*** TANGUY DE WILDE D'ESTMAEL: La PESC au lendemain du traité de Lisbonne. Presses universitaires de Louvain (Diffusion universitaire CIACO, 2/14 Grand-Rue, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve. Tel: (32-10) 473378 - fax: 457350 - Email: duc@ciaco.com - Internet: http://www.i6doc.com ). "IEE-Documents" series, No. 39. 2011, 96 pp. ISBN 978-2-87463-293-8.
Tanguy de Wilde d'Estmael is a senior lecturer in geo-politics and International relations at the Université catholique de Louvain, at which he is also the president of the faculty for political and social sciences. In his book he provides the reader with a comprehensive and extremely well argued introduction, which also contains a rather optimistic exploration of Common and Foreign and Security Policy. “Is it the perennial missed opportunity? A project in the making? A necessary utopia, a disastrous detour or a confirmed failure? These are the questions the author immediately raises, who also seeks to find out whether this policy really does exist or whether it is just something on paper. Naturally, the answers he seeks to provide are all pertinent to the questions that are raised.
The responses provided are, above all, stamped with a strong dose of realism because Tanguy de Wilde d'Estmael's premise is based on an initial and often forgotten observation that the CFSP is primarily an obligation to promote permanent cooperation, although the term continues to suggest both cooperation and the result it hopes to achieve, which somewhat determines how the process ultimately transpires. In this book, the author seeks to emphasise a situation that is much more complex and which at the same time raises a number of other questions, such as how should we really interpret the term, “Common Foreign and Security Policy” in the Union? Where does this cognitive dissonance arise with regard to what is actually significant and what this expression really means? What are the origins, developments and prospects for this policy? What institutional mechanisms should be used to develop decision-making and representation in the CFSP field? These are the foundations underpinning this book, which also takes into account the contributions made by the draft constitutional and Lisbon treaties.
Subsequently, the author demonstrates that in terms of the challenges that arise, the CFSP balance sheet is quite positive but the impression of the policy is rather mixed because of the imbalance between results and expectations in public opinion in the different countries, as well as in third countries and the international community. What is it therefore that actually hampers the Union's commitment in the Great Lakes area of Africa, with regard to the legitimate expectations of the local people? The Artémis operation carried out in Ituri may have appeared to certain people as a great leap forward in Common Foreign and Security Policy but perhaps it was nothing other than, “military and humanitarian actions carried out on a rather low level with when put into the perspective of the whole raft of exactions that had been destroying the region since 1998?” Professor Wilde d'Estmael - who also teaches at the College of Europe in Bruges - is also critical of the, “the futility of attempting to betray it as a model of post-conflict reconciliation in Africa, which should blindly be transposed into democratic processes”. He points out that development and reconstruction should be a preliminary to preparing the groundwork so that, “these kinds of questions make more sense to the local population”. In this connection he concludes with an admonition that cannot leave the reader indifferent, because the Congo, like the Côte d'Ivoire, is living on the edge of a volcano and that in the medium-term the democratisation objective will not suffer from temporary power-sharing formulas that gradually introduce “reconciliation, tradition and elections”.
In conclusion, the author confirms that it is not the inclusion of procedures or rationalised functions in the treaty that is likely to increase the influence of the Union in the world. Undoubtedly, it is likely to take a long time to build a “common diplomacy”, which member states are able to exercise and incorporate into their own specific interests, whilst identifying sectors that can be areas of common external action. If necessary this will be done through coalitions of “variable geometry” and this area is highly likely to be propitious to enhanced cooperation. The author also points out that by not placing military operations in Libya within the scope of the European Union, Paris and London were effectively endorsing the failure of the Common Foreign and Security Policy but only in so far as this meant the passing away of the phantom ESDP. In effect there is still the possibility, if needs be, of an EU protection force that would be less likely to carry out airstrikes than to stabilise areas in post-conflict situations. Professor Tanguy De Wilde d'Estmael is delighted to point out that international intervention in Libya appears to have a European policy imprinted upon it, which the Union can be proud of because it obtained the authorisation of the Security Council and, above all, because the states strove to obtain a form of broad consensus from organisations such as the Arab League and the African Union, which echoes the EU's concern of developing efficient multilateralism. It should be said that Foreign and Security Policy is not something that just exists on the paper of the treaties and that the Union is only a disappointment to those that interpret this body as a state in itself.
