*** FRANCOIS SAINT-OUEN: L'avenir fédéraliste de l'Europe II. Du Traité de Maastricht à celui de Lisbonne - Sur les traces de Dusan Sidjanski. Groupe De Boeck - Éditions Bruylant (4 Fond Jean-Pâques, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve. Tel: (32-10) 482511 - Fax: 482693 - email: commande@deboeckservices.be - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ). 'Centre Européen de la Culture' series. 2011, 333 pp, €45. ISBN 978-2-8027-3088-0.
This book could have had two authors' names attached because it follows on from L'avenir Fédéraliste de l'Europe published by Dusan Sidjanski in 1992, updated and published in English in 2000 as The Federal Future of Europe. Sidjanski, however, who is nowadays a close advisor to president Barroso, preferred, given the importance and coherence of the work by his former pupil at the Geneva University's European Institute, to have only his former pupil's name appear. As a proper manifestation of the esteem he has towards the man who, like him, was close to philosopher Denis de Rougemont, the founder of the Political Science Department at the same university has taken the trouble to write both a preface and an afterword in which he dots the i's of federalism (which 'does not try to destroy the State, but gives itself the objective of making it a rung of the federation,' being both 'a spirit and an open method before being a system for organising society') and consider the future in the light of the potential of the Lisbon Treaty and, against the backdrop of the current crisis, the potential provided by what Denis de Rougemont used to call 'the pedagogy of disasters.'
In these pages, François Saint-Ouen analyses the role of the federal approach in the current environment, providing new explanations of fundamental aspects of this political domain, of which some have even tried to proscribe the name, although, as the author says, it has never been anything but 'the theory and practice of organised freedoms.' Without ever dipping into activism, he starts by pointing out what federalism is through the examples of the United States, Germany and Switzerland, demonstrating how the institutional federalism that was close to the hearts of the founding fathers of the United States and also of Altiero Spinelli, alongside the fact that it is differently declined, is not the only type: he usefully describes the society-oriented ambitions found in the 'personalist' or 'fundamentalist' school, which he said is having a field day with the online citizens' networks possible these days on the internet. As 'federalism basically means respecting reality and is based on pragmatism,' the author then gauges it in the light of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and the future of Kosovo, also examining how environmental issues and energy questions are dealt with. In the following chapters, he makes a systematic analysis of the innovations and shortcomings of the Amsterdam Treaty and Nice Treaty, and the aborted Constitution (pseudo-Constitution). He goes on to highlight the key role that the European Commission could play in a federalist perspective due to its potential in terms of leadership and as an engine of integration, before examining future prospects for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and new countries joining the EU.
The final three chapters are the most in synch with the current tensions and questions. François Saint-Ouen says for example that federalism cannot work effectively 'without the presence of a formal or informal federal core,' pointing out that 'a two-speed Europe, variable geometry, flexible, concentric circles, hard-core, à la carte Europe and so on' are not interchangeable concepts and some of them are positively dangerous. He calls for new life to be breathed into the pact that is 'etymologically the essence of federalism,' suggesting 'reducing the anomaly of back-to-front federalism' (the European Union getting lost in technical meanderings and abandoning the sphere of 'high politics,' which does nothing to combat citizens' lack of understanding) and, to this end, getting the Commission to delegate its regulatory and administrative powers to outside agencies. He also suggests attacking the 'Achilles' heel' of the European project, namely the need for unanimous decision-making for changes to the European Treaty. His most innovative idea comes from the strong view shared by Monnet, de Rougemont and, closer to our time, Bronislaw Geremek: 'There cannot be a true Europe without Europeans,' which he says raises the question of the role of education, training and civic awareness in the European construction project. The ideas he puts forward for bringing about this change in direction make good sense and show that a federalist spirit 'is based on pragmatism,' as opposed to the way the term is used ad nauseum by the nation state sovereignty spirits. Cherchez l'erreur!
Michel Theys
*** Fedechoses… pour le fédéralisme. Presse fédéraliste (Maison de l'Europe et des Européens, 13 rue de l'Arbre sec, F-69001 Lyon. Internet: http://www.pressefederaliste.eu ). September 2012, No. 157, 36 pp, €8. Annual subscription: €30.
In the run-up to its fortieth anniversary, this federalist review that argues and defends its ideas so pugnaciously, sees old-guard federalist grumbler Jean-Pierre Gouzy lead the assault. The old expert crosses swords with president Barroso, accusing him of opting yet again 'for a strategy ( ?) of fudging that suits (…) his personality' reserving for the European Parliament a 'substitute for Jacques Delors' old idea in the form of an oxymoron,' namely the concept of nation states, although he could 'quite simply' have talked about 'the prospect of a European federation.' No matter, he has shown that the debate is now open and has given 'federalists new reasons to lead their fight to maturity, by putting each before his responsibilities,' this ball clearly being caught in mid-air by Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Guy Verhofstadt. Notable also in this issue is an article by historian Sergio Pistone who, with an eye on next year's European elections, explains that Europe is caught between immediate federation or disintegration, while Robert Toulemon says that the 'leap into the federal could well be the last chance for governments to save the euro and, along with the single currency, the most advanced integration they have reached,' which would, incidentally, be a way of restoring the confidence in the European project 'that is lacking today.' (MT)
*** Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law. Intersentia (31, Groenstraat, BE-2640 Mortsel. Tel: (32-3) 6801550 - Fax: 6587121 - email: mail@intersentia.be - Internet: http://www.intersentia.com ). 2012, Vol. 19, No. 2, 120 pp. Annual subscription: €195, £185.25, $273.
