*** Reflets & Perspectives de la vie économique. De Boeck (39 rue des Minimes, B-1000 Brussels. Distribution: Accès+, 4 Fond Jean-Pâques, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve. Tel: (32-10) 482500 - Fax: 482519 - E-mail: acces+@deboeck.be). 2001, No 3. Annual subscription: 70.03 euro. ISBN 2-8041-3665-5.
Edited by Henri Bogaert, President of the Economic Policy Committee of the European Union between 1997 and 1999, the main feature of this issue in this well-known economic journal focuses on, "the co-ordination of the structural policies in the European Union". At the very moment that the Euro takes centre stage in the lives of more than three hundred million citizens, the accompanying political and economic impact of this revolutionary event has not yet been defined in the context of the further integration that it could engender. It is immensely useful to be able to draw up a balance sheet in this sensitive field, as it plunges headlong into a monetary and economic relationship that will need to develop dynamically if it is to develop between Member States (not only those in the Euro-zone) in the months and years to come.
Henri Bogaert, Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Planning in Belgium, introduces the main article and puts the markers down in a number of key reference areas and raises the question (amongst others) whether a budgetary policy, activated under the cover of the Stability and Growth Pact, is working properly. His response is positive in this respect but he also touches on the fact that "the process is heavy-going" in his analysis. This book explores the monetary landscape, including the social arena, by way of the economy and budgetary issues, and is divided into four sections. Implementing the Stability and Growth Pact as the pillar on which short, medium and long-term budgetary strategy is based, is examined before turning to the issue of an ageing population and the sustainability of public finances. The issue of sustaining the different significant fiscal areas is tackled by way of analysing the way in which the public authorities confront the phenomenon of fiscal competitive measures. Michel Vanden Abeele, Director General of DG Taxation at the European Commission, provides the conclusion for this section with a number of responses that go a long way in determining whether European fiscal policy is going in the right direction.
The second part of the book concentrates on employment policy. Some of the contributions raise the question of economic policy, which must be directed to stimulate job creation in Europe, other contributors cast a critical eye on the co-ordination of salary development and establishing a "macro-economic dialogue". Integration strategy in the goods, services and capital markets makes up the third part, with a positive assessment of the Cardiff Process. The final contributions focus on the implementation of the co-ordination (a very complicated process) and the procedures taken with this end in mind. The final word goes to Eurogroup's former President, Belgian Minister for Finance, Didier Reynders. Michel Theys
*** AXEL KUNDE: Langfristige Auswirkungen der wirtschaftlichen Integration der Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union. Peter Lang (15 Jupiterstr., CH-3000 Bern 15. Fax: (41-31) 9402131). "Volkswirtschaftliche Analysen" series, No. 7. 2000, 244 pp. ISBN 3-631-37340-6.
In this Ph.D. thesis in economic science, supervised by the University of Hamburg, Axel Kunde, who now works as a world market analyst for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, examines the political and economic measures needed for achieving complete economic integration in the European Union. Applying macro-economic and mathematical models, Axel Kunde concludes that free trade is not yet at a sufficient level in the Community and that harmonisation of the economic conditions in Member States is necessary if complete economic integration is to be achieved. This theoretical and academic book will be of particular interest to macro-economists and other experts.
(PB)
*** JEAN-JACQUES REY, JULIE DUTRY: Institutions économiques internationales. Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Bruxelles). "Précis de la Faculté de droit de l'Université libre de Bruxelles" series. 2001, 221 pp. ISBN 2-8027-1546-1.
This book is based on a fifteen hour course, and retraces the birth and coming of age of the international economic order. After a brief recap of the institutions in place before the Second World War, the authors describe the three pillars of the international order that are supposed to guarantee "peace in our time" - the WTO, IMF, and World Bank. The Marshall Plan is then closely examined and finishes up with an insight into the developing countries. The role of the Group of Seven (seven richest countries in the world) and the anti-globalisation protests it now faces brings the chapter to a close. We are able to discover the architecture of the WTO, its role, as well as the decisions it is responsible for taking. Following the analysis of trade liberalisation, the numerous mechanisms dealing with quantitative restrictions, non-tariff obstacles and customs duties are then tackled. After spending his entire career at the National Bank of Belgium, Jean-Jacques Rey (son of a former Head of the European Commission), tackles the principles of non-discrimination, reciprocity and the preferential mechanisms set up in GATT. Protecting competitive practices is then described in some detail. Foreign Direct Investment, provisions on trade, services and the promotion of ethic finance and the quality of life form the basis of the chapter that follows. The third chapter focuses entirely on the relationship between the international monetary institutions. The final chapter is called "Resource Transfer Institutions" and explores the problem of debt and crisis. Each chapter is accompanied by a bibliography and conclusion that brings each section of this didactic work to an end. (AD)
*** ULRIKE MAYRHOFER: Les rapprochements d'entreprises, une nouvelle logique stratégique ? Une analyse des entreprises françaises et allemandes. Peter Lang (see above). 2001, 354 pp. ISBN 3-906766-24-1.
