the 1930s is echoed in modern anti-productivism that "the collapse of totalitarian regimes leaves us facing the underlying economic totalitarianism, the infamous productivism that was criticised by non-conformist, humanist thinkers after the Wall Street Crash of 1929". How can such ideas be shrugged off when the world of finance how dictates how everyone is to behave? The crisis fed by the voracious greed of the banks, by directors' bonuses of course, along with structural unemployment and constantly rising levels of poverty should surely lead wise individuals in this world of madness to verify whether another of Alexandre Marc's ideas, that of a guaranteed income, a universal benefit, would be suitable for bandaging up somewhat the ever more gaping wounds in modern society.
Clearly, the thought of Alexandre Marc is not a panacea. It is, however, sufficiently striking to lead many individuals to take a very useful dip into the articles in this issue, including one by Prof. Constantinesco (of Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg) who describes federalism changing from 'anti-statism to statism,' and one by Raimondo Cagiano de Azevedo and Marc Heim on the connection between European federalism and social policies. There is also an essay by Tito Favaretto on participation in the light of the draft Federalist Charter, and conclusions drawn by Hartmut Marhold, current head of the International European Training Centre. In addition, there is an unpublished article by Alexandre Marc, who in 1944 wrote down ideas about the future of Europe.
Michel Theys
*** THIERRY CHOPIN, LUKAS MACEK: Après Lisbonne, le défi de la politisation de l'Union européenne. Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Sciences Po (56 rue Jacob, F-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58717000 - Fax: 58717090 - email: info@ceri-sciences-po.org - Internet: http://www.ceri-sciences-po.org ). "Les Etudes du CERI" series, No. 165. May 2010, 42 pp.
This brief study is divided into three parts. The first looks at the ramifications of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and, more generally, at debates about the future of Europe that began a decade ago. This enables the authors to diagnose the details of a "crisis of legitimacy" suffered by the European project, demonstrated by the rise of "a certain Euroscepticism" - even though the authors explain more optimistically that it is accompanied by a clear defeat in recent years of "Europhobia," although Eurosceptics, who want to see the European project "unravel," have a strong following in Great Britain, Austria and Finland. Commenting that "Euro-optimism" is just as marginal these days, the authors argue that "between a poisonous status quo and impossible short-term federalisation," the politicising of the European Union could be a way of attempting to solve the legitimacy deficit. In order to make a gradual transformation of the way the European institutions work, the authors explore a number of practical ideas, like a "parliamentarisation of the system that will require a strengthening of the connection between the majority at the European Parliament and the European Commission". The way they see it, the power of the European Parliament to appoint the members of the European Commission - particularly its president -would open the door for such a politicisation in that these changes must inevitably boost the influence of the Parliament, "and hence the influence of the European electorate, on the political direction taken by the Commission throughout its term of office," which would not fail to boost the legitimacy of José Manuel Barroso's successor. The authors recommend a voting method that would encourage the emergence of genuine European strategies and which, they write, would require an acceleration of "the setting up of real European political parties" and a reform of how the parties are funded, not to mention the fact that it will be necessary to extend even further the politicisation of the stakes of the European elections. In the same vein, they recommend 'democratising' the appointment of the President of the European Council, the introduction of some politicisation into the way the Council operates and taking advantage of the popular initiative mechanism. These may not all be good ideas, but they certainly provide good food for thought!
(MT)
*** JERZY BARTMINSKI, ROSEMARIE LÜHR (Eds.): Europa und seine Werte. 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, 289 pp, €49-30. ISBN 978-3-631-55988-8.
Many people see the Tower of Babel as a good symbol of Europe, a tower that never got finished because all the builders spoke different languages. With more than 20 official languages and a welter of different cultures and religious, can the European Union really expect to do better? In other words, is it possible to imagine that a 'European people' might emerge one day and unite around fundamental shared values? At first sight, it might seem easy to list such values - democracy, the rule of law and a market economy are, after all, part of the famous Copenhagen Criteria to be met by countries wanting to join the EU. Nevertheless, one might wonder whether this list of values is exhaustive and whether these three values, which appear to be so fundamental, are actually interpreted in the same way throughout the Member States, particularly since the most recent round of enlargement. These questions were discussed at a German/Polish conference in Lublin, Poland, on 3-5 April 2008, the proceedings of which are published in this book. At the conference, academic experts from Poland and Germany and also from universities in Belgium, Russia and Armenia, examined the differences in values between Western and Eastern Europe on the one hand, and the question of language on the other, all under the heading 'unity in diversity'. The book contains twenty-one essays. Each chapter focuses on several values, including democracy and the idea of the nation, of course, but also patriotism, religion, solidarity and the family. Close attention is paid to the historical and political development of the democracy paradigm. Some essays look at Poland while others take a transnational approach, like that of Cezary Josef Olbromski on the question of the possible 'collective post(?) democracy'. Cross-border solidarity is examined in a very interesting manner from the viewpoint of healthcare and immigration.
