*** MALCOLM EVANS, PANOS KOUTRAKOS (Eds.): The International Responsibility of the European Union. European and International Perspectives. Hart Publishing (16c Worcester Place, Oxford, OX1 2JW, UK. Te: (44-1865) 517530 - Fax: 510710 - email: mail@hartpub.co.uk -Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). 2013, 372 pp, £65. ISBN 978-1-84946-328-7.
Arising from the Tenth EU/International Law Forum at the University of Bristol Law School, organised just over two years ago, this book explores in detail the question of the international responsibility underlying interactions in the European Union, third countries and international organisations. Although some might say that the European Union is still a dwarf on the world stage, it is true that it has become a major player and often an unavoidable player at that. Examining the question of its international responsibility is far from a bee in the bonnet of legal experts, explain Malcolm Evans (Professor of Public International Law, University of Bristol) and Panos Koutrakos (Professor of European Union Law at City University London) in the introduction.
The main reason for the interest in the subject is the path taken by the European Union since the start of the new millennium. In the Laeken Statement issued by the European Council in December 2001, Europe's leaders changed tone, saying that they saw the EU as a power wanting 'to change the course of world affairs in such a way as to benefit not just the rich countries but also the poorest.' Two years later, the EU heads of state emphasised this, noting that the European Security Strategy was 'the increasing convergence of European interests and the strengthening of mutual solidarity of the EU,' making it 'a more credible and effective actor,' and Europe therefore 'should be ready to share in the responsibility for global security and in building a better world.' Although some will say, and not without reason, that this is predominantly rhetoric, it is true nonetheless that this amounts to a recognition by the EU - morally at least - of its responsibility on the world stage, and this 'responsibility' deserves consideration from a legal point of view. The second reason for paying attention to the question is the work of the International Law Commission on the Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organisations. The editors explain that it is clear that it makes sense to try to verify 'whether the proposed rules provide a legal space flexible enough to accommodate the unique features underpinning the constitutional maturity of the Union.' Finally, the third reason that justifies this work is a methodological one, with the aim of getting experts in European law and international law to become capable of working together.
In this connect, the book starts with a two-pronged conceptual exploration of the notion of international responsibility, before the concept is examined horizontally by, for example, Prof. Klabbers (Helsinki University), who explores how accountability has become a key concern in the functioning of international organisations, while Catherine Redgwell (University College of London) sheds light on the problems of applying traditional interpretations of responsibility to the controversial question of climate change. Also of note are essays on how the concept of responsibility is viewed in international courts and, above all, how the European Court of Justice behaves when it comes to the responsibility of the EU. This latter subject is examined by exactly the right person - Judge Allan Rosas. Three tools used to define and determine international responsibility (erga omnes, ius cogens and statements of competence) are then reviewed, and the third section sees other experts from the world of academia examining the EU's international responsibility in the light of its action in domains as diverse as the environment, trade, the common security and defence policy and the common foreign and security policy, not to mention violations of the European Convention of Human Rights. This is reference book, although the authors are the first to admit that many more books and conferences will be needed to examine the full depths of the subject.
Pierre Bouvier
*** ELSA TULMETS: Le transfert d'expérience de l'Europe centrale et orientale vers le voisinage européen: rhétorique ou réalité? Les cas polonais et tchèque. Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (Sciences Po, 56 rue Jacob, F_75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58717000 - Fax: 58717091 - email: info@ceri-sciences-po.org - Internet: http://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri ). 2013,34 pp.
This study shows that the rhetoric of the transfer of know-how and its means of action has helped Poland and the Czech Republic, along also with most other countries of central and Eastern Europe, to affirm their role in the European Union's foreign policy. The author reveals, however, that in order to gain in legitimacy, this rhetoric needs to be boosted by certain forms of tangible action to better illustrate the commitment of central and eastern European countries to the spread of democracy and European standards in the Eastern Neighbourhood. The key question is still which model of society can be exported when the democratisation process is still struggling in some countries to become stabilised. And the latter comment doesn't just apply to young democracies…
(MT)
*** FARUK AJETI, RESMIJE KURBOGAJ-AJETI: Die Rolle der EU-Außenpolitik im Kosovo (1989-2012). Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Politik und Demokratie" series, No. 30. 2013, 282 pp, €44-95. ISBN 978-3-631-62912-3.
This richly documented master's thesis by Faruk Ajeti and Resmije Kurbogaj-Ajeti sheds light on the European Union's growing involvement in the Kosovo question since the start of the 1990s, in the domains of diplomacy, the economy and humanitarian issues. To this end, the thesis looks back over the entire period of the evolution of the EU's foreign policy and institutions vis-à-vis Kosovo, and also developments in the situation in Kosovo itself. The study also has the merit of analysing - with regret - the weaknesses of the EU's foreign policy and presenting the arguments of detractors of Kosovan independence. Despite this latter point, the thesis also reflects the Kosovan viewpoint on the question of the country eventually joining the EU, on which point the authors tend to underestimate the obstacles (although not denying the existence of said obstacles).
(GLe)
*** FRANGOS FRANGOULIS: Quelle Turquie? Quels Turcs? Editions Livanis (98 Solonos, GR-10680 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3661200 - Fax: 3617791 - email: webmaster@livanis.gr - Internet: http://www.livanis.gr ). 2012, 558 pp, €19-50. ISBN 978-960-14-2563-4.
