*** 1957-1997: 40 ans des Traités de Rome ou la capacité des Traités d'assurer les avancées de la construction européenne/40 Years of the Treaties of Rome or the capacity of the Treaties to advance the European integration process/40 Jahre Römische Verträge oder das Vermögen der Verträge den europäischen Aufbau voranzutreiben/40 anni dei Trattati di Roma o l'efficacia dei Trattati nell'assicurare i progressi della costruzione europea. Etablissements Emile Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Bruxelles, Tel: (32-2) 5129845, fax: 5117202, Bruylant@ pophost. eunet.be). "Action Jean Monnet" series. 1999, 341 pages, FEB 1,250, EUR 30.99. ISBN 2-8027-1086-9.
At a time when reform of the Union Treaties is the subject of speculation with a view to the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference, the publication of the proceedings of an interdisciplinary colloquium held in 1997, on the fringe of the official commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the signature of the Treaties of Rome, is welcome indeed. A joint initiative of the European Commission and the European University Council for the Jean Monnet Project -an independent academic body which for the last ten years has helped the Commission in the implementation and leadership of this programme of information and support for the development of European integration studies (http: //europa.eu.int/comm/dg10/university)-, this event sought to place into perspective and analyse the capability of the Treaties and the institutions to take up challenges and ensure progress in Community integration. One of the original aspects of the project -which also paid tribute to the memory of Emile Noël, former Secretary General of the Commission and first President of the European University Council- resided in the original and diversified choice of participants. Because this event brought together some 40 diplomats, political officials and senior civil servants, all involved in European construction, and 30 academics -historians, legal experts, political scientists and economists- all of whom are Jean Monnet Professors. The successes and limits of the Community method, experienced on a day-to-day basis, were discussed in detail. The interventions are reproduced in their original language, i.e. English, French, German and Italian.
After the traditional official introductory remarks, the four working sessions addressed in chronological order the pioneer period of the setting up of the Treaties, the steps forward and recurring crises of the period from 1970 to 1984, the revival of the 1980s and the Single Act, concluding with the negotiation and acquis of the Treaty of Maastricht. Concerning the first institutions, the speakers recall the continuity -inspired in particular by the American military administration!- that was a feature of the successive setting into place of the administrative services of the ECSC High Authority and the Euratom and EEC Commissions prior to the merger of the executives in 1967. The decisive influence of President Walter Hallstein is also highlighted. The speakers then demonstrate the integrating role quickly taken on by the Court of Justice, ensuring the emergence of a Community legal order and founding the notion of the unconditional pre-eminence and direct effect of European law. The political and legal nature of the so-called "empty chair" crisis and of the Luxembourg compromise is clearly brought to light.
The 15 years that followed were particularly important for the development of the Community process. The subjects analysed by the different conference speakers include the accession of Great Britain, the Davignon report and political cooperation, implementation of the European Councils of Heads of State and Government, the Tindemans report on the EU, the strengthening and election of the EP by universal suffrage, the Werner report and monetary cooperation. Certain initiatives (in the area of development assistance policy in particular) demonstrate the advantages often offered by the pragmatic and informal approach -namely the famous Monnet method of small steps and the effect of impetus- on sometimes excessive consolidation and harmonisation.
The third section reviews the achievements of the so-called "second generation" Europe, characterised by adoption of the Single Act in 1986 and creation of the Single Market in 1992. This substantial progress in the Community process also made it possible to pinpoint the importance of external contingencies and personal and psychological factors in international relations. The work concludes with a look at the Treaty of Maastricht, several speakers examining its democratic and social potential. A number of conclusions are drawn with a view to the intergovernmental negotiations that since the time of the colloquium concluded with adoption of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Brief biographies of participants are published in annex to this work, meant for specialists and non-specialists alike
Etienne Deschamps
*** ROBERT FISCHER: Die Offenheit des deutschen Grundgesetzes und der spanischen Verfassung für den Fortgang der europäischen Integration. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Dogmatik von Art.23 I GG und Art.73 S. 1 CE. Hartung-Gorre Verlag (26 Säntisblick, D-78465 Konstanz. Tel: (49-07533) 97227, fax: 97228). "Konstanzer Scriften zur Rechtswissenschaft" series, No 147. 1999, 309 pages, DEM 88. ISBN 3-89649-448-1.
Based on a doctoral dissertation defended at the University of Konstanz in 1998, this work is inspired by a very lively debate in Germany -in the context of ratification of the Treaty of Maastricht- on the subject of the constitutional limits of European integration. Robert Fischer presents a comparative study of the respective "openness" of the German and Spanish Constitutions to further European integration. The author first analyses the legal nature of the Union and concludes with a chapter on the future development of European integration, in the light of constitutional limits and the objective of creating a federal European state.
