*** NIKLAS BRUUN, KLAUS LÖRCHER, ISABELLE SCHÖMANN (Eds.): The Lisbon Treaty and Social Europe. 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 ). 2012, 338 pp, £40. ISBN 978-1-84946-253-2.
The Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009. Is it capable of giving greater consistency and credibility to Social Europe than the previous treaties? In these times of crisis that are putting ever greater pressure on people living in Europe and causing increasing disenchantment under austerity policies that claim to be something else, this question is a political hot potato. The ten authors, members of the European Trade Union Institute's Transnational trade union rights experts network, provide answers in this book. Are their answers slightly suspect given the closeness of these labour law experts to the European Trade Union Institute, part of the European Trade Union Confederation movement? Far from it. All these essays are characterised by clear scientific vigour and free thinking.
The first section of the book is devoted to general framework of the social dimension of the European Union, in which seven writers systematically examine whether a social market economy could be built on the foundation of the Lisbon Treaty. Simon Deakin of Cambridge University considers whether the until recently recognised primacy of the 'very liberal' economic foundations of the European project, namely the 'laws of the market' and 'free competition,' at the expense of social concerns, can continue a fortiori to exist in these times of crisis. More precisely, in the light of the Viking and Laval rulings of the European Court of Justice, defending these in such a resolute manner, this law professor raises two fundamental problems. Firstly, Which rules apply if the social rights come into conflict with the 'laws of the market?' and 'Do member states still have the freedom to enact or maintain their labour and social security law as long as it is more favourable to the workers? than EU law? On the answer to these two questions hangs, as everyone these days would agree, the maintenance of social peace in all four corners of Europe and even the fate of the European Union in national referenda in the future.
Fortunately, Deakin and his colleagues think that the pendulum is expected to return in the other direction following the madcap race dictated by neoliberal ideology and that both European and national decision-makers will at some time be compelled to “to address the adverse social implications of fiscal and economic imbalances' rather than simply taking account of 'their impact on their financial system.' In the same spirit, Filip Dorssemont of the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, looks at the negative tension regarding the social dimension that has prevailed in the Union and analyses the role the European Court of Human Rights could play in correcting this situation in the future. Csilla Kollonay-Lehoczky (University of Eötvös Lóránd in Budapest), Isabelle Schömann (European Trade Union Institute) and Klaus Lörcher (former legal adviser to the European Trade Union Confederation) confirm that the European Charter of Fundamental Rights could possibly use to boost the work of the European Union in the social arena due to the fact that, “many fundamental rights have a social nature”.
Finally, Pascale Viellez (Université catholique de Louvain) explains that on the basis of experience gathered on the issue of gender mainstreaming, the European institutions are now obliged to ensure that all their policies and decisions help towards reaching the social objectives set out by the Union if they are to prove productive in the future. The second part of the book focuses on the social fabric that has been developed by the Lisbon Treaty itself, namely, the social competences that have been set up. This has not been very much if we are to believe Klaus Lörcher, Thomas Blanke (University of Carl von Ossietzki in Oldenburg) who consider that the subsidiarity principle, on the contrary, is now subject to the impact of regional and local specificities and could prove to be a, “serious hindrance to the activities of the European legislator”, including activities in the social field. Niklaas Bruun (University of Helsinki and Stockholm) takes on the remaining resistance found within the coordination of economic policies, “which are even weaker than in the social area”.
Although the principle of the more favourable rule is now definitively contained within the treaty, the priority of market rights also remains enshrined there, which could possibly mean that the Court in Luxembourg will carry on as before. Nonetheless, as the very question of the legitimacy of the Union is now at stake, perhaps this dogmatic approach adopted until now were perhaps be revised? If this does prove to be the case, perhaps the services of general interest, a theme examined by Antoine Jacobs (University of Tilburg) will also soon be less exposed to the incantatory trends of privatization and competition. This, nevertheless, will once again be a question that will ultimately be decided by what political will exists.
Michel Theys
*** TINEKE DIJKHOFF: International Social Security Standards in the European Union. The Cases of the Czech Republic and Estonia. Intersentia Publishers (31 Groenstraat, B-2640 Mortsel. Tel: (32-3) 6801550 - fax: 6587121 - E-mail: mail@intersentia.be - Internet: http://www.intersentia.com ). “Social Europe Series”, No. 28. 2011, 448 pp, €88. ISBN 978-1-78068-024-8.
To what extent is social wellbeing guaranteed? In these times of crisis, this issue is the subject of much anguish, even in economically developed countries. Tineke Dijkhoff seeks to provide a number of scientifically argued responses within the framework of her PhD thesis on how international social security standards applied in the Union. Estonia and the Czech Republic particularly provide revealing examples in this connection? Why did she choose these two countries? Because similar studies were carried out by “Old Europe” and these two new member states are included within the 46 countries that are the only ones to have ratified the International Labor Organisation Convention No. 102 adopted in 1952 and which defined a common minimum level of social security recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 in an effort to ensure that the latter does not remain purely tokenistic. Although the Council of Europe has further built upon this Convention to ensure that European citizens have even better social standards, Community Europe and those responsible for drafting the Treaty of Rome, according to the author, did not consider it, “necessary to provide for a harmonised level of social protection (…) because it was thought that economic growth and the optimum allocation of resources would automatically entail social progress and therefore a common market would not hamper the further improvement of workers' living standards”. This optimistic approach has not actually been borne out and over time European leaders have added a social reference such as the explicit reference in the Treaty of Amsterdam to the European Social Charter recognising the International Labor Organisation's Convention 102 as a minimum level for member states' social security systems worthy of the name.
