*** MICHEL DUMOULIN, GENEVIEVE DUCHENNE (Ed.): L'Union européenne et les Etats-Unis - The European Union and the United States. Actes de la VIIIe Chaire Glaverbel d'études européennes 2002-2003 - Proceedings of the 8th Glaverbel Chair in European Studies 2002-2003. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.net ). "Actes de la Chaire Glaverbel d'études européennes", No. 4. 2003, 433 pp. ISBN 90-5201-216-4.
This book is a collection of essays by holders of the Glaverbel Chair in European Studies at the Université catholique de Louvain and by external lecturers invited to participate in the 2002-2003 academic year, which was wholly devoted to relations between Europe and the United States. The timing of this could hardly have been more opportune since last year saw transatlantic relations stretched as never before by the Iraq crisis. As Prof. Michel Dumoulin, President of the European Studies Institute, explains in the introduction, the rising power of the United States has given rise on both sides of the Atlantic to a controversy meshing gratitude with bitterness and also these days misunderstanding and even anger at times.
Without claiming to make a complete survey of such a vast and complex issue, the essays published in the book highlight important areas. Such as the one by Pascal Lamy on the world stakes of the economic relations between the EU and Washington in the context of globalisation. In the spirit of the speech me recently addressed to the College of Europe, the Trade Commissioner does not mince his words in explaining the problem. It cannot be denied, he explains, that the Americans have never ceased supporting the economic integration and series of enlargements of the EU.
But it is not so clear that they initially considered or today approve of the political changes of the changeover to the euro and the first stages in the CFSP and European defence. Economic unification, yes. Political unity, not so sure. The EU will have its work cut out in years to come to ensure the scenario reported to be considered, probably not without reason, in some influential quarters of watering down the European project into a vast continental free trade zone, he adds.
This stark assessment by a man known for weighing his words speaks volumes about the sheer scale of the awkwardness and the stakes at play in the EU flexing its wings politically. This is taken up in other essays, such as that of Barthélémy Courmont, researcher at the Paris Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques, who describes a deep and deliberate transatlantic fracture, while Jim Cloos, former Head of Cabinet of Jacques Santer at the Commission, now working at the Secretariat General of the Council, considers whether relations between the EU and the US will end in divorce or renewal. Elements of a more financial and business nature are considered by writers of similar stature. Not to be missed!
Michel Theys
*** SEBASTIAAN PRINCEN: EU Regulation and Transatlantic Trade. Kluwer Law International (P. O. Box 85889, NL-2508 CN The Hague, Pays-Bas. Tel: (31-70) 3081552 - e-mail: sales@kli.wkap.nl - Internet: http: //http://www.kluwerlaw.com ). "European Monographs", No. 37. 2002, 432 pp, 105 euros. ISBN 90-411-1871-3.
In this academic monograph, Sebastiaan Princen casts an original eye over the transatlantic trade disputes. Far from convinced that international trade is imposing ever weaker and laissez-faire legislation, the author of this research - based on a detailed bibliography and also interviews with trade policy practitioners in Brussels, the United States and Canada - examines whether one can detect the 'California effect' in the international trade disputes, in other words the adoption of stricter trade and legal standards by the partners than in the past.
Sebastiaan Princen looks at areas such as animal traps, the ban on growth hormones in meat, genetically modified organisms and the EU data protection directive. A good and detailed analysis of the different trade disputes between the Eur0pean Union, the United States and Canada makes this book highly interesting reading for anyone involved with transatlantic trade.
(PB)
*** CHRISTIANE A. FLEMISCH: Umfang der Berechtigungen und Verpflichtungen aus völkerrechtlichen Verträgen. Die Frage der unmittelbaren Anwendbarkeit, dargestellt am Beispiel des WTO-Übereinkommens. Peter Lang AG Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - e-mail: publicity@peterlang.com - Internet: http: //http://www.peterlang.de ). "Publications Universitaires Européennes", No. 3471. 2002, 327 pp. ISBN 3-631-39689-9.
The direct applicability of international trade law, particularly the law of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the topic of this doctor of law thesis for the University of Bayreuth (in Bavaria). The author is a young lawyer based in Munich, who gives a detailed and multi-perspective analysis of the relations between EU law and the law of GATT and the WTO.
After clarifying some legal terminology connected with direct applicability and defining a series of criteria and methods for direct applicability, Christiane Flemisch reaches the conclusion that various measures of the World Trade Organisation's law are directly applicable, and that the contradictions between EU law and WTO law do not need to exist.
She believes that the European Court of Justice will change its views and abandon the principle of reciprocity established by the ruling on the Portugal vs Council case in 1999. This is a highly interesting monograph for common trade policy specialists and people interested in the legal ramifications of the EU's membership of the World Trade Organisation.
(PB)
*** JÖRG DUNKER: Regionale Integration im System des liberalisierten Welthandels. EG und NAFTA im Vergleich. Peter Lang (see above). "Schriften zum Staats- und Völkerrecht", No. 94. 2002, 388 pp. ISBN 3-631-37941-2.
