*** CHRISTIAN LEQUESNE: L'Europe bleue. A quoi sert une politique communautaire de la pêche? Presses de Sciences Po (44 rue du Four, f-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 44393960 - Fax: 45480441 - E-mail: info@presses.sciences-po.fr - Internet: http: //http://www.sciences-po.fr ). 2001, 239 pages, FF 135, EUR 20.58. ISBN 2-7246-0839-9.
A title can sometimes be misleading. Or, in the least part, short. Thus is the case with this one. In this case, analysing the common fisheries policy has not been, for Christian Lequesne, an end in itself. In reality he has taken support from the detailed study of this Community policy to apprehend the political system working within the European Union. Nothing less. This motivation did not for as much lead to relegating the Common Fisheries Policy born at the beginning of the 1970s - and hardly studied since - to the rank of pretext: the semi-lead meetings undertaken in the last four years in Brussels and in five Member States (Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands) as well as in Morocco have brought him to befriend those for whom CFP is a daily matter. Through this, he brings to life the development and better understands the stakes and constraints.
Director for Research at the national foundation for political sciences and joint director of the Centre for international studies and research, the author begins by looking at the genesis and the development in CFP since its creation. He first shows the place taken by fishing as an economic activity in thirteen of the fifteen Member States before describing the principals and aims that stem from a registering process on the EU agenda of the incremental kind. Thus Lequesne explains that after the time of the pioneers in the middle of the 1960s (Raymond Simonnet, French Administrator for Maritime Affairs attached to the Commission, he says that the state of spirit that prevailed in Brussels at this time was mainly to force the Member States to build a new policy…), this agenda was notably sculpted by the successive enlargements: that of 1972 which saw, among others, the United Kingdom, Norway (where this issue is used as a tool by political parties opposed to accession), Ireland and Denmark fight - without success - against the principal of free access to national waters: that of 1986 which confronts the fishermen from the Europe of Nine to a doubling of its staff and a 65% increase in the tonnage of the fleet (reason for which Paris, London and Dublin end up gaining limitation on access by Spanish and Portuguese ships to the resources until the end.. 2002, or a seventeen year transition system, unequalled in the history of enlargements); those to come which, reduction policy in the fishing effort requires, will require that the Polish, Estonian or Slovenian fishermen will have to apply restructuring plans financed by the Community budget… The global debate over the exhaustion of fish stocks and the denationalisation of marine areas have also influenced the development of the CFP. On this basis, the author then undertakes to find the distribution of power between the supranational, national and regional politico-administrative institutions within the European political configuration, which leads him to deliver a very detailed analysis of the relationships of strength that prevail within the Member States and the way in which the Community institutions defend and impose their autonomy. In the same chapter he looks at the representation of the fishermen's interest that still remain very national or infra-national, which explains for a good part the deficit in legitimacy seen by fishermen in the implementation of CFP.
In the following chapters, Christain Lequesne first looks at the conservation of the fish stocks, notably questioning the conditions for the passing of a European regulation, born from the Commission's offer, to a regulation corresponding to the demands of social actors who, for the time being, encourage a feeling of concern, then to the "European distribution mechanisms", (he notes with regard to this that the Community funds are not seen by fishing professionals as the manifestation of a solidarity at the European level) and the changes that have been experienced by the working practices of European fishermen under the influence of the market standard and, more generally, globalisation (he ponders among others over the controversial question of the "poaching of quotas"). The two last chapters are respectively dedicated to the new environmental fact that leads to the banning of drift nets and the role that is played by the Union on the international scenes. To end, a work that is very complete and enlightening.
Michel Theys
*** Quaderni della Scuola europea. Ed. Giuffrè (40 via Busto Arsizio, I-20151 Milan - Tel: (39-2) 38089290 - Fax: 38009582 - E-mail: giuffre@giuffre.it - Internet: http: //http://www.giuffre.it ) - Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza". Scuola di specializzazione in diritto ed economia delle Comunità europee, vol. 2/99, 122 pages, ITL 20,000, EUR 10.33. ISBN 88-14-08163-8.
This brochure contains contributions that successively examine the crisis in traditional fishing and the development of fish farming in the EU, the competition law and the principal of subsidiarity, the Medstat project and Euro-Mediterranean statistical cooperation or even the effects of monetary union on the regional economic imbalance.
(ED)
*** ALAIN BARREAU: Le renforcement de la sécurité maritime: une ardente et pressante obligation pour l'Europe. HnATIONAL Assembly delegation to the European Union (4 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris - Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). "Les documents d'information de l'Assemblée nationale" series. 2000, 64 pages, FF 20, EUR 3.05. ISBN 2-11-109320-3.
