*** SYLVAIN LAURENS: Les courtiers du capitalisme. Milieux d'affaires et bureaucrates à Brussels. Editions Agone (BP 70072, F-13192 Marseille cedex 20. Tel: (33-1) 45151970 - fax: 45151980 - Internet: http://www.agone.org ). « L'ordre des choses » series. 2015, 464 pp. €22. ISBN 978-2-7489-0239-6.
This book is a bomb ready to explode. Even if you do not agree with every one of the author's arguments, he will make you look at European construction in a different perspective. After reading this book, you will be more likely to be more suspicious of the European project, as many people are already and who have been dreaming of a more combative Europe to deal with the crisis. This book is the "J'accuse" by a French sociologist who, on the basis of a penetrating historical and sociological study of the employers' organisations that have spun their webs around the European institutions, unveils why and how, "a broad swathe of citizens" have been left without a voice in this project or, at the very least, within the European Union. In this book the author tells the real story of how this blatant confiscation took place.
Sylvain Laursen is a specialist in the sociological study of elites and on this occasion he flushes them out by way identifying their "specialised assistants" and other "permanent courtiers" active in the European universe. These are the people who, in one guise or another, ensure representation for the different economic interests in the European capital. It should not, however, be considered a book about the lobbyists or fawning superficiality shown by the press in this respect but rather, a scientific examination that seeks to identify what it is that is hiding behind the way in which civil society or the different stakeholders are used and which effectively constitutes, "the way in which the institutions have been operating for decades". To this end, the author also distances himself from the classical "European Studies" approach or scientific research that has effectively liquidated the progress made in, "the much larger area of social and political sciences, particularly the areas dealing with the sociology of the elites and their contribution to the construction of political forms". The author seeks to put right these wrongs and subsequently puts, "the analysis of the relationships between the market, social classes and the bureaucracy" at the centre of his approach. This intellectual peregrination also contains an insight into how the way in which significant European interest groups were structured was not done in any spontaneous way and that it was even encouraged by… "The administrative agents of the Commission… since the 1960s". In their interaction with this administration recently bestowed with the authority to direct the European project, major employers' groups were quick to spot the opportunity of collaborating with it in the obvious interests of capitalism. Given that the employers do actually need some kind of structure, employers' groups obviously recognised the utility of attempting to guide it in a direction that benefited the major corporations and that the Commission could indeed provide that guiding role in the economic sphere. This investment made by Commission agents in the emergence of a European employers' representation can also be explained, according to the author, by the fact that other interest groups, such as those of employees or consumers, for example, found it much more difficult to get their voices heard because the market was such a priority.
This book is not in any way an example of political pamphleteering but rather, a robust scientific study. Its foundations are drawn from thoroughgoing research made in the archives of the institutions and federations, as well as with interviews carried out by the author with almost 60 different interlocutors from the different "camps". During the book, Sylvain Laurens, shows to what extent ties were developed between the European administration and European employers, which subsequently created a kind of "administration behind closed doors" and the emergence at a level of technical and health standards, of a closed club of experts far removed from citizens' NGOs. It is therefore a book that above all, describes how, "the circle of social relations contributes to the sustained closing in on itself of a given social world". In another respect, why should we not take what Belgian MEP, Philippe Lamberts, says at his word? The Commission was well aware of the details involving the Volkswagen scandal (comment made on Facebook on 27 October) before the affair broke in the US, which is, "an illustration that the incestuous links between the car manufacturers and political power are just as close as those developed between the same power and the banks and energy providers". This quotation bolsters the observation made in this book. In his conclusion, Sylvain Laurens is no less harsh in his verdict when he asserts that, "if indeed the diffusion of neoliberalism helped develop the ideological unification of a vast swathe of the political elites in European countries, the European Commission was in fact the indispensable tool for its lengthy inclusion in such a political project". Should we therefore be resigned to the, "emergence of this new direction" and the "eviction of the citizens' spokesman"? The author affirms that faced with the closure of one sphere of the Eurocracy, which within every attempt of re-politicisation it seeks to impose its own logic, would it not be appropriate to attempt to influence the respective national political scenes to develop a constitution? The Greek example subsequently illustrates that this would symbolically involve a struggle between two different powerhouses. According to the author, this is not the answer and only a genuinely plurinational political enterprise is the answer, whose goal is changing the very structure of the Eurocracy's "hegemony and eradicate what has been created over the past few decades". One thing is certain, this book is going to lead to some very heated debates!
Michel Theys
*** JEAN-LUC FEUGIER, MARIE-HELENE PRADINES: La fonction publique européenne en perspective. La Documentation française (Direction de l'information légale et administrative, 29 quai Voltaire, F-75344 Paris cedex 07. Tel: (33-1) 40157010 - Internet: http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr ). "Réflexe Europe - Institutions & Politiques" series. 2015, 381 pp. €16. ISBN 978-2-11-009271-7.
This book was written to help readers get to know the way the European institutions work better and it describes them from a number of different perspectives: historic, statutory, financial, organisational and demographic. The goal the authors set out is met successfully, even though their introductory sentence is simply not true, "Around 60,000 officials and employees from the European institutions have been at work on a daily basis since the beginning of European construction" to help European construction progress. There are still one or two "veterans" around who could remind them that Jean Monnet's team at the time of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community was far smaller. They are, however, around 60,000 European civil servants or other Union agents currently working to further this aim. This book seeks to clarify how the European institutions function and put to rest the ghosts that are often the subject of much speculation in this respect. The first part of the book focuses on the legal framework and the choices made to provide this public institutional framework with a status that guarantees it, "unity, permanence and independence". The authors also look at the reforms that have been made to this status over recent years. Their attention then focuses on the inter-institutional diversity of the Union and the missions given to each of the institutions. The authors then look at the question of human resources (recruitment, career, rights and responsibilities, pay and pensions) in the last part of the book. The writers provide a robust and "clinical" presentation that is, however, sometimes just a little too slick. There is no mention, for example, of the criticism provoked by the "Kinnock reform" or the disenchantment now perceptible among many officials. The fact that the authors are both Commission administrators can explain this somewhat …
(MT)
*** NIKOS ANTONAKIS: L'aventure de l'économie politique. Editions Ocelotos (55 rue Vatatzi, GR-11473, Athens. Tel: (30-210) 6431108 - fax 6431137 - Email: ekdoseis.ocelotos@gmail.com - Internet: http://www.ocelotos.gr ). 2015, 258 pp. €16. ISBN: 978-960-564-260-0.
