*** YVES BERTONCINI, THIERRY CHOPIN: Constitution européenne: deux fois "oui" ! Fondation Robert Schuman (29 bld Raspail, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 53638300 - Fax: 53638301 - E-mail: info@robert-Schuman.org - Internet: http://www.robert-schuman.org ). "Notes de la Fondation Robert Schuman" series. 2005, 130 pp, €10.
The views of supporters of the European Constitution are finally making themselves heard in France. Unsurprisingly, the Robert Schuman Foundation chaired by Jean-Dominique Giuliani was one of the first associations to mobilise to counteract the outrageous din of the ill-matched coalition of supporters of a 'no' vote. It restores order with this brief book accessible to the general public and making an intelligent and measured case for the Constitutional Treaty. It should be required reading for all French citizens - and more besides! - ahead of the holding of the referendum at the end of May, to ensure they are up to the task of the historic event they are invited to participate in.
Initially, Yves Bertoncini (manager at the Commission and senior lecturer at the Paris Institut d'études politiques) and Thierry Chopin (a lecturer at the same Institute and Director of Studies at the Robert Schuman Foundation) proceed to encourage their fellow citizens to make a 'convinced choice' by demonstrating that the Constitution is not the step backwards that some try to make it out to be. The authors argue that the text is seen by many as following directly on from the heritage passed on by those who initiated the European project, clarifying the objectives and values of the project. Hence rejecting it would mean that French people reject this 'glorious heritage'. In passing, the authors explain that it is not to 'set them in stone' that EU policies were described in the third part of the Constitution, but a concern to provide full information and present a text to Europeans that clearly explains what Europe is today and what practical programmes it is based on. They that say it beggars belief in their eyes that this simple description, which is in no way an insult to the future, can be denounced as a description.
Yves Bertoncini and Thierry Chopin then call for a 'responsible yes' vote, responding in a highly justified style and lashings of common sense to two types of practical objection often raised to the Constitutional Treaty. To those who claim that by approving the Constitution, France would fix the nature of Europe for a long time to come and deprive its governments of all freedom to take action in the future, they respond that public debate and action cannot be reduced to a text, even it be a constitutional text. They pertinently explain that for decades, neither the Preamble, nor the articles of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (in France) have weighed in a centralised manner on the conduct of France's economic, social and diplomatic policies. Hence they assure readers that normal politics will continue as ever to determine major national and European political choices in the future. As an example, they stress that the recognition in the Constitution of services of general economic interest does not in itself indicate the economic and social decisions the EU will take the future: "It is not the Constitution that will decide on the extent of opening up to competition of areas where certain public services are involved - it is the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, based on a proposal by the Commission”. A crucial reminder! As is the authors warning that rejecting the Constitutional Treaty on the pretext of improving it by sending it back to the drawing board leaves the door open to 'regressive consequences'. They lucidly observe that the Constitution is a compromise that finely measures the interests and aspirations of the various countries of the EU, and slam the illusion of a French-style Europe when one is in the presence, in their view, of what looks like an optimal compromise in today's Europe. They conclude that against this backdrop, a French 'non' to the Constitution could mark a step backwards for the European project. This outcome would be perfectly coherent for people who've been fighting Europe for years, but not for people, whether Europhiles or not, who recognise that Europe is a vital framework for public action in certain well-defined domains. Michel Theys
*** MARIANNE DONY, EMMANUELLE BRIBOSIA (Eds.): Commentaire de la Constitution de l'Union européenne. Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (26 av. Paul Héger, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 6503799 - Fax: 6503794 - E-mail: editions@admin.ulb.ac.be - Internet: http: //http://www.editions-universite-bruxelles.be/ ). "Etudes européennes" series. 2005, 451 pp. ISBN 2-8004-1352-2.
Written by an international multi-disciplinary team of eminent academics and practitioners of the European project on the initiative of a scientific committee at the Université libre de Bruxelles, this book draws up a critical balance sheet of what is provided by the Constitutional Treaty. Did the Treaty mark a rupture or is it simply a change in continuity? It the Constitution an end in itself or simply a stage? Everyone might be tempted to provide their own answers to these questions - that in any case is what is asked of the citizens invited to directly express their views in a referendum… The utility of this book is the ability to compare the answers that arise from solidly demonstrated scientific reflection. To this end, the authors defined four vital topics, which form the four parts of the book. After the preface by Prof. Jean-Victor Louis and the introduction in which Paul Magnette describes the European Convention "between constitutional deliberation and intergovernmental negotiation', the first part of the book looks at the basic principles of the European Union. Marianne Dony outlines its values, objectives and principles, Hervé Bribosia describes the division of power between the EU and its Member States, while Nicolas Levrat studies in turn the EU's democratic life, belonging to the EU, and the entry into force and revisions of the Constitution. The second part looks at the fundamental rights that form the second part of the Constitutional Treaty. The third part looks at the institutions (all covered by Jean Paul Jacqué, apart from the Court of Justice which is dealt with by Koen Lenaerts and Ignace Maselis), advisory bodies (Nicolas Dupont), decision-making procedures (Alain Van Solinge), legal instruments (Sean Van Raepenbusch), the legal system (Lenaerts and Maselis) and the EU's finances (Marianne Dony and Thierry Ronse). The fourth part looks at various EU policies, namely Economic and Monetary Union (Marianne Dony and Jean-Victor Louis), the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (with essays by Philippe De Bruycker, Nathalie Watté and Catherine Tubeuf, Gilles de Kerchove and Anne Weyembergh) and the EU's external action (Barbara Delcourt, Eric Remacle, Catherine Smits, Gaëlle Dusepulchre, Inge Govaere and Rodolphe Munoz). General conclusions are drawn by Marianne Dony. Impossible to make a resume without betraying all the nuances. But she starts her conclusions with a quotation from Benjamin Franklin, explaining his vote on the draft Constitution presented by the Philadelphia Convention, that various aspects of the convention he did not approve for the moment, and he was not certain either whether another convention would be able to draw up another Constitution. This is why he approved this one, because he didn't expect anything better and because he was not sure it was not the best. Food for thought for various contemporary politicians ! (MT)
*** ENRIQUE BARON CRESPO: Europa. Pasion y Razon. Biblioteca Nueva (38 Almagro, 28010 Madrid). 2005, 302 pp. ISBN 84-9742-394-1.