On 12 December 1999, the Erika sinks, pouring some 10,000 tonnes of oil over around 400 kilometres of French coastline. In response, the European Commission presents a Communication - attached to draft Directives and regulations - in which it indicates that since the disaster of the Torrey Canyon (1967), the reaction of Europeans has significantly developed: while they accept with regret that pollution is the price to pay for economic development, they now show themselves to be intransigent and indignant. This report by the French MP Alain Barreu, President of the National Assembly Delegation to the European Union, analyses the measures put forward by the Commission in order to enhance the safety of oil transportation by maritime routes in the light of this accident which, once more, demonstrated the very imperfect enforcement of regulations - international and Community - that prevail in this field as well as the persistent neglect they suffer. In this context, the rapporteur considers the creation of a European maritime safety structure, as well as the regularisation of information exchanges, the improvement of monitoring of navigation in the more frequented areas and the consecration of the polluter pays principal, which would raise the level of environmental responsibility, as the Commission suggested. This report is attached to memorandums addressed by France to the Commission, the International Maritime Organisation and the compensation fund for damages due to pollution by hydrocarbons.
(MT)
*** ALEXANDRA BELLAYER-ROILLE: Le transport maritime et les politiques de sécurité de L'Union européenne. Editions Apogée (4 bld Gaëtan-Hervé, BP 20224, F-35202 Rennes Cedex 2. Tel: (33-2) 99324595 - Fax: 99324598 - E-mail: apogee.rennes@wanadoo.fr). 2000, 474 pages, FF 240, EUR 36.59. ISBN 2-84398-074-7.
This summary - which received the Thesis prize 2000 from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences in Rennes - broaches the subject of maritime transport safety as an instrument for competition and increasing the value of trading fleets flying the flags of Member States of the Community in the context of competition and aggression. The author also makes maritime transport safety one of the vectors for the geostrategic positioning of the EU. Thus it contributes, according to Alexandre Bellayer Roille, towards promoting a functioning safety area in the Union, even capable of acting as a testing platform for a European naval safety force. Revealing from the beginning a forward looking vision, most of the proposals put forward by the author (notably that aiming to toughen the provisions for European monitoring and to increase the responsibility of maritime transport operators) have been taken on by the French actors in maritime oil transport following the sinking of the Erika. The work calls in favour of a strengthening of control by the Commission of the classification companies, which decide whether a ship respects or not the safety standards.
(MT)
*** MATEU TURRÓ: Going trans-European. Planning and financing transport networks for Europe. Elsevier Science Ltd (The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom). 1999, 358 pages, NGL 170, EUR 77.14, USD 89. ISBN 0-08-043059-7.
Civil servant at the department for infrastructure with the European Investment Bank, Mateu Turró invites the reader, with this remarkable work, to dive into the problems of transport at the European Union level, those of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The scientific rigour of his undertaking is patent, but the man does not hide his passion dedicated to this aspect of the European building process, he boldly puts forward that the transport infrastructures and transeuropean networks could soon become the new major European policy and rise, on the financing level, to the level of agriculture and regional development… and who also asserts, without embellishing, that this sector critical for the future of European society is presently in a dead-end due to the absence of clear objectives with regards to the role to be played by the EU in the matter and the ambiguous attitudes adopted by the governments of the Member States that oscillate between acquired rights and demagogic calls. In eight very dense chapters, even if they are highly accessible, Mateu Turró outlines this problem in all its dimensions and marks out future avenues. An necessary work for those interested in the Europe of transport.
(MT)
*** FREDERIC SEUTIN: Le marché immobilier européen. Editions De Boeck Université (39 rue des Minimes, B-1000 Brussels. Distribution: Accès+, 4 Fond Jean-Pâques, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve. Tel: (32-10) 482500 - Fax: 482519 - Internet: http: //http://www.deboeck.be ). "Perspectives immobilières" series. 2000, 231 pages, BEF 1,970, FF 320. ISBN 2-8041-3444-X.
Edited by a specialist who works in the framework of the European Council of Real Estate Professions, this work starts from the description of the existing professional real estate structures in the Member States. A picture that, coincidentally, always shows some disorder, as explained by Yves Boussard, President of the European real estate agents organisation in his preface: (…) in certain countries, the activities of real estate agents, property administrators and real estate experts are organised in conjunction while in other countries, they are separately. Moreover: the professions of real estate agent and property administrator are slightly protected in certain countries and not in others. Access to the profession and the profession itself are regulated here but not there. Some countries require a real estate professional with university level training, others require it at a technical level, other still do not impose any specific training… On this basis, the statements of the author rapidly turn, from then on, to calling in favour of a Europeanisation of these professional structures, access to the profession, professional training (its level and content), codes of conduct and professional ethics, the financial guarantees for funds held on behalf of third parties, insurance for third party responsibilities, measuring codes, databases for real estate data, the quality of services, consumer protection, continuous training and professional recycling, the harmonisation of VAT, internships and intern exchanges are, according to the author of the preface and he who introduces, so many issues which should be harmonised to the far extent while taking into account the specificities of each country. So many fields are review in a methodical manner and which, in the end, form a call all the more convincing that it comes from people who cultivate total independence of spirit: Broussard thus stigmatises the fact that none of the twenty Commissioners are specifically responsible for housing policy, situation which "has as a deplorable consequence that the real estate sector in Europe, which does represent a significant economic weight in the billion of Euro per year, suffers from a flagrant lack of coherent European policy as this sector relies on seven different Commissioner… Spare the rod and spoil the child, in summary.
