*** JOHANNA CROON-GESTEFELD: Reconceptualising European Equality Law. A Comparative Institutional Analysis. Hart Publishing (Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford, OX2 9PH, UK. Tel: (44-1865) 598648 – Fax: 727017 –Email: mail@hartpub.co.uk – Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). 2017, 255 pp, £55. ISBN 978-1-5099-0966-7.
Article Two of the Treaty of the European Union states that equality is one of the values upon which the EU is founded, in the same way as human dignity, democracy and the rule of law. Equality is also at the heart of European law, for example through the principle of non-discrimination in the field of free circulation, for example measures relating to equal pay for men and women. Moreover, an entire chapter of the Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights is devoted to equality. In practice, however, what fate is actually reserved for respect of quality based on European law? It is to answer this question that Johanna Croon-Gestefeld has devoted her doctoral thesis, which this book extends.
It is by comparative institutional analysis of the German and, mostly, European rights in this domain that the author makes her quest, arguing from the outset that ‘the European Court of Justice as well as national constitutional courts are often guided by more or less hidden institutional considerations when deciding equality cases.’ The book’s seven chapters tend to show in fact that there is little coherence at work here.
Concretely, Johanna Croon-Gestefeld starts by returning to the philosophical origins of the concept of equality before showing through four case studies how institutional choices guide judges in their decisions on questions of equality. These case studies cover application of different standards of testing, assessment of Member States' preferential treatment of their own nationals compared to persons coming from other Member States, how diversified discrimination is dealt with and, finally, the treatment of reverse discrimination and the case of affirmative action for women in the EU. Based on the observations she makes about this detailed legal examination, she concludes that it would be wise to recognise the impact of ideas arising from institutional choice on European law on quality, which leads her to defend the idea that equality jurisprudence should be adapted in order to provide room for manoeuvre that also allows institutional considerations to be taken into account in interpretive deliberations. The author does not just argue the case for this opinion, but ends by putting forward in a highly tangible manner an alternative model of equality that allows these aspects to be reconciled. Pierre Bouvier
*** DOROTA SZELIGOWSKA: Polish Patriotism after 1989. Concepts, Debates, Identities. Peter Lang (32 Hochfeldstraße, CH-3012 Bern. Tel: (41-31) 3061717 – Fax: 3061729 – Email: bern@peterlang.com – Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). ‘Nationalisms Across the Globe’ series, No. 17. 2016, 310 pp, €59, £47, $76.95. ISBN 978-3-0343-1992-8
Poland, as a country, has had a tumultuous history, even finding itself removed from the map for 123 years. It is a country that had to fight for its existence and therefore developed a very special relationship with ‘patriotism.’ Dorota Szeligowska devoted her doctoral thesis for the Central European University in Budapest to discerning this special relationship, analysing the interpretations and controversies fuelled by the concept in public debate during the democratic transition from 1989 to 2010, and this book follows on from her thesis. She describes the evolution of the country’s political culture, its intellectual landscape, politics, discourse and concepts that prevailed before the fall of the Iron Curtain. This critical analysis of the various understandings of patriotism and their use in public and political debate enables her to provide an intellectual cartography of the various ideological positions and their relationship to questions such as national allegiance, the heritage of the Communist regime, the nature of the political community and, in fine, the state of democracy in Poland. All subjects that relate directly to the problems facing Poland within the European Union today... In practice, the author largely bases her analysis on ideas argued at three intellectual clubs (the Warsaw School of the History of Ideas, the Warsaw Club of Political Critique, and Political Critique) and ideas propagated in broadsheets representing the full range of political opinion. She particularly focuses on key moments in Poland’s recent political history, most recently the debate generated by the question of a return to romantic patriotism following the crash of the presidential plane at Smolensk in 2010. Particularly useful work by a political scientist for understanding Poland as a partner and above all, how it behaves within the European Union... (PBo)
*** GEORGE KOKKINOS, ELLI LEMONIDOU, PANAGIOTIS KIMOURTZIS, SOTIRIS DALIS: Les plaies historiques et l’idée européenne. Des horreurs de la guerre et des totalitarismes à la vision de l'unification. Editions Papazisi (2 rue Nikitara, GR-10678 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3822496 – Fax: 3809020 – Email: papazisi@otenet.gr – Internet: http://www.papazisi.gr ). ‘Politique internationale et européenne’ series. 2016, 584 pp, €26.50. ISBN 978-960-023268-4.