This reference to the Social Charter has not, however, created any legal obligation on the 27 member states, which is why there is no common social security level in the Union, particularly in these times of economic recession and when social policies are the first ones to fall victim to the cuts. Other contributions, however, argue that the social standards envisaged in 1952 are no longer appropriate. In this connection, the author seeks to carry out far-reaching study into this question. In Estonia and the Czech Republic, Tineke Dijkhoff demonstrates that it will be difficult to apply international standards mainly because of the individualisation of social security rights and the harsh cuts that have been applied to public spending caused by an ageing population and economic crisis. She also shows that this is because of the state is being pushed out from the social security arena due to encroaching privatisation in this area. These rather sombre trends are not restricted to the two countries examined and lessons learnt within them also apply to the Union as a whole.
(PBo)
*** REBECCA PROBERT, CHRIS BARTON (editors): Fifty Years in Family Law. Essays for Stephen Cretney. Intersentia Publishers (see address attached). 2012, 331 pp. €73. ISBN 978-1-78068-052-1
During the past 50 years, the legal expert, Stephen Cretney, has contributed more than anyone else to the development of family law in Great Britain. In this anthology, which scientifically tackles different aspects in the subject, several of his peers pay homage to him.
(MT)
*** CAROLINE SÖRGJERD: Reconstructing Marriage. The Legal Status of Relationships in a Changing Society. Intersentia Publishing (see above). European Family Law Series, No.31. 2012, 356 pp, €80. ISBN 978-1-78068-037-8.
A slightly amended recent doctoral thesis on law for Uppsala University in Sweden, this book takes readers into the current status and past history of the institution of marriage. In the first part of the book, Caroline Sörgjerd sets the scene, looking at what marriage has symbolized in Sweden over the past three centuries. She shows that marriage was not simply a legal contract between two individuals, but had a symbolic meaning with historic, religious and cultural roots characteristic of Sweden - and the same goes for marriage in any other country of the world. She then demonstrates chronologically the changes and legal consequences of alterations in society over time from the epoch in which marriage was considered and/or enforced as a 'gift of God' as a 'marriage of two equals,' the rising power of autonomy in marriage in the 1970s and 1980s, the advent of cohabitation - which some have described as 'a “second-class” marriage' and, finally, the icing on the cake, which has stuck in the gullet of a number of Swedes, namely same-sex marriages, which won full legal recognition in Sweden in 2009. The third section of the book compares and contrasts the Swedish situation with the Netherlands (where the only type of marriage recognised by law is civil marriage) and Spain, a country with a strong Catholic tradition but which, in 2005 (under the influence of Catalonia) was the third country in the world to recognise 'gender-neutral marriages,' although this is still rejected by the Catholic Church. The comparison is extended to legal developments in other Scandinavian countries, and changes in cohabitation are examined at EU level and in the light of the European Convention of Human Rights. The author finally examines how the form and function of marriage are likely to change in Sweden in the future.
(PBo)
** KATHARINA BOELE-WOELKI, ANGELIKA FUCHS (Editors): Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships in Europe. National, Cross-Border and European Perspectives. Intersentia Publishing (see address attached). “European Family Law Series” series, No. 32. 2012, 310 pp. €70. ISBN 978-1-78068-045-3.
This book is the upshot of a conference organised by the Academy of European Law in Uppsala. In 2003, it was the first book to be published in the series and one of the very first books to focus on the theme of legal recognition of same-sex couples. Since then, there have been many other developments in this area within the European Union and its member states. This is why the Academy of European Law organised another conference in Trier to take into account the new situation and this edition looks at the most recent results in this area. The first part of the book describes the most recent innovations since Denmark's decision to take the lead in this area by introducing “registered partnerships” in 1989. Nowadays, half of all Union member states have legislation on the formalisation of same-sex relationships. The majority of them recognise registered partnerships and some of them allow homosexual couples enter into marriage. The second part of the book specifically addresses the issue of same-sex couples and their children and tackles specific legal aspects involved in parenthood and surrogate motherhood. On cross-border issues, the third part of the book includes a contribution by a number of authors to the question of the difficulties encountered by same-sex couples when they need to obtain a divorce or dissolution of their registered partnership in another country. This occurs because substantive law and the approaches adopted by international private law in the different member states can vary widely. The last part of the book looks out the different European opportunities that exist in the light of the rights granted under the European Convention of Human Rights and the question of non-discrimination - including employment conditions and pension rights and family reunification. This book provides an extremely comprehensive contribution towards understanding these issues!
(PBo)
*** Futuribles. Futuribles Sarl (47 rue de Babylone, F-75007 Paris. Tel. (33-1) 53633770 - fax: 42226554 - e-mail: revue@futuribles.com - Internet: http://www.futuribles.com ). July-August 2012, No. 387, 144 p. €19. Annual subscription: € 115 (France) €120 (abroad). ISBN 978-2-84387-400-0.
This edition of the monthly review set up in 1974 by Hugues de Jouvenel contains a contribution outlining the results of a study carried out by the Strategic Analysis Centre into how the labour and employment situation in France may evolve in France over the next 20 years. Other articles focus on cultural practices, and the geopolitics of wheat and the question of Turkey joining the European Union.
(MT)