*** JACQUES-LOUIS COLOMBANI, MARC FAVERO: Societas Europaea. La société européenne. Joly éditions (31 rue Falguière, F-75741 Paris Cedex 15. Tel: (33-1) 56541600 - Fax: 56541646). "Pratique des affaires" series. 2002, 180 pp, 28 euros. ISBN 2-907512-79-X.
This book contains at least three excellent surprises. The first one is not really a surprise since all books in this series provide high value added in terms of knowledge for the reader. This certainly applies to the book in question, so much so, in fact, that it is not to be placed within everyone's reach (it is also true that not everybody would consider using such an instrument in the near future that can enable companies established in more than one Member State - or companies wishing to expand beyond the borders of their current countries - to create a new type of company governed by common standards, namely a "European company"). This book will clearly be of interest to all company managers and decision-makers, however, who may find the dense and rigorously marshalled pages give them ideas, or at least a more focussed understanding of this instrument taking the form of a complex and still changing opportunity.
In the body of the book, two experts - Jacques-Louis Colombani specialises in European company law and intellectual property, while Marc Favero, responsible for financial law at EADS, was involved in setting up a European level company - detail all the factors that will, in the future, make it possible to create European companies. In the introductory chapter, they reveal and explain the architecture and spirit of the law, highlighting the extent to which the tool will be useful for cross-border approximation and the extent to which it is a flexible legal instrument accessible to SMEs as well. They linger over one of the vital characteristics of the future structures, namely the fact that no European companies can be set up without setting out the manner in which the involvement of members of staff will be organised. In a yet more detailed manner, the authors dissect the factors making up a European company, ranging from the content of the company statutes (capital, legal status, etc) to unavoidable national legislation on how the statutes must be drawn up, the setting up and role of the negotiating group (which must include staff members), how European companies are to be set up (through mergers, creation of a holding company or a subsidiary), converting a limited company into a European company and how the new type of company will operate, etc.
It goes without saying that this particular section of the book will be incomprehensible for mere mortals. This leads us to the second pleasant surprise - in a foreword that will be recognised as fascinating by anyone taking if only the slightest degree of interest in how Community political decisions are formulated, Françoise Blanquet, magistrate and an advisor at the European Commission's DG Internal Market, retraces the history of what has long been called the "sea serpent" or the "Arlésienne of Community law" in the microcosm of institutional Europe, and used to be considered more as a section of law in people's dreams than of positive law (according to the authors). Basically, the idea of setting up European companies goes back as far as 1959 but it was not made tangible until the period after the Nice European Council of 20 December 2000 in the framework of one of the "shortest Councils in history following the longest gestation period". Françoise Blanquet's historical overview is a model of its type and remarkably highlights the starting points, areas of friction and deadlock, the numerous attempts to get the ball rolling again and, at the end of what can be conservatively described as a chaotic gestation period, the launch not of an "immense ship sailing territorial waters far from the Member States' coastlines, ships that nobody can climb aboard", but of "cruise liners leaving their home bases to sail close to Member States' shores and take on board all people wanting to take advantage of its benefits "…
This leads us naturally to the third pleasant surprise provided by the authors - the fact that this saga (which provides the EU with a "means of economic integration" which is probably as important as the euro, even though it will be "less evident") is not over yet. The drawing up of the statutes of European companies will, in many domains, have to take constant account of European law, and also of the law of the country where the European company's headquarters is based. Hence the warning: "It is vital that Member States understand that competition has been launched among them, that this competition is legal and it only requires intelligence to make the system provided by the European companies flexible and adaptable ". It is clear that in the future, companies under European law will choose the national legal system most propitious to their development. Will Member States believe that a stitch in time is worth nine? Michel Theys
*** CHRISTOPHE DEGRYSE, PHILIPPE POCHET (Eds): Bilan Social de l'Union européenne. Observatoire Social Européen (Brussels. Internet: http://www.etuc.org/etui ). 2002, 235 pp, 20 euros. ISBN 2-930352-02-7.
Social Europe is being constructed bit by bit, through Recommendations and Communications and coordinated plans. There are few legislative decisions and those that exist are often minimal. This amounts to saying that this is not an area of spectacular decisions and announcements. All the same, since the Amsterdam Treaty, things have been speeding up a bit. The great merit of this "Bilan social de l'Union européenne" (Social balance sheet of the European Union) is that it allows understanding through a closer look at these slow changes. Philippe Pochet, who leads the Observatoire social européen, is an attentive, independent witness. Together with Christophe Degryse, he has supervised the drawing up of the third "social balance sheet", this time for 2001, upon request by the European Trade Union Institute and the European Trade Union Confederation.
At the end of the day, the year was not an easy one when looked at simply from the social viewpoint. Employment statistics improved, certainly, but "social dialogue" (between trade unions and employers) petered out, while the Commission held back from using its right of initiative to break deadlocks. The European Employment Strategy, one of the most obvious acquis of social Europe, is now opposed to the coordination of economic policies and also (perhaps one could say more importantly) to coordination of monetary policies. In the name of necessary support for the single currency, social objectives have been pushed somewhat to the sidelines in the name of a strictly economist vision.
