*** FRANCOIS FORET: De l'Etat à l'Union européenne. Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (26 av. Paul Héger, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 6503799 - fax: 6503794 - Email: editions@admin.ulb.ac.be - Internet: http://www.editions-universite-bruxelles.be ). « UBlire - Références » series, No. 40. 2015, 169 pp. €9. ISBN 978-2-8004-1593-2.
At first glance, the questions raised on the back cover of this book create a certain amount of doubt and wariness. Is it indeed appropriate to currently pose the question of whether, for example, we are witnessing, "the emergence of the super European state?" when European citizens, quite rightly, have fears of the Union imploding, given the combined pressures exerted by the refugee crisis and the far from glorious tinkering about practised by the European Council? Is it wise to ask whether the world will remain structured, "by the nation state and its chimeras of cultural homogeneity and popular sovereignty" when figures such as Orban, Szydlo and Fico are experiencing their political glory days? In actual fact, if we go beyond the parameters of the issues of this precise moment, the subject tackled by Professor Foret in this publication is perfectly relevant because it consists in "rethinking the way in which the state is framed in Europe", in the knowledge that the notion of the state is intrinsically linked to the history of our continent to the very extent that it is in fact a characteristic of what it means to be European.
This professor of political science at the Université libre in Brussels, illustrates that contemporary politics does not cease to gravitate around the state but now also involves a "mutant state" in our countries that is coupled by, "the emergence of a European superstructure that hangs over and determines the number of its prerogatives, whilst strengthening and safeguarding it". It is through the logic of modern Europe's political development and through its successive and concomitant forms that this state and the Union have taken that this author seeks to provide an insight into these two entities as if they were, "two trees rooted in the same soil, growing at different periods but from the same biotope". The author is also a researcher at the ULB Institute of European Studies and in his more far reaching analysis explains that, "their relationship can be defined as a symbiosis or perennial and mutually beneficial relationship between two organisms" even though it can just as easily turn into a kind of, "parasitism when one of the two organisms exists at the expense of the other or in competition with the two rivalling each other for access to scarce resources" in terms of power and legitimacy.
In the first chapter, "From the State to Europe", Professor Foret retraces the continent's political development over time. In it he distinguishes different ideal kinds of state: France as a "strong and absolutist state"; Great Britain as a "ambiguous and weak state" whose European policy is, "that of a stranger in the house who refuses to… define the pace and modalities of integration"; Germany as a "strong incomplete and corrected state", with its most recent Chancellors having won domestic freedom through, "prioritising the executive resulting from intergovernmentalism" prevailing in the Union; Belgium, "the test tube state for Europe" insofar as the, "crisis of the Belgian model is… also a threat to the EU" and finally the new member states for which Europeanisation is nothing other than another more bitter wave of transformation following those of democratisation and the transition to capitalism. The author examines the way in which these different historic national state trajectories have forged distinct policies and subsequently colour the way in which European integration occurs. He also looks at the specific changes that this has provoked in society and the global geopolitical context. The second chapter, "A European State?" sees François Foret explore the way in which the political and institutional system emerged at a supranational level in the 1950s and he poses the question of whether this involved, "continuity with the same logical precedents that governed the way in which states were structured". He compares and contrasts the different models: federations, consociations, empires, state regulator etc. in an effort to evaluate its singularity. Finally, the third chapter, "A Europe of States?" involves an analysis of different components in an effort to clarify our understanding of the rise in power of "Brussels" and the mutation of the very notion of state in the context of belonging to the Union. He subsequently provides a succinct depiction of the different institutional arenas of the latter and the different respective powers of national and supranational actors. Above all, he demonstrates, "how the two categories inter-penetrate to the extent that they become intertwined". His final exploration focuses on the difficult relationship between the existence of a public supranational space and European public opinion. His comparative analysis highlight reactions by certain fringes of European society react to decisions taken by the European Council involving refugees and this case in point appears to confirm the authors' analysis of the difficult relationship highlighted between these two areas…
His essay contains two different possible scenarios. One is particularly pessimistic and involves the collapse of the Union and the degeneration of the entire continent under the hammer blows of national selfishness, populism and triumphant nationalism. The other involves Europe once again becoming, "the crossroads of the world but without it laying any claims to be at its centre" through the action of its citizens and European elections that, "are made up of political formations stemming from civil society subsequently taken up at a national level". François Foret is perfectly right to state that the future has not yet been written and, "it is up to all Europeans to write the version that will prevail!"
