*** MARIE-THERESE BITSCH: Robert Schuman, Apôtre de l'Europe, 1953-1963. Presses Interuniversitaires européennes / Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: pie@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Cahiers Robert Schuman" series, No. 1. 2010, 370 pp. €20. ISBN 978- 90- 5201-636-8.
Who in the 27 member states of the European Union still remembers Robert Schuman (1886-1963)? An incongruous question? Indeed! If the question were posed in the “Eurobarometer”, the different answers might reveal a few surprises - even in the six founding member states of what was once called the European Community. The Robert Schuman Foundation is certainly active and several associations continue to keep the memory of this great statesman alive. Several books have, of course, been published by genuine, as well as a few sycophantic historians. There is even a book by Robert Schuman: “Pour l'Europe” (Paris, Nagel, 1963) but it still does not contain a compendium and comments about the many speeches and writings of Schuman, between 1953 and 1963.
This book is the work of an historian and Emeritus Professor at the University of Strasbourg. She is the author of many books, particularly “History of European Construction”, which has been republished several times since 1996.
In this book she explores around one hundred different documents, divided into four different sections: 1953-54, an appeal for Europe during the difficult years; 1955-57, the presidency of the European Movement and the relaunch of Europe; 1958-59, the presidency of the European Parliamentary Assembly; 1960-63, homage to the “Father of Europe” and final messages.
Two contributions fare made by the author and therefore two important points in the thinking of Schuman, which we believe should be underlined because they still frequently appear in current ongoing debates.
1.- The great merits of Jean Monnet - who, according to General De Gaulle was a great inspiration - in helping devise and prepare the “Schuman Declaration” of 9 May 1950. Schuman openly acknowledged the fundamental role played by Monnet (who, at the time, was Commissioner General for the Plan, in Paris), in liaison with the Schuman Cabinet. He did indeed provide the second lesson to the College of Bruges on 23 October 1953 (those of our readers who would like to know more about this can also consult the book published by the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe: “A Change of Hope. The declaration of 9 May 1950: Jean-Monnet - Robert Schuman”, published in Lausanne on 9 May, 2000).
2.- “L'Europe vaticane”. In a conference at Mont Sainte-Odile, on 15 November 1954, Schuman, without attempting to conceal his own personal convictions (which certainly played a role in his political action), explicitly recognised that, “Vatican Europe is a myth”. He added that, “the Europe we envisage is secular at the level of its basic ideas and the people who implement them… they have no intention of rebuilding a Christian empire, in the image of Charlemagne and his successors”. This ought to help cut short those who attempt to appropriate the memory of Schuman, his supporters or other forces …
This book helps us to improve our knowledge of the thoughts and accomplishments of Robert Schuman. This is definitely an important book and should be quite simply made available to the citizens of a united Europe, which, from one crisis to the next, is still being built.
Jacques-René Rabier
*** UMBERTO MORELLI (editor): Altiero Spinelli: il pensiero e l'azione per la federazione europea. Giuffrè Editore (40 via Busto Arsizio, I-20151 Milan. Tel: (39-2) 38089290 - fax: 38009582 - Interne: http://www.giuffre.it ). “Centro studi sul federallismo / Centre for studies on federalism” series, No. 13. 2010, 283 pp, €30. ISBN 978-88-14-15344-2.