It remains, therefore, to draw up the balance sheet of the launch of a coordinated policy to combat poverty and social exclusions using the OCM (Open Coordination Method). Even though the outcome is not yet clear, the process has made it possible to make joint reflections on, for example, setting out indicators that should make it possible to compare situations. In Philippe Pochet's view, this strategy will have greater importance when it comes to enlarging the European Union, since the issue of poverty will become more acute. The OCM has been extended to the issue of pensions and retirement, on which countries and the Commission do not yet see eye to eye. The challenge is significant, but at the same time the delays taken by various national plans reveal that this is a highly political subject in every Member State. The "social balance sheet" notes the arrival on the European social scene of a new topic, healthcare (particularly following case law at the European Court of Justice). Why? The glass may not be particularly full, but Philippe Pochet and Christophe Degryse do not see it as empty either. The development of common policies will strengthen coordination. The economic problems that are arising may reveal the limits of coordination at a purely economic level and give a greater voice to supporters of a more sensitive and active Europe in the social domain. (RV)
*** DAVID DE LA CROIX, FREDERIC DOCQUIER, CHRISTINE MAINGUET, SERGIO PERELMAN, ETIENNE WASMER (Ed.): Capital humain et dualisme sur le marché du travail. De Boeck (39 rue des Minimes, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5840711 - Fax: 5139009). 2002, 510 pp, 69 euros. ISBN 2-8041-3994-8.
Two tier employment can now be found on European labour markets. There is a primary sector of stable employment, permanent contracts for example, and then there are second class jobs with less security, such as temporary work and subsidised employment. "Most research clearly demonstrates that this two-tier system largely depends on individuals' choice of education, training and professional experience, characteristics that are often combined in the term "human capital", explains this book, which takes a combined look at the inseparable concepts of two-tier work and human capital. The authors also pose "the question of major democratic interaction between human capital, the functioning of the labour market and regional growth". This collection of essays outlines the results of research carried out in Belgium and other countries in Europe, in three main sections. The first focuses on pluralism in Belgium and developed countries. The second considers the basic links between human capital and unemployment and the last section explores the macroeconomic implications in terms of growth and regional convergence. (AD)
DOUG IMIG, SIDNEY TARROW (Editor): Contentious Europeans. Protest and Politics in an Emerging Polity. Rowman & Littlefield (4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706. Tel: (1-800) 4626420 - Internet: http: //http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com ). "Governance in Europe" series. 2001, 293 pp. ISBN 0-7425-0084-5.
By exploring how the social movements have been influenced by an increasing Europeanisation and the globalisation phenomenon, this collective book analyses the efforts of European citizens to form their demands at a supranational level through the social movements, politics of protest and contentious protest action policy. Most of the writers are from the academic world and examine how citizens try and get their voices heard or get the European Union to stop its policies. At the heart of the book is the theoretical model, which has been tested out with individual test cases. (LD)
*** Making a decisive impact on poverty and social exclusion? A progress report on the European strategy on social inclusion. European Anti Poverty Network (37-41 rue du Congrès, Box 2, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2304455 - Fax: 2309733 - E-mail: team@eapn.skynet.be - Internet: http://www.eapn.org ). 2002, 137 pp. ISBN 2-930252-23-5.
On of the challenges that the Union has to meet is that of eradicating poverty and social exclusion, which affects 18% of the European population - sixty million people. This is what Commissioner Ana Diamantopoulou first has to say in the preface of the EAPN report, for which she stresses the importance and usefulness to achieve this end. The Network has systematically monitored in Member States, the elaboration and application of national action plans, within the Union's strategy on the subject of poverty and social exclusion, which was adopted during the European Council of Lisbon in 2000. The book first of all presents a general report on the situation, in which the EAPN welcomes the ambitious national objectives usually set out by the national governments, while criticising the lack of new and innovative. More detailed evaluations by the different countries allow for a comparison of the different approaches to the wide range of problems. Denmark, France, la Sweden and Luxembourg obtained the most favourable evaluations, while the balance sheets for Greece, Ireland and the United Kingdom were at the bottom of the table. (BJL)
*** Observatoire national de la pauvreté et de l'exclusion sociale. 2001-2002 Report. La Documentation française (29 quai Voltaire, F-75344 Paris Cedex 07. Tel: (33-1) 40157000). 2002, 126 pp. ISBN 2-11-005241-4.