(JD)
*** CHRISTINE KADDOUS, FABRICE PICOD (Eds.): Union européenne. Recueil de textes. Stämpfli Editions (1 Wölflistrasse, Postfach 8326, CH-3001 Berne. Tel: (41-31) 3006311 - Fax: 3006688 - email: info@staempfliverlag.com - Internet: http://www.staempfliverlag.com ) and Editions Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5129842 - Fax: 5119477 - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ). 2010, 1,371 pp. ISBN 978-3-7272-8736-7 and 978-2-8027-2902-0.
Designed to meet the needs of people wanting to learn about European law, this collection contains the texts of institutional and substantive laws felt to be essential by two leading lawyers (Christine Kaddous directs the European Legal Studies Centre at Geneva University, while Fabrice Picod is a professor at Panthéon-Assas University in France). The eighth edition of the book kicks off with the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as amended by the Lisbon Treaty on 13 December 2007. The authors add the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and laws regarding the various institutions. Finally, the book provides the texts of laws on fundamental rights, citizenship, the free circulation of individuals, freedom to supply services, free circulation of goods, competition, Economic and Monetary Union, visas, asylum, immigration and penal cooperation (Schengen, Dublin, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, Europol, Eurojust and the European arrest warrant). All laws are in their 'consolidated' form, including amendments to them by the Lisbon Treaty and other legislation introduced up to 15 November 2009. A detailed alphabetical index facilitates the search for relevant legislation. An excellent working tool!
(PBo)
*** IRINA SCHERF, HOLGER SCHERF, HERBERT STRUNZ: Slovakei. An der Kreuzung Europas. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2009, 272 pp, €48-40. ISBN 978-3-631-58734-8.
Like the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, and possibly even more so, Slovakia had an extremely turbulent political and economic past in the twentieth century. This book describes the big events in the history of Slovakia, along with important aspects of its political and economic system. The authors start at the end of World War One, when the country of Czechoslovakia was created, and take the liberty of viewing 2009, the year when Slovakia joined the eurozone, as the symbolic end of a constantly changing era. Much of the first section of the book is devoted to describing and analysing the current political system. The second part of the book examines the Slovak economy, looking at industry, finance and the labour market. The final section looks at the growth of foreign trade.
(JD)
*** SEBASTIAN STUDE: Die friedliche Revolution 1989/90 in Halle/Saale. Peter Lang (see above). 2009, 209 pp, €27-90. ISBN 978-3-631-58706-5.
Until the reunification of Germany in 1989, Halle/Saale was the regional capital of the German Democratic Republic. During the period leading up to reunification of the two Germanys, a number of events took place in the DRG's capital that would finally end the dictatorship of the SED socialist party, like the election campaign for the May 1989 local elections. In this very well-researched book, Sebastian Stude highlights the peaceful side of the democratising of East Germany that took place before the Collapse of the Berlin Wall, demonstrating that the revolution was mostly led by political groups championing human rights, peace or the environment. The role of various religious groups opposing the dictatorship of the SED is particularly stressed. The writing of this book was made possible by the opening-up of public and private archives in East Germany, enabling the author to reconstruct events in a painstaking manner, particularly when it comes to the membership of groups opposing the dictatorship that were active in the DRG at the time. Sebastian Stude works chronologically, from the local elections through to the collapse of the regime. The first chapter looks at the elections in the city of Halle/Saale. The second chapter analyses opposition to the regime, providing a more descriptive analysis of the groups of opponents. The repression they came in for is then described and discussed, as are the protest movements and the reactions of the SED. The final chapter explains the collapse of the regime and the birth of the 'Central Round Table'.
(JD)