*** GERARD BOSSUAT (Ed.): La France, l'Europe et l'aide au développement. Des traités de Rome à nos jours. Comité pour l'histoire économique et financière de la France / Institut de la gestion publique et du développement économique (11 rue des Deux Communes, F-93558 Montreuil Cedex. Tel: (33-1) 57534320 - Email: recherche.igpde@finances.gouv.fr - Internet: http://www.igpde.fr ). "Histoire économique et financière de la France / Animation de la recherche" series. 2013, 257 pp, €28. ISBN 978-2-11-129374-8.
Emeritus professor at the Université de Cergy-Pontoise in France and Jean Monnet chair ad personam in the history of European unity, Gérard Bossuat was the scientific coordinator of a conference nearly two years ago to mark the seventieth anniversary of the French development agency, whose history is described in a precious manner in this book for readers wishing to understand where the European Union's cooperation and development policy came from. In fact it is the particularly French origins of the EU's policy, along with its forms and resources over the decades, and the often contradictory political motives behind EU development aid as it has developed over time, that are unveiled in this book, where former European Commission players Dieter Frisch and Bernard Petit provide useful eye-witness reports to flesh out the explanations by high-flying university experts.
Like the conference, the book is divided into three time periods. The first covers the period from 1957 to 1975, when Paris literally forced this policy on its German and Dutch partners in the treaties of Rome and, as Véronique Dimier of Université Libre de Bruxelles explains in her essay, managed it, apparently single-handedly, through officials from the French colonial administration who sometimes worked in Brussels to continue to promote their ideal of a French-speaking Africa thanks to funding that became rather less exclusively French. Back then, a substantial portion of aid was channelled through French companies, which were often the only ones present on the ground.… The second time period, from 1975 to 1995, sees the start of the decline of French control because extension of the EU to the United Kingdom opened up EU aid to former British colonies in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific through the first Lomé Agreements, not to mention the fact that it quickly led to challenges on the grounds of inefficiency because EU aid had until then been divided up on the basis of empirical judgements made by the French old guard and also, unsurprisingly, in terms of how much each member state contributed. One of the great achievements of this book is found in an essay in which Gordon Cumming of Cardiff University shows that in this domain at least, London and the European Commission were in a relationship of mutual influence rather than not listening to each other. Other essays in this section look at the birth of North-South dialogue in which the European Community tried to assert itself as interlocutor of beneficiary countries, and the impact of the rising power of the neoliberal order. Finally, the third section looks at the period from 1995 to 2010, examining various aspects, not the least of which of course is the creation of the World Trade Organisation and its challenging of trade preferences. This then led to a challenge to the EU's approach to development.
One of this book's main achievements is the way it leads the reader away from a Manichean view of matters that are deeply engraved on the memory. German economist Dieter Frisch, director general of DG VIII (at the time when the Commission preferred Roman numerals to English acronyms) from 1982 to 1993, pays tribute to a number of his French colleagues who, like Jacques Ferrandi of Corsica, stood up for development issues at the Berlaymont, and thought they were acting in the common interest of Europe and had a genuine concern for autonomy from Paris. This veteran European also hails the impulses given by French figureheads like Claude Cheysson and Edgard Pisani. As historian Laure Quennouëlle-Corre of Université de Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne pointed out in her general conclusions, the French and other Europeans clearly learned at DG VIII to detach themselves from their nation of origin to become Europeans and work for the interests of the beneficiary countries or the interests of the European Community, rather than their own country. This is what made it possible for the Commission to become such a key player in the world of development aid.
Michel Theys
*** L'Europe en formation. Revue d'études sur la construction européenne et le fédéralisme - Journal of Studies on European Integration and Federalism. Centre international de formation européenne (10 av. des Fleurs, F-06000 Nice. Tel: (33-4) 93979397 - Fax: 93979398 - Email: europe.formation@cife.eu - Internet: http://www.europeenformation.eu ). 2013, No. 367, 199 pp, €20. Annual subscription: €50. Online publication via: http://www.cairn.info/revue-l-europe-en-formation.htm
This issue of a review founded by Alexandre Marc, the high priest of extreme federalism, is wholly devoted to Turkey on the ninetieth anniversary of the republic founded by Atatürk. What remains of it today? This is one of the questions answered in this comprehensive special report. To economist Jean-Claude Vérez and the historian who point out in the introduction that Turkey's current leaders no longer see their country as being on the periphery of Europe but rather as the centre of its own region, mainly comprising countries that once belonged to the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Volk answers that Ankara has tried to gain more weight in the Middle East. Müge Aknur makes a critical analysis of the relationship between Turkey's civilian and military authorities, and the line taken by the European Union in this connection, while Cemal Karakas, researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt does the same for the intermeshing of religious parties and republican principles, although he says the AKP is distancing itself from a fully democratic attitude. Ayca Ince points out that cultural policy under Erdogan has its similarities with the Mehter approach of the janissaries who moved two steps forward and then one step back. There are two essays on the longer-term prospects for the economic evolution of Turkey and its status as a transit country for energy.
(MT)
*** HAKAN ÖZKAN: Quo vadis Türkei ? Zum Aufstieg der islamisch-konservativen Parteien in der Türkei und dessen Auswirkungen auf den EU-Beitrittsprozess. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). Publications universitaires européennes / European University Studies. 2013, 123 pp, €17-95. ISBN 978-3-631-62592-7.