Two economic periods which were relatively different have occurred in France over recent years: a strong economic recovery between 1997 and 2000 and a slowdown in the economy in 2001. The first period was characterised by an increase in the Gross Domestic Product and a fall in unemployment. Despite these improvements, the figures in terms of poverty have continued to worsen. The first part of the second annual report of the Observatoire national de la pauvreté et de l'exclusion sociale, presided by Marie-Thérèse Join-Lambert explains the reasons for this contradiction. The imperfection of indicators and statistical measuring instruments, as well as the complexity of relations between poverty, economic activities and employment are examined. The Observatoire then proceeds to a comparative analysis of how poverty and exclusion are represented. It estimates that the study of the different factors should be taken into account in the construction of such representations (such as the economic and political situation, inertia in society, the general circumstances) in order to distinguish the permanent factors from indirect factors in order to better understand the reasons behind the public debates. In the second part of the book, the Observatoire focuses on specific studies on a regional basis on poverty. It points to the important disparities in accommodation conditions as well as the different forms poverty assumes in the regions. The second part of the report is devoted to access to medical services and the dangers to which these groups of people effected by poverty and exclusion are prone: the homeless and foreigners. (ML)
*** BEATRICE MAJNONI D'INTIGNANO: L'iceberg féminin. Institut de l'entreprise (6 rue Clément Marot, F-75008 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 53230540 - Fax: 47237901 - E-mail: doc@idep.net). 2002, 38 pp, 15 euros.
Equal civil rights for both sexes in Europe have been set in constitutional stone since the 1970s but reality in daily life often contradicts the reality of legal documents, as is demonstrated in this book. The gap mirrors the introduction, which notes that "boys are the young people with problems". Sexism can definitely take on various forms … (AD)
*** The EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following documents:
*** Cordis Focus. DG Enterprises (Fax: (352-4301) 32084 - E-mail: innovation@cec.eu.int - Internet: http://www.cordis.lu/news ). 7 October 2002, No 206, 27 pp.
In this issue, Commissioner Liikanen calls for the development of a European strategy and ambition to make greater use of the results of transport research programmes, particularly with a view to creating "intelligent" vehicles. Other issues looked at: the European Parliament's querying of research into GMOs, spotlight on Canada (a series of articles on research and innovation in Canada and connections between Canadian and European researchers), the Commission's inauguration of a nuclear waste processing plant and a programme to measure exposure to atmospheric pollution, etc.
*** Statistical References. Eurostat (http: //europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat). 2002, No 2, 12 pp.
This information note outlines the latest products and services available from Eurostat, the European Communities' Statistical Office. The most recent batch includes data ranging from the economy and the environment to social affairs: Eurostat Yearbook 2002, Eurostat's electronic library, the European Union's international transactions, geographical breakdown of the Em's current account 1997-2000, manual for the deficit and public debt, "European Social Statistics: labour market policy, demographics, social protection, investigation into the workforce", Trade in EUROPE 2001, broadcasting statistics, e-commerce, farming revenues in 2001, etc.
*** Update. European Public Health Alliance (36 rue de Pascale, B-1040 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2303056 - Fax: 2333880 - E-mail: epha@epha.org - Internet: http: // http://www.epha.org ). September/October 2002, No 64. 25 pp.
This issue includes a dossier on the European approach to children's health with an interview with Bertollini from the WHO and articles on identifying risks to child health in Europe, increasing road safety for children in Europe and other problems that can impact on child health like the environment, cigarette addition and alcohol.
*** Liaisons sociales Europe. Groupe Liaisons (1 av. Edouard-Belin, F-92500 Rueil-Malmaison. Tel: (33-1) 41299623 - Fax: 41299668 - Internet: http: //http://www.liaisons-sociales ). 19 September to 2 October 2002, No 63, 8 pp, 25 euros.
"Enfin, un peu d'ordre dans les politiques économiques et sociales" (Some order in economic and economic policies at last). This is the banner headline of this issue, referring to the proposals put forward by the Commission to ensure greater coherence in the procedures outlining employment policy (the European Employment Strategy) and economic policy (Broad Economic Policy Guidelines). Other issues looked at include the free circulation of non-EU nationals, elderly workers' protection against sacking in Belgium, the regularisation of employed "sans papiers" in Italy and the GEODIS committee intervening in a French "plan social".
*** Eurinfo. Représentation en Belgique de la Commission (73 rue Archimède, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2953844 - Fax: 2950166 - E-mail: represent-bel@cec.eu.int - htpp: //europa.eu.int/ comm/represent/be). September 2002, No 268. 19 pp.
In this issue: the future of the European Convention, the European Parliament: governing better or allying modernism and self-criticism, towards a more virtuous CAP and whether science can do without guinea pigs.
*** L'Observateur. OECD (2 rue André-Pascal, F-75775 Paris cedex 16. Tel: (33-1) 45248200 - Fax: 45248210 - E-mail: sales@oecd.org - Internet: http://www.observateurocde.org ). August 2002, No 233. Annual subscription: 45 euros. ISBN 977-0304-33-9007.
This issue looks at issues like sustainable development, company ethics, the need to restore confidence in agriculture and food, the future of renewable energy sources and the crisis in the fishing industry.