(MT)
*** GERARD FUCHS: Budget communautaire pour 2001: un projet sans ambition. National Assembly delegation to the European Union (see details above). "Les documents d'information de l'Assemblée nationale" series. 2000, 36 pages, FF 20, EUR 3.05. ISBN 2-11-108712-2.
This information report presented by the French MP Gérard Fuchs casts a critical eye on the proposal to review the financial prospects that have been put forward by the Commission in May of last year and denounces the lack of ambition in the preliminary draft for 2001 centred on a badly mastered priority - aid to the Balkans - and whose guidelines - with regards to the Common agricultural policy among others - appear to the author as being badly defined. Educational to read in the light of the agricultural problems that the Union has been experiencing since then…
(LD)
*** World Policy Journal. New School University (66 Fifth Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10011. Internet: http://www.worldpolicy.org ). Winter 2000/01, N°4, 89 pages, USD 7.95. Annual subscription: USD 35.
Former Guardian journalist for which he is the editor in chief for European affairs, Martin Walker wonders if Europe is a super State or a superpower. For him the Union has been an economic superpower for four decades, but its main weakness lies in a faulty defence system. Other themes notably broached in this issue: Europe in the face of the coming elections in Italy, "Against Russophobia", China and human rights, the new battles in Central Asia…
*** Economía Exterior. Estudios de Política Exterior SA (6 Padilla, 28006, Madrid - Tel: (34-91) 4312628 - Fax: 5777252 - E-mail: revista@politicaexterior.com - Internet: http: //http://www./politicaexterior.com ). 2000/01, N°15, 168 pages. Annual subscription: ESP 6,500 (Spain), ESP 11,000 (other countries).
A dossier is dedicated, in this issue, to the new commercial frontier that is Asia. Found within it are, among others, articles on Spanish exports in this region of the world and the opportunities that exist there for Spanish companies, as well as the way in which Japan can exit its recession. Multilateral cooperation between the ASEAN and Europe as well as, in a more general manner, the dialogue between the European Union and Asia are also themes that are broached. With regards to this, Enrique Fanjul underlines the need to train professionals in Asian culture.
*** Revue des questions humanitaires (137 rue Bélliard, B-1040 Brussels - Tel: (32-2) 7387592 - Fax: 7387597 - E-mail: info@humanitarian-review.org - Internet: http: //http://www.humanitarian-reiew.org ). Winter 2001, N°12, 71 pages. Annual subscription: EUR 48.
The rise in humanitarian crises over the last years have contributed towards a questioning of the effectiveness of humanitarian aid. The EU humanitarian office, ECHO, or the American International Development Agency are now often submitted to assessments of their actions. In this issue, the European Commissioner Poul Nielson explains, in an interview, that he has not lost his fighting spirit, while Valérie Michaux invites to consider the limits of European humanitarian aid and the Pierre Hazan wonders if Ruud Lubbers can reinvigorate the High Commission for Refugees. Other themes broached: an Internet guide on the humanitarian sector, AIDS as a global problem for development, the mistrust of European companies for the Balkans, the way to move towards an effective conflict prevention and an overview of American aid…
Social reviews in short
*** Courrier Forum migrants. Brussels. Sept.-Oct. 2000. In summary: a dossier dedicated to the education of children from ethnic minorities and immigration, the Lisbon Conference on European citizenship, the European Union Migrants Forum and the fight against racism (the Forum confirms its call for foreigners residing in the EU for at least five years to be granted European citizenship), the Charter of fundamental rights or the frustrated social movement… *** Libertés. Amnesty International monthly. Brussels. January 2001. In this issue, a dossier dedicated to the "trade in terror" (the trade in arms) and an article dedicated to "the unavoidable end of Fujimorism" in Peru. *** Equilibres et populations. Paris. December 2000. While international trade in capital has never been so great, the share given to Africa continues to fall. This publication notes that this continent now receives less direct foreign investment the Malaysia, which brings it to questions whether Africa is "excluded from globalisation". *** Trade Union World. Brussels. Nov. 2000. Themes broached by the trade union pamphlet: accidents at work, child prostitution in Cambodia, the deterioration of working conditions for women.… *** Défis Sud. Brussels. January 2001. This publication by the NGO "SOS Faim" entitles its editorial "Une violence économique sans précédent" (unprecedented economic violence) and dedicates a dossier to Rwanda six years after the Tutsi genocide and the massacres of moderate Hutus. ***Travail. Brussels. December 2000. In summary: of this issue of the International Labour Organisation magazine the cost of professional stress that increases while depression becomes an increasingly common pathology, the entry into force of the ILO Convention on the worst forms of child labour, East Germany which still awaits an upturn ten years after, "grandeur and decadence in Polish trade unionism" twenty years after Gdansk and the birth of the autonomous independent trade union Solidarité, the boat grave yards that are a consequence of globalisation…