*** AMÉLIE BARBER-GAUCHARD, MOÏSE SIDIROPOULOS, ARISTOMENE VAROUDAKIS: Economic governance in the euro area. Realities and perspectives. Editions Deboeck (7 rue du Bosquet, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve. Tel.: (32-10) 773870 - E-mail: info@deboecksuperieur.com - Internet: http://www.deboecksuperieur.com ), 2018, 448 pp., €26.50. ISBN 978-2-80732-010-9.
The reform of the euro area no longer seems to be really relevant at the European level, to the great displeasure of its main herald of the moment, President Emmanuel Macron. All it took was to watch Chancellor Angela Merkel, the other half of the Franco-German couple, sweep away in a few sentences the negotiations on the banking union or the establishment of a eurozone budget when she presented her vision of Europe to the European Parliament on 13 November last. However, if the political heart is not there, the fact is that the single currency is undoubtedly "afflicted by a certain number of construction defects which, if not corrected, will lead to its disintegration", as Paul De Grauwe points out in his preface to this book. And this Belgian economist insists: "a system unable to protect its citizens from economic hazards, (...) unfinished, will self-destruct". In this spirit, Amélie Barbier-Gauchard, Moïse Sidiropoulos and Aristomène Varoudakis together establish, in these pages, the diagnosis of the euro area and, above all, propose remedies to strengthen its immunity in view of possible future shocks.
The researchers start from the observation of a paradox: 61% of Europeans are in favour of the euro, but do not perceive it as bringing major benefits. On closer examination, this feeling is not surprising: many aspects of people's daily lives have been facilitated by the existence of a currency shared by nineteen countries - what a joy to jump borders without passing through the exchange office box - but, for the time being, the euro has not succeeded in stimulating growth in the member countries of the Monetary Union in a sustainable way. For example, in 2013, unemployment was higher than in other G7 economies. Thus, the external deficit in the euro area was only a screen for the large differences between the high deficits of the peripheral countries (Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal) and the surpluses of the central countries (Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland). Nor has the single currency created any real economic convergence between these two European regions, its beginnings having been halted by crisis and recession. Therefore, the euro certainly holds "the promise of shared prosperity", but only "provided that governance is strengthened and that learning from past setbacks and aiming at realistic objectives for the future".
Enabling EMU to meet this condition is the objective of the authors of this book. It is therefore divided into three parts, each analysing a particular aspect of the single currency and its challenges. First, economics professor Moïse Sidiropoulos studies the conduct of the common monetary policy before and during the crisis, before developing ways to adapt it to a context of asymmetries. After analysing the consequences of the European Central Bank's conventional and then non-conventional policy (quantitative easing, qualitative easing and forward-looking guidance), he called for a clarification of its prerogatives, extended in the wake of the 2007-2008 crisis. It also considers possible solutions to the general inadequacy of central banks in a globalised world, such as "a return to a more traditional role for central banks", i.e. maintaining a reasonable quantity of money to facilitate trade.
In the second part of the book, Amélie Barbier Gauchard, lecturer in economics at the University of Strasbourg, examines the role of fiscal policy in the euro area. While monetary policy is exercised solely by the European Central Bank within a defined framework, the analysis of fiscal policy is much more complex in view of its many actors and the fact that fiscal powers extend beyond the euro area. Mrs Gauchard therefore wondered "how budgetary federalism would make it possible to solve some of EMU's difficulties" before pleading for the establishment of a real budgetary union entrusted to a central European government at the union level. To support growth and employment, which are major challenges for growth and employment, a substantial transfer of skills would also take place at European level for transport, energy, communication and higher education infrastructure, while a reformed VAT resource or an EU-wide corporate tax would finance these new prerogatives.
Finally, Aristomène Varoudakis, Professor at the University of Strasbourg and former Head of Programmes at the World Bank, examines the origins of the sovereign debt crisis and the failures of its "controversial and insufficient" management, which allows him to bring forward the necessary changes in the architecture of the euro area, including the establishment of a banking union, "in order to break the vicious circle between banking crises and the vulnerability of public finances". "The euro area has been brought to the edge of the precipice, bordering on the risk of collapse", the author recalls. However, looking at the many reforms still to be implemented ten years after the crisis, it would seem, according to him, that the euro area would not have the means today to put the brakes on if it were once again to be directed towards the abyss.
Maria Udrescu
*** ARIEL EZRACHI: EU Competition Law. An analytical guide to the leading cases. Hart Publishing (Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford, OX2 9PH, UK. Tel.: (44-1865) 517530 – fax: 510710 - E-mail: mail@hartpub.co.uk - Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). 2018, 719 pp., €51. ISBN 978-1-50992-037-2.
To understand how competition law is constantly being shaped by judgments of the European Court of Justice and by some of the Commission's landmark decisions, Prof. Dr. König is currently working on the following Ariel Ezrachi proposes this book as a working tool. Through thirteen chapters and 719 pages, the eminent lawyer from Oxford University, specialising in this field, presents nearly 500 cases that have influenced the scope and application of competition law. This sixth edition of the book focuses in particular on Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which defines the application of competition law to the internal market for the control of collusion and other anti-competitive practices affecting the Union, and on Article 102 on abuse of dominant position, as well as on the Merger Regulation. In addition, the Director of the Oxford Centre for Competition Law "explores the public and private enforcement of competition law, the intersection between intellectual property rights and competition law, the application of competition law to state action and state aid laws.". (MU)
*** IOANNIS VASSILIOU: Companies in the EU. Monopolies, cartels, state aid, competition rules. Editions Historical Quest (66 rue Chrisiidos, GR-13122 Ilion. Tel.: (30-210) 2611832 – fax: 2611832 - E-mail: info@historical-quest.com - Internet: http://www.historical-quest.com ). 2018, 88 pp., €10. ISBN 978-618-5088-41-5.
Since its inception, the European Union has been engaged in a continuous and coherent struggle to develop and implement rational competition rules for business and the business world. The need for strict compliance has been amplified by the context that has emerged since the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis: the EU has since intensified its efforts to ensure that small businesses are effectively protected and to avoid supporting all kinds of companies in difficulty. Its main objectives remain the promotion of market liberalisation, the "war" against monopolies and the detailed control of state aid and mergers. It is clear that healthy and "constructive" competition in the European market offers valuable support to European companies in the context of global competition. In this book, an expert on European regional policy critically examines the Union's action in this field in order to check whether there are indeed prospects for economic recovery. In the chapters of the book, Ioannis Vassiliou carefully analyses the concept and importance of the Union's competition rules, as well as how they affect companies. The author also presents the European Union institutions involved in the field of competition, before making constructive concluding remarks, the book being enriched by an extensive bibliography. (AKa)