This collectively written book provides an account of a colloquy organised in Turin in December 2007, on the initiative of the Centro Studi sul Federalismo and the Istituto Affari Internazionali, which in this way, sought to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Altiero Spinelli. Who has still heard of Altiero Spinelli? Obviously, fewer people than those who still remember Robert Schuman, apart from, perhaps, in Italy. Nevertheless, Professor Antonio Padoa Schioppa, who wrote the preface to this book, considers that this figure is indeed the second father of Europe, together with Jean Monnet. His colleague Umberto Morelli, the director of the Studies Centre on Federalism, is not exaggerating, when he claims in his introduction that it is thanks to Spinelli that, “the unity of Europe ceased to be a simple aspiration dreamt up by humanists and poets” to become a, “political project that was not abstract or utopian but historically viable, thanks to the crisis of nation states and which became practically feasible through political determination, irrespective of traditional parties”, namely the European Federalist Movement, which he founded in 1943. During his months spent in confinement in Ventotene during the Second World War, to his final battle at the European Parliament, this is a life both of thought and action, which is robustly and scientifically illustrated throughout these pages. In the first part of the book, it is the contributions made by Spinelli to federalist theory, which are clarified and commented upon. The practical application of federalism is then presented, particularly by Pier Virgilio Dastoli, who illustrates the, “revolutionary federalist”, whom he served as his assistant for many years. Finally, in the third part of the book, Spinelli's action is examined through Italian, German and French eyes. (MT)
*** JEAN PAUL JACQUE: Droit institutionnel de l'Union européenne. Editions Dalloz (31-35 rue Froidevaux, F-75685 Paris Cedex 14. Tel: (33-1) 40645454 - fax: 40645497 - Internet: http://www.editions-dalloz.fr ). "Cours Dalloz" series, Série Droit public. 2010, 757 pp, €29. ISBN 978-2-247-08934-5.
This book is by the emblematic honorary director general at the Secretariat General at the Council. He still teaches Community law at the University of Strasbourg and the College of Europe. This is the sixth edition of the handbook on European Union institutional law, following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. It aims to provide a substantial but concise insight into this area, whilst giving the reader as comprehensive and real-life vision of the Union as possible. It explores Union institutions, as well as its specificities, practice and development. The author therefore explains in his preface, that a significant section focuses on the study of institutional legal practice as developed over more than 40 years, which is indispensable for any understanding of the current Union. Subsequently, it is true that, “the study of an institutional system, which is still very much evolving and whose jurisprudence at the Court of Justice regularly outlines the operational modalities, helps to provide a better understanding of the challenges contained in current debates”. In an effort to understand the relevance and pertinence of this remarkable book, it is necessary to underline the Commission's increasingly less visible role in this arena. Jean Paul Jacqué puts this down to the fact that this institution is supposed to embody the general interest of Community Europe but has abandoned, “its position of arbiter between Parliament and the Council” but which still retains the same number of Commissioners as member states. This observation is borne out by some of the current “inhabitants” of the Juste Lipse building, who are less tactful than Jean Paul Jacqué and confirm that the Commission is like … Coreper 3. More acerbic commentators even describe it as Coreper… zero. (MT)
*** DANIELA KIETZ, PETER SLOMINSKI, ANDREAS MAURER, SONJA PUNTSCHER RIEKMANN: Interinstitutionelle Vereinbargungen in der Europaäischen Union. Wegbereiter der Verfassungsentwicklung, Internationale Politik und Sicherheit. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft (3-5 Waldseestrasse, D-76530 Baden-Baden. Tel: (49-7221) 2104-0 - fax: 2104-27 - Email: nomos@nomos.de - Internet: http: //http://www.nomos.de ). 2010, 370 pp, €49. ISBN 978-3-8329-5373-7.
The European Union has developed over the years by way of the decisions taken by member states. The member states also gave the Union its responsibilities and institutions. Member states meet up periodically in an effort to provide a new political impetus through modification of the treaties. The European institutions only play a minimum role in these inter-governmental practices. Nonetheless, the institutions play an upstream role which could turn out to be important and perhaps even decisive: certain inter-governmental negotiations took place with the exclusive objective of bringing practices and procedures already well-established in the European decision-making process, up to speed. These practices and procedures are mainly the result of inter-institutional agreements that aimed to clarify or provide a pragmatic construct for European legislation. They also aim to correct the legal shortcomings contained within the treaties. These agreements are very important to European institutional operations. They enable the institutions to function on a daily basis but also help develop European legislation in several domains. In this respect, one of the most convincing achievements of these agreements has undoubtedly been the strengthening of the European Parliament's position in the European legislative process. Parliament has subsequently been able to assert itself in the field of foreign and security policy, an area that was previously far from being open to it without somebody reacting against its intervention or commenting upon it. Andreas Maurer and Daniela Kitz focus on this issue in one chapter, “Inter-institutional Agreements: The unnoticed Parliamentarisation of the CSFP”. These agreements are mainly technical but some of them also assume a more political dimension. Heads of state and government, however, acting within the framework of the intergovernmental approach, sometimes do not have any other choice than to tackle the mechanics of European policy in the context of these inter-institutional agreements and subsequently through an amendment of the treaties. In this setup, it is the European Parliament that has undoubtedly been the institution that has won out the most.