(CB)
*** CLAUDIA ANNACKER: Der fehlerhafte Rechtsakt im Gemeinschafts-und Unionsrecht, Springer-Verlag (4-6 Sachsenplatz, P.O. Box 89, A-1201 Wien. Tel: (43-1) 3302415, fax: 3302426, springer@springer.co.at). "Springer Rechtswissenschfat" series. 1998, 310 pages. ATS 780, DEM 112. ISBN 3-211-83234-3.
With the entry into force of the EU Treaty, the process of European integration, born with the creation of the European Communities, had to move into a "new echelon". For the parliaments and constitutional courts of the Member States, there consequently arose the question of control of the exercise of Community powers and the legal consequences of Community legal acts that are in breach of these powers.
Claudia Annaker presents, in a doctoral dissertation, the legal consequences of "flawed" or "defective" Community legal acts. She develops the following issues: the EU's limits in assuming powers, responsibility for rejecting "flawed" legal acts, the non-existence of certain Community legal acts and Member States' possibilities of exercising control vis-à-vis the European Court of Justice. The author includes in the study the EU's legal acts under the second and third pillars. The consequences of "flawed" legal acts are examined in the light of the Treaty of Amsterdam, a largely unexplored area of research.
(CB)
*** PHILIPPE MOREAU DEFARGES: Les institutions européennes. Armand Colin/Dalloz (31-35 rue Froidevaux, F-75685 Paris Cedex 14). 1999, 188 pages, FRF 73, EUR 11.13. ISBN 2-247-03742-9.
This work is in its fourth edition, and deservingly so (see European Library of 19/20 April 1999). It is an ideal, clear and objective, sober and intelligent introduction to the world of the Community institutions. Its author (an adviser at the French Foreign Ministry and professor at the Paris-based Institut d'études politiques) places into perspective the challenges of the forthcoming IGC, asking in conclusion whether it will be possible to maintain an enlarged Union founded on Member States with equal rights and responsibilities, and whether the differentiation of types of integration and cooperation -trade, currency, defence, etc.- may not become a necessity. In other words, the problem of enhanced cooperation should be at the heart of the IGC opening soon...
(MT)
*** Irish Journal of European Law. Round Hall Sweet & Maxwell (Dublin. Tel: (01) 6625301, fax: 6625302). Volume 8, 1999. Annual subscription: GBP 69.
The application of European principles in an Irish context, Article 86 of the Treaty, EU environmental law and European citizenship and its limits are discussed in this issue.
*** GUY ISAAC: Droit communautaire général. Ed. Armand Colin-Dalloz (see above; distribution Benelux: Patrimoine, 168 rue du Noyer, B-1030 Bruxelles. Tel/fax: (32-2) 7366847). 1999, 358 pages, FRF 160, BEF 1,088. ISBN 2-247-03743-7.
The seventh edition of this summary of European law, written by a former Rector of the Academies of Besançon and Clermont-Ferrand (France) and former Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges (who now teaches at the Social Sciences University in Toulouse), offers a comprehensive panorama of the elements, principles and rules of general Community law. A very useful tool.
(MT)
*** The Federalist. Fondazione Europea Luciano Bolis. Edif. (6 via Porta Pertusi, I-27100 Pavia). 1999, No 2.
The editorial in this issue of the journal founded in 1959 by Mario Albertini with members of the Movimento Federalista Europeo, now published in English and Italian, discusses Europe and the war in Kosovo, examining more generally what Europe can do for the countries of the region. The message is that a "general invitation to enter the Union, structured as it is presently", would not be a real solution for these countries and that, until the European Union, "through the creation of a federal government, has given proof of its own independence, it will continue to be regarded in the Balkans as a mere appendage to the United States", without the capacity to propose a "model for cohabitation" that can guarantee lasting stability, peace and democracy.
In a lengthy article, Francesco Rossolillo discusses "European Federation and World Federation", observing that there is presently within the federalist movement "a growing inclination to turn world federation into a strategic objective" and voicing concern that this may "direct energy away from the European objective". Mr Rossolillo, who seed therein a danger of "strategic strabismus" that would prevent the movement from acting, does not think that voicing these concerns "implies a rejection of the values of world federation". On the contrary, it is through the unification of Europe that federalism can be sown in the world and the "process of world unification launched". In another article, Jean-Francis Billion recalls the proposals submitted by the World Federalist Movement for a "radical reform of the United Nations system", a reform that would include the creation of a World Environmental Authority and an Economic Security Council.
(MG)
*** PAUL CHAUMONT: Où va l'Europe? (70, av. Mostinck, B-1150 Bruxelles). 1999, 67 pages.
A former European civil servant, Chaumont traces the history of European integration from its beginnigns, describing its hesitations and its progress, in chapters entitled "From Area to Power: Political Europe", "The Euro, Single Currency between Area and Power", and "Return to Area: Enlargement to the East". One of Chaumont's concerns is the "safeguarding of the Community acquis", which is why he insists upon the need to "resist the temptation of a two-tier Europe" and notes that the idea of "enhanced solidarity" established in the Treaty of Amsterdam is "equally risky". "It would be better to preserve the unity of the European undertaking, with all members having the same status, even if this means progressing less quickly with integration", he asserts. And Chaumont expresses similar concern over the danger of "Franco-German dominance, or even a triumvirate made up of France, England and Germany, which would take charge of directing the Union as it liked, proclaiming itself the driving force of Europe". The report is available from the author.