At a time when company mergers, co-operative alliances, mergers and acquisitions are multiplying on a world scale, this book raises a number of questions on the strategic logic behind the development. Senior Lecturer in Management Sciences at the Institut européen d'études commerciales supérieures de l'Université Robert Schuman de Strasbourg, the author of this book examines the basis for and main characteristics of these inter-firm alliances and studies what affect the national environment has on this phenomenon.. This empirical study forms part of a dissertation and is based on a sample of 5,286 merger operations between French and German companies. It also reveals the dynamic perspective in which the similarities and differences in the merger strategies of the companies in the two countries takes shape. Ulrike Mayrhofer also demonstrates that despite several existing components for convergence, company behaviour continues to be moulded by the national environment such as its institutional and cultural characteristics. (PB)
*** JERÔME BARTHELEMY: Stratégies d'externalisation. Préparer, décider et mettre en œuvre l'externalisation d'activités stratégiques. Dunod (Paris. Internet: http: //http://www.dunod.com ). "Stratégies et management". 2001 series, 168 pp. ISBN 2-10-005774-X.
Peripheral outsourcing activities such as catering and cleaning is now common currency but if strategic outsourcing functions for companies (information technology, logistics) are to succeed, they require more detailed planning and stringent preparation involving company managers. In light of many current examples, this book first of all describes the far-reaching nature of this recent phenomenon and analyses the strategic and economic reasons behind it. A lecturer in International Strategy at Audencia Nantes, Jerôme Barthelemy, then sheds light on advantages and risks in such operations before zeroing in on the key points that need attention if a successful outcome is to be achieved. (LD)
*** Politiche e strumenti per la competitività delle imprese europee - Politics and Instruments for the Competitiveness of European Business. Unioncamere Sede di Bruxelles (22 rue de l'Industrie, B-1040 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5122240 - Email: sede.bruxelles@unioncamere.be). 2001, 50 pp.
Statistics are analysed in this bilingual (Italian and English) account of the proceedings of a conference organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Belgium, where academics and practitioners concentrated on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises. (AD)
*** HERMANN SAUTTER, ROLF SCHINKE (Ed.): Social Justice in a Market Economy.Peter Lang (see above). "Gottinger Studien zur Entwicklungsökonomik - Göttingen Studies in Development Economics, series, No 9. 2001, 195 pp. ISBN 3-631-37773-8.
In this book, Hermann Sautter provides an account of the "Social Justice in a Market Economy" seminar held in Göttingen in September 1999, organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The twenty-five young economists attending, as well as the political scientists from eleven Latin American countries, used the event for reflecting upon the necessity of reforms that could reconcile the kind of efficiency and equality that has constituted the foundation stone of the German market economy. Two key issues emerged during the discussions: would the German experience be useful as a basis for redesigning reform policy in Latin America and would the Latin American experience help to contribute in lifting the reform process in Germany out of the morass that it is currently experiencing? Reading these contributions (written well before the Argentinean meltdown…, which gives them added strength), it appears more obvious that market orientated reforms in the mould of the Washington Consensus, must be accompanied by a certain number of social policies in order to create a more just society. The various contributors believe that only by combining the objectives of efficiency and equality, will market reform be sustainable. Nevertheless, Germany, with its long tradition of a social market economy, is quite clear that the difficulties that it has been confronting for several years, the juxtaposition of the needs of an economic system with that of social security, requires an appropriate adjustment. This explains why both Germany and the Latin American countries have to look for, according to the authors, new solutions that merge social justice and economic efficiency. Such an objective can only be realised if an appropriate institutional frame work is set up that helps promote private initiative on the markets, whilst not ignoring the social implications and which seeks to limit economic inequalities.
(CB)
*** ANDREA FERNANDEZ, ANDREU ULIED: Dinamiques locacionals de grans empreses industrials a l'area metropolitana de Barcelona - Dinamicas locacionales de grandes empresas industriales en el area metropolitana de Barcelona. Institut universitari d'estudis europeus (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Edifici E-1, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. Tel: (34-93) 5813024 - Fax: 5813063). "Quaderns de treball" series, No 34. 2000, 48 pp. ISBN 84-95201-06-2.
This investigation carried out under the auspices of the European Studies Institute at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, sheds light on the relocation of large companies in the region and helps us to understand the subsequent economic development, by identifying the structural variations observed there over the last ten years. The investigation provides both a qualitative and quantitative assessment of 435 firms in the zone, with the authors explaining the different historic and micro-urban factors that helped influence the decision of business start-ups in the region. Decentralisation of production centres and the creation of new industrial sites along the main industrial areas have played an important part in the process. The study is keen to point out that a co-ordination agency is responsible for applying policy and which emphasises and assesses the "proximity factor".
