*** MARC ROUSSET: Les euro-ricains. Editions Godefroy de Bouillon (113-119 rue Lecourbe, F-75015 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 47340297). 2001, 494 pages, 199 FF. ISBN 2-84191-120-9.
It is rare that a book disturbs, intrigues and attracts as may as this one. This is a pamphlet with Gaullian accents, which raises both interest and suspicion. Which, to be brief, leaves no person indifferent, but imposes naturally on each person to separate the wise from the untrue, the excess from the pertinent observations… Notably a graduate from Columbia University and the Harvard Business School, its author is a Doctor in economic sciences and for twenty years holds the position of Director General in the Aventis, Carrefour and Vivendi groups. All, thus, except cranky and angry. Though, his book is surprising. A little like his characters which, in political life, have good questions… by not necessarily bringing them the right answers. Judge for yourselves.
Which Marc Rousset denounces passionately (and, it must be recognised, panache in writing), it is the fact that the United States has passed without transition from a strategy of the containing of the USSR to the proclaiming of a new frontier, which is nothing less that the strategic and economic control of the planet. It is that the American superpower wants to impose its moral, economic and military order, to such an extent that it is now possible to talk of a new world order, of an American empire. This strategy is based on an Anglo-Saxon model with universal pretensions, which is that of the turbo-capitalism (Marxist integratinalism give way today to Liberal integrationalism!", also added the author). This model shapes the world where, these days, the economy is far more at its own service that it is at the service of civil society, which is explained by the unease caused by globalisation: on the one hand, the economy which obeys the principal one dollar, one vote, on the other, the Nation-States, which function according to the democratic principal one man, one vote. Thus there is a certain opposition between the market and democracy… Analyses that one considers surprising to find from the pen of a company manager with certain academic roots in the United States, you would agree. Though the title is also all the more interesting.
It is there that the unease begins, when the writer acts as both analyst and preacher. No doubt some will continue to follow him when he invites to act as long as western Europe is only Americanised on the surface, specifies a passage: We have a history, a considerable historic depth. This provides us with the possibility of finding ourselves the possibility of drafting a new social and political model, a European model that will be inspired by the refusal of the law of the jungle. This is an ambition in which many Europeans could see themselves (and, moreover, do so already). Though how many Europeans will survive Marc Rousset when, after having affirmed that fighting Americanism means defending the most authentic values of the European man, he chastises that fact that the sixty-eighter Daniel Cohn-Bendit could gain the French nationality as opposed the legionaries who have spilled their blood for France? Or when he considers simply grotesque that Maurice Papone was prosecuted for crimes against humanity? Also when he tackles the civil solidarity pact, which is not only a victory by the homosexual lobbies, but also a serious attack on (…) the family, or a surprising success for the global-Liberal sect? Unease.
Unease still and forever when the author calls in favour of the emergence of a strong Europe, free and powerful, which is capable of putting an end to the "European protectorate". He recognises that France, on the initiative of the other European nations, can only have a future in the European framework. Though, he immediately adds, this framework could not be reduced (…) to the unlimited and irresponsible domination of the apparatchiks in Brussels. In short the European building process can only be that which it has been until now: the alibi of globalisation. What to do? It is here that General de Gaulle finds a last inheritor. In the eyes of Rousset, European being, it is today to refuse to see imposed by the United States the aims, institutions and geographic limitations of the European Union. It is to see Great Britain the Horse of Troy of American imperialism, it is to become aware that the Americanisation of Europe began in 1973, with the admission of England into the European Union, the use of Anglo-American (he chastises the high ranking French civil servants that have committed an error of not defending the French cause as the only working language in Europe. European being, it is to begin by popping the cork that constitutes NATO. It is understanding that the only true Europe is continental Western Europe, the initiatives of Tony Blair in the field of Defence make Rousset think of involuntary manoeuvres by the perfidious Albion. European being, it is to want to make the only possible and true Europe, the Franco-German Europe. Conclusion by Marc Rousset: France (that of Charles de Gaulle) having shown the way, it is now for the Germany of Berlin and a Europe centred on the Rhine, whose capital would be Strasbourg and not Washington, to take back the torch. Unease, you said unease ?