In this extension of a thesis, Hakan Özkan makes the case for Turkey joining the European Union. He says that the AKP, which has been in power since 2002, is a conservative, democratic party that is pursuing the process of Turkey moving closer to the EU while keeping the Islamicists from making a breakthrough. His methodology shows the author has scientific rigour and a clear study, presenting and defining the political science concepts he uses. He takes a no-taboo look at all the challenges and problems posed by Turkey potentially joining the EU: the question of democracy in Turkey, islamicisation of Turkish society, or lack of islamicisation, Americanisation of Europe through the Turkish Trojan horse, to give a few examples. It is a shame, however that various arguments on crucial questions for the future of Turkey and of Europe are backed up with insufficient explanations.
(GLe)
*** BÜLENT UCAR (Ed.): Islam im europäischen Kontext. Selbstwahrnehmungen und Außensichten. Peter Lang (see above). Reihe für Osnabrücker Islamstudien series, No. 9. 2013, 520 pp, €59-95. ISBN 978-3-631-60709-1.
This book looks in more detail at topics addressed in series of conferences on the pedagogical side of the Muslim religion at Osnabrück University on Islam as a religion and the integration of Muslims in Europe. Running through the essays is the question of how to achieve unity in Western societies by incorporating the Muslim community at a time of increased secularisation and individualism in said Western societies. The various authors consider the essence of Islam and its compatibility with the social and legal rules in Germany and the wider Europe. In order to answer these questions, some of the authors analyse Muslim theology, while others raise the question of how Islam changes in societies characterised by Christianity.
(GLe)
*** NICOLAS STÉFANSKI: Le processus d'adhésion de l'Islande à l'Union européenne. Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques (Crisp, 1A place Quetelet, B-1210 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2110180 - Fax: 2197934 - email: info@crisp.be - Internet: http://www.crisp.be ). Courrier hebdomadaire series, No. 2171. 2013, 45 pp, €6-90.
On 12 September 2013, the Irish foreign minister announced that Iceland's accession talks with the European Union have been broken off (see EUROPE 10920 dated Friday 13 September, p. 13). This issue of the Courrier hebdomadaire newsletter was written before the unexpected announcement on Friday, but is useful nevertheless for understanding the whys and wherefores of the decision. The author explains the ins and outs of the Icelandic party system and the main political parties before briefly summarising the history of Iceland's relations with the European Community since the 1950s. After explaining the economic and financial motives for the attempt to moves towards the EU, he analyses the political causes for the slowdown in the accession talks - talks that are have now been called off.
(MT)
*** Revue de Droit Monégasque. Principauté de Monaco (Palais de Justice, BP 513, MC-98015 Monaco cedex. Tel: (377) 98984241). 2013, No.12, 268 pp, €30.
This review covers the years 2011 and 2012, examining changes in doctrine and the legal system in Monaco, describing and commenting on case-law. There is a contribution from Prof. Jean-François Renucci of Nice Sophia-Antipolis University on European demands vis-à-vis the question of deprivation of freedom. The globalisation of economic and financial law and legal protection for biodiversity are some of the other topics under discussion.
(MT)
*** ANTONIO MISSIROLI (Ed.): Enabling the Future. European military capabilities 2013-2025: challenges and avenues. European Union Institute of Security Studies (100 av. de Suffrein, F-75015 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 56891930 - Fax: 56891931 - email: info@iss.europa.eu - Internet: http://www.iss.europa.eu ). ISS Report series, No. 16. 2013, 69 pp.
On the request of the president of the European Union's military committee, the European Union Institute of Security Studies has prepared for the European Summit on defence issues in December 2013 a study into the EU's military capabilities along with possible options and ideas generating reflection on the future of European cooperation on defence issues, explains the head of the ISS, Antonio Missiroli, in the preface. He says that the commissioning of the research was seen as an opportunity to openly discuss the successes and failures of the past decade (since the EU started undertaking its own peace-keeping operations), to make an honest evaluation of the current situation and, above all, to consider what could be done in the next decade. To this end, the ISS set up a small taskforce to draw up this report, written by James Rogers of the political and strategic studies department at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia, and researcher Andrea Gilli. In turn, the study looks at the current situation, discerning emerging strategic trends and considering five possible future scenarios - consolidation that would lead to a coordinated reduction in redundant and obsolete capabilities; optimisation that would see armed forces working within a common framework; innovation to improve technology; stronger regionalisation; and further moves towards integration. The authors point out that these scenarios are not mutually exclusive. To those would might lament the loss of sovereignty each scenario might entail, the study's authors give a firm reply that Europe is already losing its sovereignty by not consolidating, not optimising, not innovating, not regionalising and not integrating its military capabilities. It is good to tell the truth at times, even though some may not like what they hear!
(PBo)
*** EUISS Yearbook of European Security YES 2013. Documents, Facts, Figures, Maps 2011-2012. European Union Institute of Security Studies (see above). 2013, 363 pp. ISBN 978-92-9198-224-0.
The European Union Institute of Security Studies is in the habit of publishing a yearbook of official documents illustrating development and implementation of the European security and defence policy. The current version continues the trend and covers 2011 and 2012, expanding its angle to take in a chronology of relevant facts and figures and 'mental maps' of future prospects.
(PBo)