One of the most interesting theoretical questions is raised in the book by Sonja Puntscher Riekman: what are the repercussions of these agreements on the overall democratic processes of the Union? In the chapter she wrote on "The Cocoon of Power: Democratic Implications of Inter-institutional Agreements", she developed her response by highlighting the fact that the conflict is linked to the absence of European examples and the fact that the results of these agreements have a significant impact on the development of European democracy. This theme provides an excellent example of the application of democratic paradigms of “input” and “output”. In addition to this theoretical question, the authors focus on the question of inter-institutional agreements and provide a legal and more political analysis, insofar as the prerogatives of the European Parliament are examined in the budgetary and monetary domains, as well is in the fields of foreign and security policy. (JD)
*** MEIKE GUSKOW: Entstehung und Geschichte der Europäischen Charta der Regional - oder Minderheitensprachen. Peter Lang (see details attached). "Rechtshistorische Reihe" series. 2009, 298 pp, €48.10. ISBN 978-3-631-58960-1
Although there are around 20 official languages in the Union, the number of living languages on the continent is much higher. These living languages are a strong symbol for the respective European populations living in these regions. The Council of Europe has therefore launched an initiative to protect them. This began with the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages in 1992, which when ratified, provided legislative protection for the use of these languages. This book mainly covers the historic and judicial aspects of the Charter's elaboration. The author significantly focuses on the German situation and the final part of the study also focuses on this country. Firstly, he explains how the Charter was ratified in Germany and specifically focuses on the case of Schleswig-Holstein. This region shares a border with Denmark and is recognised as a pioneer in cross-border linguistic agreements and in the preservation of the minority language in the region - Danish. The last part of the book provides an analysis of the initiatives taken to apply the Charter in Germany. The first part of book also looks at the events that led up to the creation of the Charter. The different examples of national action to promote the recognition of minority languages are well documented in this part of the book, especially the action taken by the European Parliament. The second part is far more comprehensive and examines the whole preparation process, particularly the Charter at the Council of Europe. This chapter provides a chronological account of all the events and legislative provisions that led to the signing of the Charter. It is also in this part of the book that the Charter is analysed point by point and explained in its legal context. (JD)
*** Europe's World. Europe's World (Bibliothèque Solvay, Parc Léopold, 137 rue Belliard, B-1040 Bruxelles. Tel: (32-2) 7387592 - fax: 7391592 - Email: subscriptions@europesworld.org - Internet: http://www.europesworld.org ). 2010, No. 16, 160 pp, €12. Subscription: €30 (annually) or €50 (two years).
The most recent issue of this pro-European and favourite publication of Giles Merritt includes an extremely comprehensive examination of the situation and aspirations in the Balkans. The goal in this article aims to ensure that the enlargement process in this region does not turn sour. In this issue, the question of the debt is also raised (Wolfgang Schäuble). It also looks at what institutional architecture should be developed for the Eurozone (Jürgen Stark), the strategic repercussions of the Eurozone crisis (Charles Grant), the European economy, “is not dead but it is sleeping” (Poul Nyrup Rasmussen). All the usual columns tackling the entire planet and its problems are also included in this publication. (PBo)