(LD)
*** JEAN-CLAUDE NEMERY (Ed.): Quelle administration territoriale pour le XXIe siècle en France dans l'Union européenne? L'Harmattan 5-7 rue de l'Ecole-Polytechnique, F-75005 Paris. Tel.: (33-1) 40467920 - Fax: 43258203 - E-mail: harmat@worldnet.fr). "Administration et aménagement du territoire" series. 2001, 311 pp. ISBN 2-7475-0749-1.
By recognising from a development perspective, the existence of the different territorial entities that exist in the country, France has finally broken with the Jacobean centralism specific to the French national for so long. Paris has called on the local authorities themselves to take charge of land development issues in their own areas. A new territorial logic is currently being constructed at an institutional level (the administrative garden can now be far less often traced back to something quintessentially French) and financial level. Hence, the "Voynet Law" of 25 June 1999 which seeks to organise territorial entities around geographical communities rather than around historical or economic imperatives. The "Chevènement Law" of 12 July 1999 also strengthens the intermunicipal concept. A genuine revolution is therefore going on in the very heart of Europe. In this context, the question of complementarity and competition at a local level rises to the fore in Europe between the different authorities, the State, regions and counties. This "new institutional architecture", not particularly in step with the traditional ideas of the nation that dominated in France, is the very essence of this book, that provides a very comprehensive account of the work achieved during a conference at the Université de Rheims in May 2000, organised by the Research Centre on Territorial Decentralisation, the Local Administration Research Group, and the French Association for Local Rights of Organisations. Some of the contributions envisage an approach that focuses more on the citizen in this new context and the way in which new instruments can assume valid currency.
(LD)
*** EUROPEAN COMMISSION (The Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985, Luxembourg) has published the following documents:
*** Basic Indicators on ITC integration in the European Education System, Annual Report 2000/2001. DG Education and Culture (Fax: (32-2) 2306562 - E-mail: info@eurydice.org - Internet: http://www.eurydice.org ). 2001, 38 pp.
This new report by Eurydice, the education information network in Europe, provides us with an insight into the indicators used in a recent study. These include key education figures obtained by Eurydice and Eurostat. It focuses mainly on primary and secondary education. It also provides information on how much time in the education syllabus is spent on information technology and communication, as well as the different approaches adopted in the field, and teacher training. Drawing on these observations, the Eurobarometer study indicators cast some useful light upon the equipment used in our schools and how exactly it is applied.
*** Liaisons sociales Europe. Groupe Liaisons (1 av. Edouard-Belin, F-92500 Rueil-Malmaison - Tel: (33-1) 41299991 - Fax: 299670 - Internet: http://www.liaisons-sociales ). 2002, No 46, 8 pp.
'Despite the recession, full employment (70%) remains an objective for 2010'… This is the conclusion of two recent conferences about which this issue provides an account. During these conferences the public employment services made an appeal for the continued modernisation of their structures in order to reach the objective of full employment set out at Lisbon in March 2000. In brief: modernisation of Regulation 1408/71 for the adoption of the 'Vilvoorde' Directive and the seeking of arbitration in instances of improperly conducted redundancies in the United Kingdom, European Union agreement.
*** Bulletin on Constitutional Case Law. Basic Texts 6. The Venice Committee (Council of Europe Editions F-67075 - Strasbourg Cedex. Fax: (33-3) 88413910 - E-mail: publishing@coe.int - Internet: http: //book.coe.int). 107 pp.
This is the sixth edition of this publication, which provides a number of relevant extracts from Constitutions, together with the laws determining the activities and procedures of the Constitutional Courts of Albania, Andorra, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldavia and the European Court of Human Rights.
*** Eurete Agenzia Europea per il Sviluppo. Eurete (Tel: (39-10) 2470044 - E-mail: s.badano@eurete.it). No.5/2001.16 pp.
Set up at Genoa and Brussels, Eurete - the European Agency for Development - provides assistance to local public bodies, companies, associations and different Italian regions so that they can 'play a full part in Europe'. This issue of the newsletter contains the "White Paper" on transport.
*** Update. United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention. (PO box 500 A-1400 Vienna. Tel: (43-1) 260605575 - Fax: 260605931 - E-mail: crahmy@undcp.org - Internet: http://www.odccp.org ). December 2001, 13 pp.
Main subjects include: the war against corruption, the fight against courier drug trafficking, an interview with Queen Silvia of Sweden on her fight against drugs amongst young people, 'A Drug-free environment: a child's right?'.
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