Michel Theys
*** ARGIRIS PASSAS: L'administration publique nationale dans le processus de la politique de l'Union européenne. Éditions Papazisi (2 rue Nikitara, GR-10678 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3822496 - fax: 3809020 - Email: papazisi@otenet.gr - Internet: http://www.papazisi.gr ). 2015, 279 pp. €19.17. ISBN 960-02-2676-8.
In this publication, Professor Argiris Passas explores the interaction between the nationstate and the European institutions in the exercise of public power. This involves the three main stages of the political process: the formulation of proposals and projects; decision-making, with emphasis placed by the author on what is called the "microcosm" of the different committees and bodies and the Council of Ministers that make up the European machinery of "Brussels" and, finally, implementation of policies at European and national levels. At the same time, the role of the national parliaments and the way in which this role has been changed by the Lisbon Treaty, is analysed. Specific reference is made of what is called the "new modes of governance" and their impact on the organisation and functional operations of the national public authorities. The author is a lecturer in state administration European integration at Pantheon University and he also examines "the European administrative area" emerging and places it within a perspective of broader concerns regarding the impact of the Union's institutional and political system in terms of convergence and the preservation of diversity or the "socialisation" of national government representatives. Overall, it is the degree of the internalisation of new supra national standards and practices that he seeks to assess.
(AKa)
*** Il Federalista. Rivista di politica. Edif (8 Villa Glori, I-27100 Pavia. Internet: http://www.ilfederalista.eu ). 2015, No. 3, 134 pp. Annual subscription: €25 (Europe), €30 (abroad).
The opening editorial of this edition of a publication that is close to the Movimento Federalista Europeo focuses on the "historic significance" of the European unification process. In an era where traditional right-left differences no longer allow us to provide satisfactory answers to the ongoing major changes, this review claims that we must return to Altiero Spinelli and Mario Albertini to find the correct answers and who saw Europe as nothing less than, "the laboratory of new global policy" summoned to prepare the necessary responses required to the issues of "global interdependency" by making the sharing of sovereignty possible and by ensuring that democratic government coincides with the tasks it has to face. According to the editorialist this should lead to the emergence of a, "new sort of people, capable of embracing unity in diversity and making possible a multiplicity of belongings and identities for each and every citizen". Judging by the current political landscape we are very far from this objective because national interests appear to prevail at a time when we appear unable to tackle crises such as the one involving the refugees. Prevarication and other backtracking by member states give us reason to believe that there is a very real risk of Europe disintegrating. The editorialist, however, identifies a number of reasons for continuing to hope that through the action of certain political figures such as Andrew Duff and Guy Verhofstadt, the situation referred to can be averted. This publication issue also tackles a number of other themes, such as the role of the European Central Bank (particularly the issue of quantitative easing) and European and German judges in this perspective, as well as the consequences of the long game played by David Cameron, the prospects and limitations to the Energy Union, the "very long march" towards European defence and the role that Italy is expected to play in the current European context.
(MT)
*** Fedechoses… pour le fédéralisme. Presse fédéraliste (Maison de l'Europe et des Européens, 242 rue Duguesclin, F-69003 Lyon. Internet: http://www.pressefederaliste.eu ). December 2015, No. 170, 40 pp. €8. Annual subscription: €30.