To carry out this research, a doctor of geopolitics and geostrategy studied and examined myriad archives and diverse sources of data in order to understand the historic reality of Asia Minor. To this end, he went back to events more than a millennium ago, which led to the transformation of Christian buildings into Ottoman Turkish and Muslim buildings. Military attaché to for six years at the Greek embassy in Ankara, the author gives readers his vision of these elements and the living conditions of minorities in the Ottoman Empire. He comes to the conclusion that all the former inhabitants of alienated Asia Minor are still waiting, within the ambit of orthodoxy, to be able to reconstruct a new Byzantium. Frangos Frangoulis says the peoples of Asia Minor cannot be described in any way as being of Turkish origin, and they therefore have the right to define themselves ethnically and religiously as they see fit.
(AKa)
*** IANA DREYER*** IANA DREYER: Trade Policy in the EU's Neighborhood. Ways forward for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements. Notre Europe - Institut Jacques Delors (19 rue de Milan, F-75009 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 4458977 - Email: info@notre-europe.eu - Internet: http://www.notre-europe.eu ). Study & Research series, No. 90. 2012, 70 pp.
With a preface by Eneko Landaburu, this study looks at the European Union's trade policy for its neighbourhood, and makes suggestions for the comprehensive free-trade agreements on offer for Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco under the EU's neighbourhood policy in response to the process of introducing democracy.
(AKa)
*** Politica Exterior. Editions Estudios de Politica Exterior (49 Nuñez de Balboa, E-28001 Madrid. Tél.: (34-91) 4312628 - Fax: 5777252 - email: revista@politicaexterior.com - Internet: http://www.politicaexterior.com ). September/October 2013, 155 pp, €13.
In this issue of a constantly high quality review, several essays look at the European Union (its civilian mission in the Sahel, its relations with China and the Asia-Pacific region) and more particularly Germany's role within the European Union.
(MT)
*** FINN LAURSEN (Ed.): The EU, Security and Transatlantic Relations. Editions 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 series, No. 70. 2012, 344 pp, €46-50. ISBN 978-90-5201-889-8.
In this book, fifteen specialists examine changes in transatlantic security relations in recent decades. The end of the Cold War in the 1980s has clearly changed these relations, but they remain important for the security of Europe. Holder of the Chair of Research in European Affairs at Dalhousie University in Halifax, where he also runs the European Union's Centre of Excellence, the book's editor points out that despite efforts to draw up a European security policy, the continent still largely depends for its security on the United States, and in NATO's involvement in dealing with the civil wars in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, which is clear proof of this (some view this as bitterly disappointing proof). The lessons drawn from these conflicts have forced the EU to start in 1999 to work on building an autonomous defence policy, which has been translated into the strengthening in the Lisbon Treaty of what is now called the European common defence policy. The policy is, however, still oriented on 'soft security' missions to solve conflicts. For the more traditional security operations, which require heavier military intervention, European countries still rely on the United States for material and software. Likewise, in the struggle against terrorism, transatlantic cooperation is also very important and… depends on good will and the aims of Washington. The book draws up a balance sheet of transatlantic cooperation and hence of shortcomings on the part of Europe. This enables the authors to provide a solid analysis of the way the EU could imagine these security relations changing in the future.
(AKa)
*** LEONARD KOOPS: Seeräubereibekämpfung durch die Bundeswehr im Einklang mit dem Grundgesetz. Verfassungsrechtliche Anforderungen an einen Einsatz der Streitkräfte zur Bekämpfung der Seepiraterie außerhalb deutscher Seegebiete. Peter Lang (see above). "Kölner Schriften zu Recht und Staat" series, No. 51. 2013, 417 pp, €77-95. ISBN 978-3-631-62809-6.
The growth of piracy in some parts of the world has forced the international community to use military means to fight the phenomenon. As Leonard Koops points out in this thesis, Germany is part of this struggle, whether in operations led by the Bundesmarine by itself or in common operations like Atalanta in the Horn of Africa that are piloted by Europe. The author studies legal questions and conformity with Germany's constitution and fundamental freedoms in connection with these operations. Based on existing legal standards that apply in this domain in Germany (like constitutional standards, the United Nations Convention on maritime law and the case law of Germany's federal positional court), he indicates what is possible when it comes to tackling piracy, and also the limits laid down for such operations. He invites the German legislator to clarify the legal basis of such operations by introducing a special law.
(GLe)
*** DAMIEN VANDERMEERSCH: Comment devient-on génocidaire? Et si nous étions tous capables de massacrer nos voisins. Editions Grip (Groupe de recherche et d'information sur la paix et la sécurité, 467 chaussée de Louvain, B-1030 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2418420 - Fax: 2451933 - email: admin@grip.org - Internet: http://www.grip.org ). "L'international en jeu" series. 2013, 160 pp, €14-90. ISBN 978-2-87291-037-3.
Written in collaboration with Marc Schmitz, this is an unusual book. Firstly because of its subject matter - are we all unwittingly potential actors of genocide? What a terrible question this Belgian magistrate answers in the light of what he experienced in the mid-1990s when he carried out investigations in Rwanda, listening to eye-witness reports by people who managed to escape from the massacres. Wearing his prosecutor's hat, Damien Vandermeersch came across a number of people who carried out acts of genocide and he tries to understand how the killing machine got so totally out of control. Now an advocate general at the Belgian appeals court and a lecturer at the Université Catholique de Louvain and the Université Catholique de Saint-Louis de Bruxelles, he explains in the introduction that his aim with this book was to try to 'unveil the grand stratagems and processes that led to the crime to beat all crimes' in Rwanda. The book also includes eye-witness reports by hundreds of Rwandan citizens, but the author also examines the historical and political context, and even of the sociological background, to their stories in chapters on 'collective processes that led to extreme crimes,' the impact of collective processes on individual action and the attitude of those responsible after the event…
(MT)