The economic crises that unceasingly impact on the capitalist world are provoking a great many questions. For example, why are the economists failing to predict them? Why do they not agree on what political measures should be adopted to tackle them? This is quite simply because the political economy itself is undergoing a deep crisis. Why? There are undoubtedly many reasons for this but the victory of the "individualist" human model is definitely not one of the least important of these reasons. In this book, Nikos Antonakis, head of political science and public administration at the University of Athens and an associate member of the centre for economic protection at the University of York, points out that the political economy is totally founded and built upon the concept of rational individual behaviour. Originally, the economists agreed that this rational behaviour could not exclusively means man's selfish desire to always maximise his own self-interests. The problem is, however, the fact that the political economy has "evolved" at this level and is now restricted to a closed circuit, given that it has now become more like a religion than a science. The author provides a philosophical approach towards the political economy, as well as an insight into the key elements of the theories that help explain the way in which capitalism has been functioning over the past 250 years. He then mainly focuses on the philosophical foundations, as well as the way in which the economists use mathematics and econometrics. Using this broad overview, he also seeks to explain the theoretical inertia characterising the political economy and the subsequently inaccurate interpretations that result from them. His book contains a number of suggestions to help improve this discipline.
(AKa)
*** IOANNIS CHATZIKIAN: Innovation et connaissance de la crise en Grèce. Une approche holistique. Editions Gavriilidis (17 rue Aghias Eirinis, GR-10551 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3228839 - fax: 8046914 - Email: info@gavrielidesbooks.gr). 2015, 64 pp. €7.46. ISBN 978-960-576-133-2.
The crisis than continues to impact on Greece strongly begs the question of what kind of long-term development should be promoted, even though short-term solutions should also be found to deal with the most urgent problems. Ioannis Chatzikian is a lecturer at the University of Athens and a business affairs consultant in enterprise sustainability, corporate organisations and management, strategic planning and, above all, the transfer of innovation and technology. In this book, he focuses on the economic development choices that should prove the most appropriate. He argues that the way in which Greek companies operate, as well as the public sector, overall, make the task of creating value in the national economy and developing social protection, very difficult. He asserts that their "accounts-management style" operating mode is more adapted to the industrial society of the 20th century. Today's requirements mean that it is urgent for them to draw on the knowledge and innovation that exists in order to boost the country's trade and economic opportunities and enable the country to exploit the creative human resources that exist.
(AKa)
*** IRA EMKE-POULOPOULOU: Le coût de la crise et la répartition inéquitable en Grèce. 2009-2014. Editions Vogiatzi-Ermis Graphics (65-67 rue Veikou, GR-11741 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 9222077 - fax: 9222077 - Email: info@ekdoseis-vogiatzi.gr - Internet: http://www.ekdoseis-vogiatzi.gr ). 2015, 372 pp. €20. ISBN 978-960-7941-11-4.
During the period 2009-2014, Greece has been subject to: 1) significant economic slowdown, a dramatic rise in unemployment and an increase in its public debt and other major problems. The harsh austerity policy plunged the Greek economy into endless recession: even though growth is returning to levels that existed before the crisis, nothing will be able to undo the damage; 2) the damages to Greek society have been incalculable and unfair: given that the rich have got richer and living conditions worse for the workers, employees, pensioners, unemployed, poor, the socially disadvantaged and many people have been left destitute. At the same time, public health and education services have been getting worse on a daily basis due to budget cuts. Large and single-parent families, women, children and senior citizens have all been in the firing line of this social disaster; 3) future developments that will affect the Greek people could be just as dramatic given the falling birth rate, an ageing population and emmigration of young Greeks, which has been described by some as nothing other than "genocide" for the country. This is the picture depicted in a study by the economist Ira Emke-Poulopoulou (University of Paris), who is also a member of the New York Academy of Science and Vice President of the Demographic Studies Society. It clearly appears, therefore, that the economic, social, political and democratic crisis is turning into a humanitarian crisis and that the only grain of hope lies in the traditional solidarity of the Greek people.
(AKa)
*** PHILIPP GERGEN: Rechtsfragen der Regulierung außerbörslicher derivativer Finanzinstrumente. Zur neuer Marktinfrastruktur in der Europäischen Union, den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika und Singapur. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, P.O. 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Saarbrücker Studien zum Privat- und Wirtschaftsrecht" series. 2015, 421 pp. €84.95. ISBN 978-3-631-66082-9.
Since the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the market infrastructure for over-the-counter derivatives has been subject to a significant number of regulatory changes that have had serious economic repercussions. Philipp Gergen analyses how the European Union, the US and Singapore introduced these reforms to their respective legal systems. He does this by providing a comparative analysis of the different legislation and using his own insight as an expert in this area. He also tackles the issue of how European compensatory bodies could help optimise their respective capital management systems. He puts forward a number of solutions to strengthen these nerve centres in the financial system, prevent losses and subsequently make the global financial market infrastructure more solid.
(GLe)