*** FREDERIC MERAND, JULIEN WEISBEIN: Introduction à l'Union européenne. Institutions, politique et société. Groupe De Boeck (Editions De Boeck Université, 4 Fond Jean-Pâques, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve. Tel: (32-10) 482511 - Fax: 482693 - email: commande@deboeckservices.com - Internet: http://www.deboeck.com ). « Ouvertures politiques” series. 2011, 263 pp, €22-50. ISBN 978-2-8041-6238-2.
Should a university handbook really take pride of place in the European Library? The question is perfectly pertinent because one often finds in university handbooks the same subject matter, explanations (whether basic or detailed), the same detailed or general lessons as readers of Agence Europe will find in these pages, therefore leaving little to be learnt from such books. The answer to the question, as surprising as it may be to some, is that this book certainly deserves special attention. The worth and flavour of the tome is found in the impertinent freshness characterising the authors' approach. For example, they point out in the second paragraph of the introduction that "the 32,000 or so employees of the European Commission are nothing compared with the millions of civil servants employed by the French state or the British government". At a time when the British government is busy (with the tacit but overwhelming agreement of the French state) putting down the European civil service in the name of the solidarity required for the necessary round of austerity, this academic sentence sets the tone for the plain-speaking characterising the book.
Frédéric Mérand and Julien Weisbein are certainly scientists, but not the type that stand on an academic rostrum to bore with smug and earnest platitudes, or rather they are able to cross-breed their earnestness with humour, as is demonstrated by another quotation from the introduction: "It is sometimes pointed out, with a wry smile that" the "most intense battle" fought by the European Union "was about the definition of chocolate (26% cocoa and 5% vegetable fat"… I am not trying to suggest that the two authors are comedians, far from it. In fact, Mérand (Professor of Politics at Montreal University and visiting Professor of Politics in Toulouse) and Weisbein (senior lecturer in politics at Toulouse University and researcher at the 'Laboratoire des Sciences Sociales du Politique') are remarkable teachers who make what might seem offputting subject matter most palatable with the judicious use of layout, boxes and other tables. Although their approach is characterised by political sociology focussing on players and their motivations, they cannot totally avoid theoretical currents in political science that are supposed to be able to explain the European project, in other words, the laborious path that has made the European Union today "neither as strong a a military alliance, nor as open as a regional organisation, nor as flexible as a Free Trade Zone, nor as integrated as a federal state," yet at the end of the day, the only genuine "example (…) of successful regional integration".
To shed light on this adventure, the outcome of which nobody can predict, particularly in these troublesome times, the authors pay particular attention to the various controversies along the way. The book is clearly not a simple description of the European institutions and their formal rules (like many other manuals), but rather a programmatic analysis of political Europe. The take a meticulous look at the formal rules and how they are used in practice, informal practices and the implicit or nameless processes that "Europe is made up of". In the same spirit, they do not hesitate to "leave Brussels to explore social sites where the challenges are far removed from the EU sphere of power but still affected by it". The book is divided into three sections. In the first, the authors examine "the European political game," going on to draw up a genealogy of the European Union to identify the rules, practices and dominant players. In the second section, they explore "European governance," firstly by analysing how the interaction between a host of players generates European policy, then taking a detailed look at the Europeanising of the political, administrative and economic systems emerging from European policies. In the third section, they look at the question of the emerging power of the EU, which has gradually acquired some the attributes of a state (a foreign policy, defence policy and legal system) and the institutions that are expected one day to represent a European society that sees itself as genuinely European. A fine work! Michel Theys
*** DANIELA PREDA, DANIELE PASQUINUCCI (Eds.): The Road Europe Travelled Along. The Evolution of the EEC/EU Institutions and Policies. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Euroclio Studies and Documents", No. 54. 2010, 500 pp, €53-90. ISBN 978-90-5201-598-9.
This book presents the proceedings of a conference organised by the European Community Studies Association (of Italy) in Sienna three years ago. Bringing together academics from various disciplines and countries (Italy being the most highly represented, naturally enough), the conference verified the accuracy of the claim that Member States' governments were the first and only masters of the European construction process, which is fully dependent on their will. A large number of contributions demonstrate that this is not the case, as the European institutions have, over time, developed genuine capacity to expand the areas over which the European Community has power. The book is divided into two main sections. The first examines “rules and procedures,” with the authors looking at how the Commission has gradually drawn up competition law, the possible victory of the Intergovernmental Method when the European Council was set up, the Monetary Committee's activities in the 1960s and the work of the Commission in the Barcelona Process, along with the European Court of Justice's contribution to the structuring of the European institutional landscape, “liberalism,” and the “impact” of economic governance within the EU, the European Central Bank seen as a “new paradigm between the Centre and the Peripheries,” the Communitarisation of illegal immigrationon policy and more besides. In the second part, European institutions and policies are deciphered and analysed, with very few areas escaping the authors' attention, covering subjects as diverse as changes in the role of the European Parliament since the first universal suffrage elections and the EP's representation deficit, the origins of the EU's information policy, reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy, the environment and social policy. (PBo)
*** GUNTHER HAUSER: Europas Sicherheit und Verteidigung. Der Zivil-militärische Ansatz. Peter Lang (see above). 2010, 164 pp, €27-90. ISBN 978-3-631-59401-8.
