*** CHRISTOPHER BOOKER, RICHARD NORTH: The Great Deception. The secret history of the European Union. The Continuum International Publishing Group (The Tower Building, 11 York Road London SE1 7NX, United Kingdom. Tel: (44-20) 79220880 - Fax: 79220881 - Internet: http://www.continuumbooks.com ). 2003, 474 pp. ISBN 0-8264-7105-6.
"This book tells the story of the most extraordinary political project in history" … These are the opening words of this unusual book in which the authors attempt to demonstrate what they describe as the most spectacular coup d'etat in history. The secret coup d'etat led, over the decades, to the unification of Europe under a supranational government. The coup d'etat was 'fomented' by Jean Monnet, starting in the 1920s along with a British (!) official, Erik Salter, who became Monnet's friend at the League of Nations. Two men inspired by the action and ideas of a French minister whose name is unknown these days, Louis Loucheur, the first man to think (back in 1925) of merging the steel-making industries of Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg, along with the Saar Basin, under the management of an embryonic supranational authority. The plans came to nothing, but Monnet and Salter did not abandon the idea and after the Second World War, the man who would go down in history as the 'father of Europe' got back to work, this time making use of Robert Schuman "as little more than a ventriloquist's puppet". If we are to believe the authors, Jean Monnet took his first open steps with the first Community when he spoke about the High Authority as a draft supranational European government. The failure of the European Defence Community then led him to opt to work in the shadows, lying through omission. Christopher Booker and Richard North explain that Paul-Henri Spaak and Monnet started the 'great deception' with the Treaty of Rome, by eliminating any reference to the objective of forming a political or 'federal' Europe and only focussing on the Common Market, designed to promote peaceful economic cooperation, trade and general prosperity. Through their account of the following stages, the authors outline the 'secret coup d'etat', explaining that the United Kingdom was also involved in the 'great deception'. To the authors' eyes it is clear that British Prime Ministers Macmillan and Heath were fully aware of the real political integration process they were getting involved in when by applying to join. They took great care to hide this from the British people, and their successors have taken the same attitude (although Margaret Thatcher rebelled a bit). The authors derive consolation from the fact that with the latest round the enlargement, people will demand that the masks are removed.
Michel Theys
*** GEORGIOS DIMITRAKOPOULOS, GEORGIOS KREMLIS (Eds.): A new constitutional settlement for the European people. Ant. N. Sakkoulas Publishers (69 Solons Str., 10679 Athens, Greece. Tel: (30-210) 3618198 - Fax: 3610425 - e-mail: info@sakkoulas.gr - Internet: http://www.ant-sakkoulas.gr ) and Etablissements Emile Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5129845 - Fax: 4117202 - e-mail: bruylant@prophost.eunet.be). 2004,146 pp. ISBN 960-15-1148-2 and 2-8027-1893-2.
The editors of this collection of essays are Nea Demokratia MEP Georgios Dimitrakopoulos, Vice-President of the European Parliament where he is a rapporteur for institutional reform, and Georgios Kremlis, high ranking Greek official at the European Commission. In this clear, user-friendly book, they gather essays by people who have contributed in one way or another to the process that should lead to the European Constitution, like European Commissioners (and former Convention Members) Antonio Vitorino and Michel Barnier, the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, and MEPs Elmar Brok (also an erstwhile Convention Member), José Maria Gil-Robles (also a rapporteur on institutional reform) and Giorgio Napolitano, President of the EP's Constitutional Committee.
There are also several essays by Greek figureheads, like the Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Simitis government, Tassos Giannitsis, the Culture Minister in the Simitis government, Evangelos Venizelos, and the Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights Christos Rozakis. European Commissioner Margot Wallström argues the case for a "Sustainable Development Protocol" to be annexed to the Constitution. (MG)
*** PHILIPPE MOREAU DEFARGES: La "Constitution" européenne en question. Editions d'Organisation (1, rue Thénard, F-75240 Paris. Internet: http: //http://www.editions-organisation.com ). 2004, 151 pp, 15 euros. ISBN 2-7081-3099-4.
Minister plenipotentiary, researcher at the Institut français des relations internationales and lecturer at the Paris Institut d'études politiques, Philippe Moreau Defarges is a master in the art of pedagogy and this new book provides additional evidence of this. Commissioner Pascal Lamy comments that the book brings the constitutional debate to everyman, noting that it was about time too. By managing to make the book simple, clear and accurate, Philippe Moreau Defarges is playing his part in the European project since the project can only continue if it is understood. Initially the author analyses how and why the constitutional threshold has been crossed. He then looks at the constitutional debate, from the Convention's activities to the failed European Council in December, examining all the points of discussion and the arguments put forward by the different players. He then considers the possible options following the halting of the project in Brussels, and then goes on to consider the connections between the constitutional debate and the challenges facing the European Union today. (MT)
*** BRUNO DE WITTE (Ed.): Ten Reflections on the Constitutional Treaty for Europe. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and Academy of European Law, European University Institute (Badia Fiesolana, I-50016 San Domenico di Fiesole. Internet: http://www.iue.it/RSCAS/Publications/ ). May 2003, 226 pp.