Michel Theys
*** CORINE BALLEIX: L'aide européenne au développement. La Documentation française (Direction de l'information légale et administrative, 29 quai Voltaire, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40157010 - Internet: http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr ). « Réflexeeurope » series. 2010, 221 pp. €14. ISBN 978-2-11-008315-9.
The “Réflexeeurope” series distinguishes itself by the very high didactic quality of the books included within it. It consistently maintains this high quality. As a lecturer at Sciences Po, following stints at the French Foreign and European Affairs Department, as well as one at the French permanent representation to the European Union, Corine Balleix puts forward a superlatively accurate and comprehensive account of everything that an honest citizen should know with regard to the subject of European development aid. In the first part of the book, she seeks to provide a reply to the question of how this policy operates by describing and analysing the gradual implementation of the different legal, financial and institutional instruments used in this connection. The author also assesses the impact of the European Consensus for Development, which the EU27 developed as their ambitious roadmap in 2005, as well as the impact of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which has modified the institutional architecture of European aid and the position of this policy with regard to other areas of Union external action. The first part of the book also highlights the structural constraints that determine, limit or orientate the way in which European development cooperation policy operates, as well as its capacity for carrying out action within the, “difficult coordination and complementarity related to the national policies of member states”, the burning question of funding and, “the lack of coherency with other policies” carried out by the Union.
The second part of the book aims to provide a number of responses to questions relating to what goal European development aid should serve. The author seeks to evaluate the real effects of this policy and identify what specific features are contained within it with regard to aid provided through other funds. In her scrupulous analysis of European food security aid to less developed countries, Corine Balleix seeks to understand to what extent European aid can really help eradicate poverty in the world. She also seeks to assess whether the reorganisation of this aid towards the management of global challenges (climate change, economic and financial difficulties) and regional problems (Africa, Mediterranean) would require a more thorough repositioning of its objectives, principles and modalities for action. Ultimately, she also focuses on the beneficial potential in the diplomatic and trade fields resulting from the Union's development aid.
(MT)
*** Europe's World. Europe's World (Bibliothèque Solvay, Parc Léopold, 137 rue Belliard, B-1040 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 7387592 - fax: 7391592 - Email: subscriptions@europesworld.org - Internet: http://www.europesworld.org ). 2011, No. 19, 146 pp, €12. Annual subscription: €30 or €50 for two years.
The editorial of the most recent edition of this extremely comprehensive pro-European publication piloted by Giles Merritt advocates “cutting the Euro-zone's Gordian knot. The publication focuses on the events that have occurred over recent months in the countries on the southern banks of the Mediterranean. Hubert Védrine, the former French minister for foreign affairs considers that the military operation carried out in Libya could possibly constitute a “geopolitical turning point”, even though in his eyes this does not endorse the “right to intervene in another country's affairs”. Elsewhere in the book, a feature article focuses on the repercussions of the Arab Spring and the former president of the Italian Council, Massimo D'Alema, describes this as, “a make or break challenge for the EU's global role”. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski and MEP from Poland explains what Europe needs to do to regain its credibility in the Mediterranean area. Eneko Landaburu, the current Union representative to Morocco is certain that the Union, “can still seize the opportunities of Arab Spring”. Three other contributions complete this feature. The former Chinese minister for foreign affairs, Li Zhaoxing, Elmar Brok MEP and the Polish foreign affairs minister are some of the other big hitters that contribute to this issue.
(MT)
*** The European Library No. 940 will be dated Tuesday10 January 2012. We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.