The compatibility of regional free trade zones and the multilateral global trade system, particularly within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, is one of the areas that comes under the greatest discussion among international trade experts. With this monograph on the European Union and NAFTA, Jörg Dunker, a German lawyer, joins the ranks of critics of so-called 'regional' economic integration. Based on his doctoral thesis for Würzburg University, the book compares the EU and NAFTA and analyses the implications of the two different models economic integration on the world trade system. Arguing in favour of global free trade, the author expresses concern about the potential for regional protectionism and the lack of supranational bodies and binding legal procedures in the framework of NAFTA. Thanks to the liberalisation of markets in the EU and the fundamental freedoms that prevail here, Jörg Dunker acknowledges that the EU is more compatible with the WTO's legal order than other regional economic integration models. By way of conclusion, he argues that a legal clarification of relations between the WTO and regional economic integration agreements around the world is necessary in order to preserve the higher ranking of WTO standards. An interesting book on a highly important issue in the framework of globalisation, but the arguments put forward are occasionally over-simplistic, legalistic and neo-liberal.
(PB)
*** VLASIS VLASIDIS (Ed.): The Balkans, Black Sea Countries, Eastern Europe. Handy guide 2003. Macedonian Press Agency (39 Agias Sofias, GR 54623. Tel: (30-231) 0244101 - Fax: 0244105 - e-mail: mpa@mpa.gr - Internet: http://www.greekbiz.com ). 2003, 278 pp. ISBN: 960-87739-0-3.
This book, published by the Macedonian Press Agency, analyses the political and economic situation of Balkan states, Black Sea countries and Eastern Europe. It takes the form of a guide, listing biographical details about leading politicians in the various countries. The political and diplomatic views they defend is also described, particularly with regard to the European Union. The book is written from the Greek perspective, in other words from the perspective of a country occupying an important position facing Turkey and the Balkans states.
(MRo)
*** VIOLETA DEMAJ: Kosovo. Recht auf Unabhängigkeit ? Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag (Distribution: Amedia, 1A Sturzgasse, A-1141 Vienna. Tel: (43-1) 9821322-365 - Fax: 9821322-311 - e-mail: office@amedia.co.at). "Neue juristische Monographien", No. 19. 2003, 298 pp, 28.80 euros. ISBN 3-7083-0117-X.
This monograph gives an interesting, committed and detailed panorama of the history of Kosovo in the twentieth century. A law graduate at Vienna University and an expert in human rights for NGOs and international organisations, the author takes a clear position in favour of Kosovo Albanians and concludes that Kosovo's separation from Serbia has to be brought about. After decades of repression by Serbs and the refusal by the great European powers to respect the will of the Albanian people since 1912, Violeta Demaj argues that the right of self-determination of the Kosovan Albanians should be respected. She says that an independent Kosovo could provide opportunities for reconciliation between the different ethnic groups in the region. A book suitable for experts in the region and anyone desiring greater understanding of the historical and political background to the conflict between Serbs and Albanians.
(PB)
*** TARAS KUZIO: EU and Ukraine: a turning point in 2004? European Union Institute for Security Studies (43 av. du Président Wilson, F-75775 Paris cedex 16. Tel: (33-1) 56891930 - Fax: 56891931 - e-mail: institute@iss-eu.org - Internet: http://www.iss-eu.org ). "Occasional Papers", No. 47. 2003, 37 pp.
How far can the European Union extend itself? Would it be possible for the Ukraine to join the EU? On 15 March 2001, the European Parliament supported the application by the Ukraine to become a future member of the EU, but the European Union has remained silent on the issue ever since and seems to be avoiding the question. Three of Ukraine's borders (and this will soon be increased to four) are with new Member States of the European Union. And four of these countries are or will be member of NATO. Ukraine is turning into a highly important country in terms of geostrategy. In this book, Taras Kuzio considers relations between the EU and the Ukraine, and policies adopted by the EU with regard to the Ukraine. The researcher argues that the EU has never taken a clear position with regard to the Ukraine and the other former members of the Soviet Union, and has paid little attention to them. However, in the author's view, the Ukraine, which is socially and culturally connected with Eastern Europe, could make a positive contribution to the European Union. This short report suggests a series of policies that the EU could apply in its relations with the Ukraine.
(MRo)
*** PIERANGELO CATALANO, ABDELKADER SID AHMED (Eds.): La dette contre le développement: quelle stratégie pour les peuples méditerranéens ? CNES/ISPROM/Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - e-mail: edipublisud@wanadoo.fr). "Systèmes juridiques de la Méditerranée" series. 2003, 671 pp., 58 euros. ISBN 2-86600-962-2.