The Robert Schuman Centre of the Florence European University Institute specialises in the study of European treaties and the process of reorganising and redrafting them. Its collection of legal texts underlying the European Union has been of paramount use in the European constitutional reform process ever since the Nice Summit in 2000. The fact is that a European Constitution appears more likely thanks to the Convention's work, and the Centre brought together a dozen experts on constitutional issues, under the leadership of Bruno de Witte, to write this book. He aims to draw the attention of participants in the debate over the Constitution to some of the implications and political and legal constraints that are so crucial for this project. The subjects covered range from the drafting of the preamble to the final measures, via fundamental rights, assigning of powers, simplification of the EU's legislation, the establishment of institutions able to respond to enlargement and the flexibility of the Treaty. While the authors did not plan to produce an exhaustive commentary on the Convention's work or to put forward their own version of the Constitution, this book gives one the pleasant feeling of seeing the future Constitution being set out before one's eyes…
(FRo)
*** BRIGID LAFFAN: Irlande et Europe: Continuité et changement. La Présidence 2004. Notre Europe (41 bld des Capucines, F-75002 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 44589797 - Fax: 44589799 - e-mail: notreeurope@notre-europe.asso.fr - Internet: http: //http://www.notre-europe.asso.fr ). "Études et Recherches" series, No. 30. 2003, 36 pp.
Ireland has for a long time been the image of a rural country which is rather conservative and doesn't have a particularly dynamic economy. The country made a fundamental change, however, when it announced moves towards the European Community at the end of the 1950s. In this publication issued by the study group close to Jacques Delors' heart, Brigid Laffan, Jean Monnet lecturer in European policies and Research Director at Dublin European Institute, retraces the European experience of Ireland. It was classified by the OECD as a peripheral developing country in 1957 but turned into the Celtic Tiger in the 1990s, the only poor Member State to have managed to complete the catching-up process. The former President of the Commission explains in the introduction, however, that Ireland's economic development coincided with a falling away of appetite for integration, as he puts it, which is characterised by a worrying wearing away of desire to live alongside all other Europeans, leaving a detestable taste in the air. The author also attempts to describe the Irish Presidency (which began on 1 January) which saw the biggest round of enlargement of the European Union. She makes an analogy between the European history of Ireland and the issues the Irish Presidency had to deal with. (FRo)
*** BENJAMIN ANGEL, JACQUES LAFITTE: L'Europe. Petite histoire d'une grande idée. Gallimard (Paris). "Découvertes Gallimard" series. 2004, 128 pp, 11.60 euros. ISBN 2-07-031515-0.
With a lively page lay-out and plenty of illustrations, this is a book for the general public, a remarkable introduction to the history of the European project since the end of the Second World War. The authors, both of whom used to work for Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy, Benjamin Angel also having worked as an advisor to Pedro Solbes, give a lively explanation of the major stages in the crazy adventure in the service of wisdom, from the Marshall Plan and the birth of the Council of Europe to the introduction of the euro and enlargement on 1 May 2004 to ten new Member States. The vibrant chronological presentation is studded with documents and eye witness accounts and a very useful glossary. (MT)
*** JOCHEN LEGLEITNER: Europapolitik und innerstaatlicher Bezugsrahmen. Herleitung und Entwicklung der deutschen und französischen Europakonzeption im Spannungsfeld von EU-Integration und Osterweiterung der Jahre 1989/90 - 2000. Peter Lang (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 ). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 467. 2003, 318 pp. ISBN 3-631-51074-8.
The strategies and visions behind European policy in France and Germany during the 1990s are the subject of this doctorate thesis by an economist and political analyst at Trier University in Germany. Facing the simultaneous challenges of enlargement to the East and the deepening of European Union, Germany and France have developed different ideas for the European Community after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany and the reforms instituted by the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice Treaties. The author concludes that the different concepts prevailing in the two countries, oscillating between around the pole of supranational co-operation and national sovereignty, on the one hand, and the pole of internal federalism and the model of a unified state on the other, are moving closer together. Their origins take root in the different political systems of France and Germany. Good documentation for the pre-Constitution debates in Europe held by France and Germany. (PB)
*** HELENE LEPOIVRE: Staatlichkeit und Souveränität in der Europäischen Union am Beispiel Frankreichs. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 3600. 2003, 398 pp. ISBN 3-631-50268-0.