This book starts by looking at the deep wounds inflicted in the European soul and consciousness by World War One, that time of ‘radical destruction,’ and then by World War Two, which was accompanied barely two decades later by the absolute horror of the Nazi Holocaust. Particular attention is paid to the procedures for managing these traumas, which vary wildly from one country to another and one period to another, along with the way the pain of the past has been dealt with by historians and has entered public discourse. The focus then moves to the current European Union, with the authors wishing to analyse the crisis currently affecting the European project, explaining its origins and the stages the European institutions have gone through. Attention is placed on the predominance of the economic dimension that the venture has been given and the gradual loss of impact of federalist visions, which goes some way to explaining the recent financial and refugee crises, or even the British referendum result. Clearly, the European project cannot be dissociated from the historical dimension which, often at the cost of blood, was its crucible and cannot fail to be eroded by the alterations forced upon it for far too long. The four authors are lecturers at the University of the Aegean in Rhodes. They say historical self-awareness seems to be the only sure way of surmounting the open wounds between nations and peoples. (AKa)
*** NIKOS PAPASPIROU: Les chemins du constitutionnalisme européen. Les chemins et les rencontres des traditions anglaise, française et allemande avant la grande guerre. Editions Alexandria (133 rue Solonos, GR-10677 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3806305 – Fax: 3838173 – Email: alexpubl@alexandria-publ.gr – Internet: http://www.alexandria-publ.gr ). 2016, 264 pp, €19.08. ISBN 978-960-221-684-2.
The identity crisis that is being experienced by the European union today means that it is no longer possible to unconditionally accept glorification of the common European tradition of freedom and democracy. This is the statement used as a starting point by Nicos Papaspyrou, reader in public law at Athens University, in this book for an analytical incursion into European constitutionalism via an interdisciplinary approach focusing on the start of the twentieth century. His story concentrates on the development of three concepts for the relationship between State, rule of law and freedom, viz: i) the Anglo-Saxon (anti-dynastic) tradition that puts the focus on the primacy of freedom; ii) the French tradition with its focus on the public autonomy of citizens and the role of the sovereign and a centralised state in implementing the general will; iii) the German tradition of disciplined freedom granted and guaranteed by the State. The book thus explains the nature of the continental State at that time, a mixture of republican and monarchic traditions that held back the conflicting dynamic of demands for freedom. This sheds light on he nature of European constitutionalism in the classical epoch of development, before the Great War broke away from this and paved the way for the darkest period in modern European history. Enabling the author to understated the genealogy of current forms and theoretical concerns, particularly vis-à-vis authority and parliamentarianism, and also to reflect on the naivety that he says would lead one to believe in a single pan-European point of view, along with the fragility of the truly common constructions. (AKa)
*** PANAYIOTIS IOAKIMIDIS (Ed.): L'intégration européenne. Régression ou progrès. Editions Papazisi (see above). 2016, 133 pp, €9.54. ISBN 978-960-02-3225-7.
Written by a dozen academic experts on European affairs under the direction of Prof. Panayiotis Ioakimidis (professor of political science and public administration at Athens University, and also head of the Greek European Studies Centre), this book aims to discern the place occupied by Europe today, which is in a transition phase and facing multidimensional issues that it was not prepared to tackle effectively. The notable centrifugal tendencies, the growing temptation of national isolation, the ever greater lack of solidarity on key questions and the weight acquired by populist forces are all factors to take into account. Hence the political, economic and social divergences that are becoming more evident by the day are undermining the European project, or at least the form it has taken in recent years. Despite the institutional deepening supposedly brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, several major decisions still need to be taken so that, for example, the ‘voice’ of European citizens can be better heard. Facing which, the authors say that the feeling of alienation felt by civil society vis-à-vis ‘Brussels’ will continue to intensify. It is therefore time, high time even, to fuel a public European debate worthy of the name on burning questions that affect the Union in the eyes of its citizens. (AKa)
*** The Federalist Debate. Papers on Federalism in Europe and the World. The Einstein Center for International Studies (26 via Schina, I-10144 Torino. Tel/Fax: (+39-011) 4732843 – Email: info@federalist-debate.org – Internet: http://www.federalist-debate.org ). 2017, No. 1, 64 pp. Annual subscription: €15/ Internet: €8.
This issue of the federalist publication headed by Lucio Levi opens with an editorial by Joseph Baratta, Professor of World History and International Relations at Worcester State College in the United States on CHECK VS FR the election of President Trump, and its impact in Europe and the United States. Within the Union, he calls for Altiero Spinelli’s planned treaty to be brought back on track which, after being adopted by the European Parliament in 1984, was rejected by the Council of Ministers. Josep Borrell, former president of the European Parliament, calls for the Union to be given a new ambition to overcome the existential crisis from which the European project is suffering. He explains that the crisis clearly demonstrates that ‘economic integration and monetary union are no longer "unifying" but divisive factors,’ which make Europeans, particularly young ones, view the Union as a ‘stepmother, bad by definition, which imposes unpleasant disciplines that are nonetheless unable to solve the problems.’ The Spanish socialist hence calls for a new raison d’être to be forged for European integration, the most important factors in his view being to reconcile the Union with democratic legitimacy and more particularly to allow it to provide citizens with greater protection than their own countries can offer. Other topics addressed in this issue include communication in the time of populism, the memory gaps unfortunately suffered by some countries in Europe and the need to build a shared project for Europe and migrants. (MT)