(MG)
*** PHILIPPE BRACHET: L'étatisme à la française. Peut-on re-légitimer le "service public"? Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850, fax: 45899415, Pubisud@compuserve.com). 1999, 239 pages. ISBN 2-86600-577-1.
This volume written in an impassioned, even controversial, tone is the work of a political scientist (Lecturer in Political Science at Université Paris-X) with training in both economics and sociology. Philippe Brachet examines how to go beyond Jacobin state control through participatory democracy. He argues that the republican monarchy that concentrates all power at the summit, Jacobism and state control are three factors that have combined to block the modernisation of French society. Inspired by de Tocqueville, he sees community life and local freedoms as the remedy to these evils. After a detailed analysis of the situation in France (monopoly and abuse of public services, cases of corruption involving both right and left stemming from an insufficient separation of powers, erosion of the President's role, etc.), Brachet asks (and apparently, raising the question is in itself an answer) whether Europe as it has been built is not "as technocratic and bureaucratic" as the French State and how the separation of powers and democratic practices might apply to it
(LD)
*** Economía Exterior. Estudios de Política Exterior SA, Padilla 6, E-28006 Madrid, Tel: (34-91) 4312628, fax: 5777252, revista@politicaexterior.com, http: //http://www./ politicaexterior.com). No 10/99, 185 pages, ESP 2,000 pesetas or 12 euros per issue.
Entitled "Portugal and Spain: Irreversible Convergence", the special feature in this issue analyses the close ties built over the centuries between the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula. The different articles highlight the extent to which the two countries pursue the same objectives and should consequently speak with a single voice in the EU. They also explain the development of the Spanish and Portuguese financial systems, the strategies of companies operating in these two countries, the operation of their energy sector, their role as privileged interlocutors of the American and African continents, their common linguistic roots and the development and challenges of the Portuguese economy.
*** Política Exterior. Estudios de Política Exterior SA (see above). No 72/99, 187 pages, ESP 1,500 or 9 euros per issue.
In this issue: the new European Commission and, in particular, its relations with the European Parliament; the development of Morocco's foreign policy towards Europe and Spain in particular, since the enthronement of the new monarch; the political situation in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez; the handing over of Macao to China; the United States and the rest of the world; NATO and the future of European security; the broad coalition in Germany; questions inherent to Russia's development; China at the dawn of the new century; the new world financial order; and reflections on the future of democracy in the general sense.
*** Internationale Politik. Verlag für Internationale Politik (Bachstraße 32, D-53115 Bonn, Tel: (49-228) 7290010, fax: 695734, EUV-VIP@t-online.de). No 12 (December 99), 122 pages. Annual subscription: DEM 190.
The future and the questions it raises at the dawn of the 21st century is the focus of this issue. Different articles discuss international political developments with the end of the bipolar world; globalisation as the only chance for progress and the changes it implies; the Asian and Russian financial crises and their implications at world level; the future of Asia in a global world; migratory movements worldwide in the era of globalisation; and political and economic reforms in Turkey, at the EU's doorstep.
*** Dokumente. Europa Union Verlag (Bachstraße 32, D-53115 Bonn, Tel: (49-228) 7290010, fax: 695734, euv-vip@t-online.de, http: //http://www.europa-union.de ). December 99, 85 pages. Annual subscription: DEM 30.
In this issue: an overview of Franco-German relations throughout the 20th century; a dossier on Africa and the Middle East with articles on German foreign policy in Africa, French policy towards Maghreb and the impetus given by President Chirac to relations between France and the Middle East.
*** Futuribles. 55 rue de Varenne, F-75341 Paris Cedex 07,- Tel: (33-1) 53633770, fax: 42226554, revue@futuribles.com, http: //futuribles.com. No 248 (December 1999), 104 pages. Annual subscription: EUR 105.19 (France) or 112.81 (elsewhere).
In this issue: globalisation and governance, two terms to be remembered from the Seattle Millenium Round; Unesco at the dawn of the 21st century; intergovernmental organisations in the context of the new century; globalisation and the sense of identity: the adoption of new balances to reconcile globalisation and diversity; space policy worldwide; the dynamic of health spending in France.
*** World Policy Journal. New School for Social Research, 65 Fifth Avenue, Suite 413, New York, New York 10211-0655. No 3/99, 130 pages. Annual subscription: USD 17.95.
In this issue of this publication on American political events: the power of the nation-states, with the example of the United States; the new adversaries of the United States in the wake of disintegration of the USSR; US global domination in the past decade and changes that can be expected, in particular with the rise in power of an evolving Europe; the hierarchy of American values in the course of its history; humanitarian aid: the necessity of strengthening human rights; relations between the United States and the Latin American continent; the North-South divide; and more.