This issue of a fine European comparative law review is fully devoted to the roots of legal pluralism, legal unity and the diversity that has always characterised law in Europe. In six selected essays, it provides a report of a conference held eighteen months ago at the Law Faculty of Maastricht University by the Association of Young Legal Historians, which explored European legal traditions to see whether the current situation is characterised by integration or disintegration vis-a-vis the past. For example, researcher Egbert Koops of Leyden University draws a parallel between the European citizenship as established by the Maastriicht Treaty in 1992 and the Constitutio Antoniniana used by Emperor Caracalla to make Roman citizenship 'universal,' pointing out that the latter did not affect the privileges of Roman citizens and the former is complementary to citizenship of one of the European Union Member States. Two other researchers look at the legal sovereignty of the former Yugoslavia over time, arguing that these countries are in a better position to defend their sovereignty as members of the European Union than they were under the Hapsburg Empire or in a monarchic or federated Yugoslavia. (MT)
*** RUDOLF REZSOHAZY: Emergence des valeurs communes aux Européens à travers l'histoire. L'Harmattan (5-7, rue de l'Ecole polytechnique, F-75005 Paris. email: diffusion.harmattan@wanadoo.fr - Internet: http://www.librairieharmattan.com ). "Pour comprendre" series. 2012, 219 pp, €23. ISBN 978-2-296-96552-2.
For a period of thirty-five years, Rudolf Rezsohazy gave lectures at the 'Université Catholique de Louvain' in Belgium on the history of western civilisation. His career as a teacher at the intersection of history, sociology and political science naturally predisposed him to consider whether a European identity existed in reality and if so, what was the nature of European culture. In other words, at the heart of this book is the question of whether common values exist at European level and if so, how they are connected with the values that predominate in other spheres. His work shows that forty-seven common values have emerged over the course of the history of Europe. They are culled from various backgrounds (Antiquity, Christianity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, scientific and economic progress, the age of Enlightenment,
capitalism, social movements and the like) and range from the emergence in Ancient Greece of scientific thought and the accumulation of knowledge to the right of self-determination and the duty of intervention via the affirmation of reason, pluralism, democracy and human rights, distributive justice and respect for nature. These are values that arose in Europe, but are not necessary soley European these days. The problem is, the author explains, that people are not actually aware of them and therefore these days, European countries are far more aware of their dissimilarities than their similarities. (MT)
*** MICHEL GRUNEWALD, HANS-JÜRGEN LÜSEBRINK, REINER MARCOWITZ, UWE PUSCHNER (Eds.): France-Allemagne au XXe siècle - La production de savoir / Deutschland und Frankreich im 20. Jahrhundert - Akademische wissensproduktion über das andere Land (Bd. 1). Volume 1: Questions méthodologiques et épistémologiques / Band 1: Methodische und epîstemologische Probleme. Peter Lang (1, Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Convergences" series, No. 64. 2011, 317 pp, €55-40. ISBN 978-3-0343-1028-4.
The perception of the Other generated by French and German universities has been based on virtually the same foundations for more than a century, even during the worst periods of Franco-German tension. This emerges from an inter-university research programme and work to prepare for a conference at Paul Verlaine University in Metz, France, of which the proceedings are given in this book. At first, the disciplines that are likely to be interested in the Other are set against the backdrop of history, with this introduction to the subject matter being interspersed with matters connected with 'combined, intermeshed history.' The second chapter sheds light on the specificities of university students vis-a-vis 'the intellectual' with the aim of shedding light on the conditions and framework for the production of knowledge about the 'Other,' drawing attention also to the specific characteristics of the way networks function and the role of mediators. The third chapter considers methodological problems related with the production of knowledge about the Other, which will clearly be of interest beyond the specific cases of France and Germany.
(PBo)
*** MONIKA DE FRANTZ: Capital City Cultures. Reconstructing Contemporary Europe in Vienna and Berlin. 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 ). "Multiple Europes" series, No. 45. 2011, 269 pp, €36-90. ISBN 978-90-5201-739-6.
An expanded and updated version of a 2004 doctoral thesis for the European University Institute in Florence, this work examines how two capitals, Berlin and Vienna, have evolved culturally in response to globalisation. A political scientist specialising in the social arena, Monika De Frantz seeks out on the ground how contemporary European States respond to globalisation in terms of policy and culture, focussing on two projects, the Museumsquartier of Vienna and the Humboldt Forum in the place (location) of the former Palast der Republik on the Schlossplatz in Berlin. The author thus expands upon an old tradition of urban thought associating cities with public arenas and a melting-pot of societal transformation. Needless to say, the conclusions drawn from her work by the author apply beyond the two cities in question…
(PBo)
*** MARTIN JUNGWIRTH: Environmental Management Systems in Local Public Authorities. A Comparative Study of the Introduction and Implementation of EMAS in the United Kingdom and Germany. Peter Lang (see above). Contemporary Problems of Modern Societies series, No. 5. 2011, 264 pp, €41-90. ISBN 978-3-631-59531-2.
The fruit of long research into how political ideas at European level can influence the local arena, this book takes a detailed look at the application in local public authorities in Germany and the United Kingdom of the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, EMAS. The author's aim, of course, is to use this research to examine changes to EMAS in practice to make it more effective. He shows that EMAS is a typical type of innovative, voluntary, flexible project whose imperfect implementation at national or regional level can lead to loss of effectiveness on the ground; proper use of the tool being directly correlated with the quality of the people responsible for making use of it. (PBo)