In the wake of the attacks in Paris on 13 November, many of the issues tackled in this edition of Fedechoses, involve the problem of Jihadi terrorism and the conference in Brussels on 22 March focused on this tragic theme. Unsurprisingly, this combative review believes that similarly to the question of the refugees queuing at the doors of the Union, the threat of religious terrorism cannot simply be tackled by an intergovernmental response. Jean-Guy Giraud explains this by underlining the fact that, "it is more to do with the absence of Europe than Europe itself in connection with this relative threat to Europe's response, which can be gauged to the two current major crises". This former president of the French section of the Union of European Federalists hammers home the fact that, "the observation of the almost bankrupt response provided by interstate cooperation procedures on the fronts of terrorism and immigration suggest that the only real alternative is by adopting a federalist approach". Is this militant federalist, however, capable of providing a credible and joined up response? Sylvie Goulard MEP, believes that indeed he is and she defends both the principle of PNR and the misgivings it provokes at the European Parliament in the context of the rule of law. She looks at the refusal of the respective European capitals to take measures (European coastguards proposed by Romano Prodi as far back as 2001, the European Prosecutor's Office, suggested by Robert Badinter in 2005…), which would have made the Schengen area safer rather than construct internal borders again and whose efficiency provokes much doubt. This explains the imperative launched by this French Liberal Democrat for whom, "whether this involves the euro, Schengen, the Europe of defence, the priority should be put on seriously rebuilding Europe and bringing to fruition the heritage of previous generations, instead of following the slippery slope advocated by Eurosceptics and nationalists". Is it realistic to expect that there will be someone among the national governments who is capable of understanding this simple appeal? This is not entirely sure but the different essays included in this edition focusing on British demands and the shifts by a Polish Eurosceptics, "which does not bode well for the "United States of Europe" suggest that the federalist approach is the only possible response, "against Le Pen, Orban, Salvini, Farage and Grillo", without even counting all the others…
(MT)
*** CHRISTOS LADIAS: Les régions européennes d'aujourd'hui. Éditions Papazisi (see address attached). 2015, 463 pp.€35. ISBN 978-960-02-3128-1.
This essay was written as an attempt to provide researchers and as large a public as possible with a modern presentation of the identity of the regions in the European Union. This specific assessment is focuses on the Greek regions, which have become essential component parts in terms of political survival and economic development. The author is a doctor in urban and regional development at Pantheon University and teaches economic theory to the infantry department at the Greek Air Force Academy. Christos Ladias was also state prefect in the Fthiotida and Corinthian regions during the 1990s. He provides a meticulous explanation of how the 13 different Greek regions by way of their participation in a range of European Union action applying national and local policies were called on to help simulate the country's real economy and politically implement the decisions related to the gradual transition to renewable energy sources and regional cohesion policies developed within the Union. The quality of the targeted action for implementation and their ability to fully absorb European funds depend on the way they are introduced into the Greek political landscape that is shaped by the three consecutive and compulsory memoranda. This publication provides a presentation of the character of each of these regions and it is extremely useful in the way it provides an accurate and concrete picture of the advantages that they possess. Compared to the other countries of the Union, the Greek regions are presented with more detail when dealing with subjects such as demographic characteristics, specific reference groups, regional reports for a period covering almost the entire economic cycle and all the different details emanating from the reconstituted Greek Statistics Authority. Modernising European governance is one of the key chapters in the second part of the book and is based, as pointed out by the author, on the principles of good governance adopted by the Commission. Each European territory is obliged to take into account rules pertaining to transparency, participation, responsibility, efficiency and coherency. There is also an important chapter on the comparative presentation of data relating to regional authorities and governments in Union member states
(AKa)
*** Commission live. European Commission (Communications Unit, DG HR D.3, CE-SC11, 01/18. Fax: (32-2)2999285). February 2016, 62 pp. This issue of this internal Commission publication publication contains a feature article on the European aviation strategy.
(MT)