The French concept of the nation state and the French idea of national sovereignty in the face of the theoretical, legal and political challenges posed by the European Union are the subject of this academic monograph, a doctorate thesis for Göttingen University in Germany. The author, a young French lawyer, examines what the EU implies in terms of traditional ideas about states, nations and sovereignty. She concludes that in the united Europe, sovereignty can be divided into democratic sovereignty and national sovereignty and that the nation and the state are no longer identical. A detailed legal and historical introduction to help readers gain greater understanding of French ideas about the constitutional challenges inherent in the European project. (PB)
*** PAUL SIMELON: Hitler: comprendre une exception historique ? L'Harmattan (5-7 rue de l'Ecole Polytechnique, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40467920 Fax: 43298620 - Internet: http: //http://www.editions-harmattan.fr ). "Questions contemporaines" series. 2004, 157 pp, 14.50 euros. ISBN 2-7475-6272-7.
The philosopher Paul Simelon aims in this book to understand how a regime as monstrous as Hitler's could come into being. In order to do this, he draws parallels with the 'revolution' led by Atatürk in a very similar political context to that of Germany in Hitler's time. At the same time, he highlights the similarities between the Shoah and other huge genocides in hisotry. While it is true that Germans were complicit in the crimes committed in their name by the Third Reich, Paul Simelon believes that this complicity is not, as the end of the day, much more blameworthy than the indifferent shown by Europeans today towards peoples they allow to tear each other apart or peoples whom they allow to be exploited to ensure the well-being of Europe.
(MT)
*** The EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Community, L-2985 Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following document:
*** RDT info. Research DG, Information and Communication Unit (Tel.: (32-2) 2959971 - Fax: 2958220 - e-mail: research@cec.eu.int). March 2004, 44 pp.
This special issue focuses on the link between science and art. Science and art, as ways of perceiving the world, are becoming ever more tightly connected in European culture. This is particularly true about Finland, where the word for science is "tiede" and the word for art is "taide". This magazine answers the desires of readers wanting science to be approached in a different manner, with articles on such matters as the beauty of mathematical graphs, the enigma of knots and science in literature.
*** ARE dossier. Assemblée des Régions d'Europe (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 ). Spring 2004, No. 5, 4 pp.
In this issue, the Assemblée des régions d'Europe looks at the importance of popular support for enlargement to be made a success. This is the main conclusion reached following the sixth major conference held at the end of November to discuss this issue in Poznan (Poland). This dossier outlines the main guidelines reached at the meeting, like putting citizens back into democratic debates, simplifying the management of the Structural Funds and the importance of local mobilisation in the face of the challenges of globalisation.
*** La Lettre du CEPII. Centre d'études prospectives et d'informations internationales. La Documentation française (124 rue Henri Barbusse, F-93305 Aubervilliers Cedex. Tel: (33-1) 40157000 - Internet: http://www.cepii.fr ). March 2004, No. 232, 4 pp. Annual subscription: 49.70 euros.
This newsletter draws attention to the taxation of new members of the European Union. While lowering taxation in the Fifteen Member States gave rise to fear of rising inequality and a drop in the quality of public services and public finance, the ten new Member States seem to have opted for even lower levels of taxation - particularly for companies - which may have a negative impact on employment. The newsletter looks at European taxation, raising the idea again of fiscal cooperation since the current situation is highly heterogeneous.
*** Reflections on the state of play: The unfinished agenda. Kangaroo Group (The Movement for Free Movement c/o European Parliament, 60 rue Wiertz EAS 260, B-1047 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2844666 - Fax: 2800784 - e-mail: office@kangaroogroup.org - Internet: http://www.kangaroogroup.org ). April 2004, 16 pp.
The Kangaroo Group, which aims at the creation of a genuine single European market, established a working group in February 2003 called "Liberalisation of Energy Markets" to look into what needs to be done to establish a genuine, operational single energy market. This document publishes the group's ideas, outlining a series of concrete cases of liberalisation (or delays in liberalisation) and the Commission's plans.
*** Protection without protectionism. Cato Institute - Center for Trade Policy Studies (1000 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. Tel: (1-202) 8420200 - Fax: 8423490 - e-mail: ctps@cato.org - Internet: http: //http://www.freetrade.org ). "Trade Policy Analysis" series. April 2004, No. 27, 28 pp, 6 dollars.
Aaron Lukas, the author of this research, considers the balance of the United States' protection against a potential terrorist attach and free trade. He warns against using anti-terrorism as an argument in favour of economic protectionism which would lower US standards of living by damaging trade.
Reviews in brief
*** Look Japan. Look Japan Ltd.. April 2004, Tokyo. This issue celebrates and looks back on 150 years of relations between Japan and the United States.