Michel Theys
*** DIMITRIOS TRIANTAPHYLLOU (Edited by): Le Sud des Balkans: vues de la région. Institut d'études de sécurité de l'Union de l'Europe occidentale (43 av. du Président Wilson, F-75775 Paris cedex 16. Tel: (33-1) 53672200 - Fax: 47208178 - E-mail: ies-ueo@iss-weu.com - Internet: http: //http://www.weu.int/institute/ ). Collection "Cahiers de Chaillot", N° 46. 2001, 68 pages
More than ever, contradictory dynamics disturb the fragile balance in the Southern Balkans, while yesterday's enemy, the Serbia of Milosevic, becomes a partner, the KLA that it was yesterday slides down the negative slope of Macedonia. This is how it is seen in the preface by Nicole Gnesotto, Director of the WEU Institute for Security Studies, western policies - and the European policies in particular - are thus once more "tested by the acts. From where stems the interest of this Cahier de Chaillot, which gives for the first time to word to actors exclusively from the region. These figures are Ismail Kadare, writer of world renowned, who for a long time represented the only glimmer of hope for the Albanians at the time of the dictatorship, the academic Predrag Simic who was part, in the 1990s, of the few moderate voices in Belgrade, the former Minister for Internal Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Ljubomir Frckovski, finally Ylber Hysa who is representing the young generation of the militant Albanian activists for a democratic Kosovo. All these four have been invited to answer the same series of questions concerning their vision of the future of South Eastern Europe. More specifically, they have been invited to provide their perceptions of the role of the international community and the main obstacles for stability in the region. Beyond the divergences that are expressed through them, the value of this Cahier lies in the fact that all four bear witness, underlines Nicole Gnesotto, of a "colossal expectation from the European Union, often criticised, but never rejected, because only its full involvement in the region will be able to help it to chase away the demons that haunt it. From there, the crisis does not only cover the Southern Balkans: for Nicole Gnesotto, it is also now in the policy itself of crisis management developed by the European Union…
(MT)
*** ROGER OWEN: The Eastern Mediterranean during the First Wave of Globalisation, 1870-1914. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University institute (9 via dei Roccettini, I-50016 San Domenico di Fiesole, Firenze. Fax: (39-055) 4685770). "IIIrd Mediterranean Programme Lecture". 2001, 19 pages.
This opuscule includes the test of a conference given at the European University Institute in Florence by a Professor from Harvard University specialised in the history of the Middle East. He examines the impact of the first wave of modern globalisation on what was still, for the most part, the Ottoman Empire as well as on the States issued from it. He then widen its remarks to an analysis of the developments that have prevailed in the region at the end of the 20th Century before envisaging ,in this long historic perspective, the way in which these countries behave in the present phase of globalisation.
(MT)
*** Electoral Systems in Europe. An overview. European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (European Parliament, ASP 5D48, rue Wiertz, B-1047 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2842245 - Fax: 2849063). 2001, 72 pages.
This very clear slide in its presentation will be useful to all those who are seeking information on the way in which parliamentary system functions in a larger Europe. It explains the main electoral systems, succinctly lists the details and the affects in the candidate and Member States, as well as on the other countries of Europe (Russia, Macedonia…). The European elections are not forgotten.
(MT)
*** STEFANO BERTOZZI: Crocevia della Grande Europa: il Consiglio d'Europa, l'Unione europea e l'OSCE. Clueb (31 via Marsala, I-40126 Bologna. Tel: (39-051) 220736 - Fax: 237758 - Internet: http://www.clueb.com ). 2001, 80 pages, ITL 18,000, EUR 9.30. ISBN 88-491-1718-3.
The author, civil servant in the Council of Europe since 1955, explains in this essay the origins and the silent work accomplished on a daily basis by that which he calls the other face of our Europe, in particular after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also, by underlining the "complementarity of the Council of Europe and the European Union, he launches a relatively audacious proposal (which will be, according to him, a "democratic and achievable solution"), namely the election of the next European Commission President by the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which would play the role of Senate. More generally, Mr Betozzi feels that a European Senate, by hosting members from the respective national parliaments, will have more chances to break the national resistance in Community matters and to exercise a political control on the principal of subsidiarity, whose application has not always been uniform.
(MG)
*** ELISABETH JOHANSSON: Subregionalization in Europe's Periphery. The Northern and Southern Dimensions of the European Union's Foreign Policy. Institut Universitari d'estudis europeus (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici E-1. Tel: (34-93) 5813024 - Fax: 5813063). Collection "Quaderns de treball". 2000, 93 pages, ESP 500. ISBN 84-95201-07-0..
Researcher at the University of Barcelona where she is a doctor in international relations, Elisabeth Johansson studies, in this work, the phenomenon of constitutions of regional groups that has amplified in the Europe after the fall of the iron curtain and its consequences for the foreign policy developed by the European Union. She studies in particular the Council of Baltic States, the Euro-Artic Barents Council and the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The author demonstrates that these alignments have tangible results, they favour trade between neighbours; contribute towards development and transition processes, allowing to regulate more easily the common problems of lack of infrastructure and to better tackle the illegal migratory movements and other traffics of drugs or arms. So many positive elements also enjoyed by the Union.