For more than thirty years, the repayment of foreign debt and interest payments by countries in the South has been a severe brake on their economic and human development. Stakeholders in industrialised countries are aware of this problem, of course, but the generous targets for reducing the gap between countries to the South and East of the Mediterranean and the EU, set out in the Barcelona Process, make a sharp contrast with the reality on the ground where the game is not being played amongst equals. For this reason, the "Comité pour les Études Méditerranéennes" decided to organise a seminar on this subject and this book gives the proceedings of the seminar. The authors are political and religious figures and representatives of NGOs and Economic and Social Councils, who have made an attempt to escape from stereotypes and segregated thought to find ways of getting out of the debt mire. The issue is also considered from a legal, socio-economic, moral and ethical viewpoint.
(FRo)
*** FREDERIC MASSE: Les Etats-Unis et l'Europe face au conflit colombien. Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (56 rue Jacob, F-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58717000 - Fax: 58717090 - e-mail: info@ceri-sciences-po.org - Internet http://www.ceri-sciencespo.org ). "Les études du Ceri" series, No. 95. 2003, 32 pp.
This study gives a detailed analysis of the Colombian problem of drug-trafficking and the role that the United States and Europe can play in the Colombian conflict. With the launch of the Colombia Plan in 1999, the US has greatly stepped up its aid to the country and is actively supporting the Uribe government. In the author's view, the US is monopolising conflict management in Colombia, and he finds is difficult to see how the EU could catch up in this region of the world, which is still the United States' backyard.
(MRo)
*** EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official publications office of the European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following documents:
*** Environment for Europeans. Environment DG, Communications & Civil Society Unit ( Tel.: (32-2) 2969560 - fax.: 2969560 - E-mail: envinfo@cec.eu.int - Internet: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/ environment/mailingregistration/main/mailing_reg.cfm). February 2004, No. 15, 16 p..
This publication present the recommendation of the first Union environmental report. This calls for the uncoupling of economic growth and environmental degradation, as well as the application by Member States of existing rules. It draws on ten years of Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), a scheme that loosens environmental regulation for companies that have the highest environmental production standards. The review also looks at the Kyoto protocol and the need to include a clause on sustainable development in the Constitution.
*** Liaisons sociales Europe. Groupe Liaisons (1 av. Edouard-Belin, F-92500 Rueil-Malmaison. Tel.: (33-8) 25800929 - fax: (33-1) 44722027 - Internet: http//http://www.liaisons-sociales.com ). February-March 2004, n° 98, 8 p., 32 euros. Subscription: 867.85 euros.
The heading of Liaisons Sociales Europe focuses on the decision of Member States to limit access of workers from new Member States to their labour markets. These restrictions see Germany setting a seven year limit, the same for Austria and two years for the other countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands. The publication considers that these measures are demagogic in character whose effectiveness are open to discussion. The magazine also examines the getting rid of the residency card in France and Belgian projects to increase over 55 year olds to work, in an effort to counteract the effects of the ageing population active on the labour market.
*** AER-ARE-VRE Dossier. Secretariat general, Europe offices (20 place des Halles, F-67000 Strasbourg. Tel.: (33-3) 88220707 - fax: 88756719 - E-mail: infopresse@a-e-r.org - Internet: http://www.a-e-r.org ). Winter 2003-2004, No. 4, 4 p..
This thematic case from the Assembly of the Regions of Europe is called "What Europe do we want?" and focuses on the question of services of general interest and protection of cultural diversity. Serious doubts have been raised about the benefits of the liberalisation of these services and the attainment of the objectives of the Lisbon process, the opening up to competition of certain sectors has hardly been encouraging. The article cites for example, the examples of Deutsche Post, the British railways and the success of certain Tunisian clinics in providing services for French and British patients who receive healthcare in this country as it is too expensive in their respective countries or where the waiting lists are too long..
*** Getting to grips with globalisation. The OECD in a Changing World. OECD Publications (2 rue André - Pascal, F-75775 Paris Cedex 16. Tel.: (33-1) 45248200 - E-mail: chris.brooks@oecd.org - Internet: http://www.oecd.org ). February 2004, 40 p..
This OECD brochure aims to cast some light on the organisation and reveal how it operates. It looks at recent OECD achievements, challenges posed by globalisation, as well as the position and recommendations of the organisation. Annexes provide structural information about the OECD, as well as its organigramme and budget.
*** College of Europe News. College of Europe (11 Dijver, B-8000 Bruges. Tel.: (32-50) 477477 - fax: 477110 - E-mail: info@coleurop.be). Winter 2003-Spring 2004, 16 p.. Subscription: 62 euros.
This newsletter comes out twice a year and presents the different activities to current and former members of the College of Europe. This issue provides an agenda of conferences and other activities and looks at the awarding of the "prix de l'Ancien" and where former members are now working.
Reviews in brief
*** Activities Report 2002-2003. Centre d'études de l'ethnicité et des migrations. February 2004, Liège. This report covers the activities of the Centre between 1st septembre 2002 and 31 August 2003. *** Rapport 2003: Tome 1. Banque Nationale de Belgique. Février 2004, Bruxelles. Ce tome est consacré à l'évolution économique et financière et reprend notamment des données sur l'environnement international.