The European Union Member States have always found it difficult to agree on a common security and defence policy. The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) still demonstrates this because it remains governed by a decision-making process characterised by intergovernmentalism more than anything else. In this field, the EU Council of Ministers has virtually full decision-making power in fact. The aim of intergovernmentalism is to preserve national sensitivities in a domain so laden with consequences, whether political or economic. Not to mention the fact that the history of some Member States encourages them to intervene militarily in foreign countries, or to refrain from doing so for that matter. In this book, Gunther Hauser takes a detailed look at both the decision-making process for the ESDP and elements of history that gave birth to these decision-making procedures. The various phases of the slow construction of the policy are analysed, along with its various dimensions, with the author combining legal and historical approaches. Gunther Hauser starts off by describing the European Defence Community (EDC), which although it never actually emerged in the end due to opposition from Gaullists and Communists in France, was crucially important because it created a framework that allowed West Germany to re-arm and led to the creation of the Western European Union (WEU). The EDC has now disappeared, being incorporated into the European Union and leading to the creation of the ESDP in the form that we know it today. The rest of the book is devoted to various developments in the ESDP, particularly in terms of military and civilian capabilities. A considerable portion of the analysis covers EU action carried out in combination with national military and civilian forces, and how such action is funded (the Athens Mechanism). The book also examines crisis management. A very comprehensive work, concluding with an analysis of the European strategy in this domain.
(JD)
*** ALEXANDER TACER: Die territoriale Struktur Spaniens. Der Weg zum asymmetrischen Föderalismus. Peter Lang (see above). 2010, 433 pp, €72-70. ISBN 978-3-631-59882-5.
Federalism emerged at the Philadelphia Convention at the end of the eighteenth century. After an intense debate, the Founding Fathers of America created the very first federal state with the 1788 Constitution enshrining the creation of the United States. The birth of federalism was a true ideological revolution that has had repercussions throughout the world with various countries using it to solve their problems. In Europe, several countries have adopted federalism, adjusting it to match local political sensitivities It is this federalist phenomenon that is examined in this book by Alexander Tacer of Frankfurt-am-Main University in Germany, paying particular attention to the case of Spain. Although a federal country, Spain does not grant its regions equal powers. The Basque Country and Catalonia, two regions calling for ever more autonomy, have been given wider powers than the other autonomous regions, the country being governed by an asymmetrical constitution.
The book starts with a very detailed explanation of federalism and its history. A quarter of the analysis examines issues and debates at the birth of federalism and regionalism, their characteristics and the various categories being studied in the light of the German federal system and French and British regionalism. Alexander Tacer then makes a detailed historical and legal analysis of the Spanish constitution from the reconquista to the end of Franco's regime and the drawing up of the current constitution The legal analysis takes up nearly half of the book, starting with an examination of Article 2 of the constitution covering autonomy, unity and solidarity After explaining the necessary legal background to discern the principles governing Spanish federalism, the author takes as an illustration the situation in each region of Spain. He then assesses the autonomy of each of the regions, provinces, islands and communities. The economic, institutional and political aspects are also addressed insofar as they render tangible the legal provisions set out in the constitution Particular attention is paid to the Senate, which represents the voice of the Spanish regions in the Spanish state. The final chapter examines the particular situation at play in the Basque Country and Catalonia.
(JD)
*** GIOVANNI SARTORI: Partis et systèmes de partis. Un cadre d'analyse. Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (26 av. Paul Héger, CP 163, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 6503789 - Fax: 6503794 - email: editions@admin.ulb.ac.be - Internet: http://www.editions-universit é-bruxelles.be). "UBLire - Fondamentaux" series, No. 14. 2011, 523 pp, €12. ISBN 978-2-8004-1462-1.
After lecturing at the universities of Florence, Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Columbia no less, Giovanni Sartori has earned his place as a monument in the world of academia. He was born in Florence in 1924 and is the author of many publications about comparative politics and the epistemology and methodology of social and political science. Many believe that his greatest work is this particular book, written in 1976. The author is the first to admit that the part of the book dealing with data is outdated, but that does not alter the fact that the theoretical section - "by far the greatest and best component," he says - remains up-to-date. The fact that this classic of political literature has now been published in French for the first time is a godsend for French-speakers wishing to discern and understand the history of political parties, their possible definitions and, above all, the way they interact to form a party system. (MT)
*** CONSTANTIN PREVELAKIS: La Grèce de A à Z. André Versaille éditeur (7 rue d'Alost, B-1000 Brussels, Tel (32-2) 2133705 - email: information@andreversailleediteur.com - Internet: http://www.andreversailleediteur.com ). "Les Abécédaires du voyageur" series. 2011, 215 pp, €14-90. ISBN 978-2-87495-136-7.
A lovely tangible gesture of solidarity would be for other Europeans to decide to take their holidays in Greece this year. Any French-speakers doing so would find this travel guide extremely useful and informative, being part of a series that provides far more than mere travel information. Like the other titles in the series, it provides no less than an introduction to the Greek people, their good and bad habits, their traditions, history and various aspects of their culture in alphabetical format, with more than a hundred entries. To give an example, the Sorbonne-educated historian author makes an objective description of the current crisis, criticising the country for deliberately living beyond its means and covering up "all the deficits that were created by its political vote-catching system". As is clear, the subject matter of this book goes well beyond a list of the must-see tourist sites. There is a website to accompany the book, with an abundance of photos, videos and links. An outstanding model of its genre! (MT)