(LD)
*** Revista de Derecho Comunitario Europeo. Centro de estudios politicos y constitucionales (Madrid). 2000, N° 8.
The December issue of this law review contains an article by the Director for General Affairs and Coordination at the Secretary General of the EU Council, Enrique Gonzalez Sanchez. He presents with minutiae the functioning of the Common Foreign and Security policy (decision-making, right to initiative, participation by the European Parliament…). He also describes the various working groups dedicated to the geographic regions, the organisation of debates, the military bodies, the role of the High Representative… For the author, the CFSP does not have an intergovernmental nature to the extent to which the decisions may be taken by qualified majority, but they are part of the institutional development of the EU, the key to ensure its harmonious development being to extend the scope of the qualified majority vote.
(LD)
*** Il Diritto dell´Unione Europea. Giuffrè Editore (40 via Busto Arsizio, I-20151 Milan. Tel: (39-02)38089200 - Fax: 38009582 - E-mail: vendite@giuffre.it - Internet: http: //http://www.giuffre.it ). 2000, N° 3. Subscription: ITL 140,000, EUR 72.30 (European Union) or ITL 210,000, EUR 108.46 (Outside EU).
In this issue of this Italian review of Community law, several articles and contributions broach economic themes and those linked to trade. For example, Prof. Ugo Villani (Bari University) examines from a legal point of view the effects of the introduction of the Euro on civil law contracts. Pietro Manzini, researcher at the University of Urbino, comments on the reforms of Community law relating to the vertical restrictions to competition. Beatrice I. Bonafe researcher at the Florence European University Institute, underlines the importance of the principal of reciprocity and the direct effects of international agreements made by the Union, especially in the framework of the World Trade Organisation, after partners the ruling "Portugal verses Council" by the Court of Justice. Good presentations of the legal system for the allocation of Internet addresses and national and Community law regulating electronic commerce are given by the Jean Monnet professor Luca Marini (Lumsa University in Rome) and by the researcher Alessandra Zanobetti from the University of Bologna. A documentation of declarations and official texts concerning the reactions of the fourteen Member State of Austria regarding the participation of the FPO in the government complete this issue.
(PB)
*** Environmental signals 2001, European Environment Agency Regular Indicator Report. European Environment Agency (6 Kongens Nytorv, DK-1050 Copenhagen K. Tel: (45) 33367100 - Fax: 33367199 - E-mail: eea@eea.eu.int - Internet: http: //http://www.eea.eu.int ). Distribution: Office for the official publications of the European Communities (L-2985 Luxembourg). 2001, 112 pages, EUR 16. ISBN 92-9167-271-8.
Europe will not be able to achieve it environmental objectives and those of sustainable development, launches the European Environment Agency in this report, which it sent to the Gothenburg European Council. The condition to achieve these objectives will be, according to the Agency, to review the general policy on the level and development of the production and consumption maps. The report reviews a series of indicators among which that of "eco-efficiency" - the efficiency with which the environmental resources are used to produce an economic activity - which since 1990, has been improved in the field of transport and energy supply. Still published before the European summits, these annual reports use socio-economic and environmental indicators that permit the assessment of the implementation of the environmental policies and their integration into other policies.
*** European Economy Public Debt and Fiscal Policy in EMU. European Commission, DG for Economic and Financial Affairs (200 rue de la loi, B-1049 Brussels). Distribution: Office for the official publications of the European Communities (see above). 2001, 66 pages, EUR 40. Annual subscription: EUR 210. ISBN 92-894-0440-X.
The continuation of the debate - between specialists of all kinds - over the problem of the public debt and the fiscal policy in the Economic and Monetary Union and over the two years of existence of the EMU, this report underlines the need to operate a refocusing of the debate on these matters. Also if the respect for the convergence criteria is now acquired, while the budgetary balance, or even surplus, is the aim targeted in the medium-term, the time has come to discuss the quality and durability of the process…
*** Les décisions des cours constitutionnelles et des instances équivalentes et leur exécution, Commission de Venise du Conseil de l'Europe (F-67075 Strasbourg cedex). Tel: (33-3) 88412000). 2001, 64 pages.
The present study (also available in French) examines the effects of the rulings by the constitutions jurisdictions and their execution. Far from focusing only on the problems of the execution of decisions in constitutional maters, it provides a general presentation of the functioning of the constitutional jurisdiction in the States taking part in the Venice Commission. It is based on the questionnaire on the rulings by the constitutional courts and their execution that was adopted by the Venice Commission during its 43rd meeting in June 2000.
*** Comuni d'Europa. Associazione unitaria di comuni, province e regioni (86 piazza di Trevi, I-00187 Roma. Tel: (39-6) 69940461 - Fax: 6793275 - E-mail: communieuropa@aiccre.it or europea@aiccre.it - Internet: http://www.aiccre.it ). May 2001, N° 5, 22 pages
From the neighbourhood to the region for a federal European Union… This review wants to be a forum for meetings, opinions and thoughts around the federalist idea. The editorial also has as title «Il nostro federalismo». The articles and interviews bring to the fore, among others, that Europe is an "opportunity": for all and that we must both refuse the "low profiles" such as, for example, the results of the Stockholm summit.
National reviews in short