"The quiet man" mentioned in the preface by Jacques Delors, who regularly worked with him when they were respectively the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Commission, looks back in this series of essays on the European project at his experience as a European both from passion and from reason. As the Spanish prime minister José Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero points out at the start of the book, Enrique Baron belongs to the lucky generation that lived through the first steps in Spanish democracy and Spain joining Europe. Minister at a very young age, then a Member of the European Parliament of which he was President after chairing the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Socialist Group (and where he is currently President of the International Trade Committee), Enrique Baron here describes the various stages in the history that he has been able to follow so closely, whether in terms of enlargement of the EU, developing the foreign and defence policy, introducing the euro, globalisation, or the European Constitution. And he sketches a series of portraits of figureheads he has encountered over the past twenty-five years, from Delors to Mitterrand or Yehudi Menuhin, "the violin player in heaven". (MG)
*** PIERRE LEQUILLER: Le Parlement et l'Europe: un nouvel élan constitutionnel. Délégation pour l'Union européenne de l'Assemblée nationale (Boutique de l'Assemblée nationale, 4 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40636121 - Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). "Rapport d'information", No. 2024. 2005, 113 pp, €5. ISBN 2-11-118925-1.
President of the 'Délégation pour l'Union européenne de l'Assemblée nationale française' and erstwhile highly active Member of the European Convention, Pierre Lequiller describes in this newsletter the constitutional changes required in France to proceed to ratify the European Constitution. The French parliamentarian starts off by stressing that the text makes a considerable improvement to the association of national parliaments to build a more democratic Europe closer to its citizens. Hence the need for this constitutional review, which will enable the French parliament to exert its new powers in terms of controlling the principle of subsidiarity and the right to oppose a simplified revision procedure for the Constitutional Treaty. The author also takes advantage of the opportunity to draw up a balance sheet of the real situation regarding French parliamentary control of European affairs, convinced that Europe needs its parliaments more than ever. He then makes suggestions for boosting the European dimension of parliamentary work.
(MT)
*** MARK LEONARD: Why Europe will run the 21st century. Fourth Estate (77-85 Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8JB. Internet: http://www.4thestate.com ). 2005, 170 pp, £8-99. ISBN 0-00-719531-1.
Hidden behind this catchy title, this latest book by Mark Leonard (who set up The Foreign Policy Centre think tank at the age of twenty-four) is a detailed analysis of the advantages of Europe, judged by its opponents to be weak. Mark Leonard describes a situation he knows inside out, not fearing to be provocative when he speaks, for example, about the 'post-American world'. From Monnet to the current day, Leonard explains through detailed examples what he describes as the strength and weakness of a continent working in the long-term. The book is a challenge to all Eurosceptics on either side of the Atlantic who believe that Old Europe's époque is over, comments Joseph S. Nye, author of "Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics". (MG)
*** ERNESTO ROSSI: Gli Stati Uniti d'Europa. Consiglio regionale del Piemonte (15 via Alfieri, I-10121
Turin) and Celid (26 via Cialdini, I-10138 Turin. Tel: (39-11) 4474774 - E-mail: edizioni@celid.it - Internet: http://www.celid.it ).2004, 64 pp. ISBN 88-7661-628-4.
Born in 1897 and dying in 1967, Ernesto Rossi was one of the greatest representatives in the twentieth century of secular, democratic, anti-fascist and European federalist Italy. Hence the fortunate initiative taken by the regional council of Piedmont in Italy is to be welcomed, namely of re-publishing some of his most remarkable writings. After l'Unità Europea (2000), Popolo Europeo (2001) and the "Manifeste de Ventotene" that Rossi penned together with his old partner-in-arms Altiero Spinelli while they were both prisoners under Mussolini's regime (and there is a moving picture in this book painted during that period of 'confinement' by Rossi, based on the painting of the Last Supper on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, sketching his companions in misfortune, including one who would go on to become President, Pertini), this time it is the 'United States of Europe' that is coming out from under the dustcover. A happy rediscovery since as Sergio Pistone explains in the introduction, it really is a classic of federalist thought. Although the text is a little dated in places, it remains remarkably of the moment for all that, when he explains the profound reasons why European unification is indispensable (MT)
*** NICOLE LAMBERT: Petits Européens. Editions Nicole Lambert (9 rue Morère, F-75014 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40449873 - E-mail: lambertn@club-internet.fr). 2005, 112 colour pages, €24-50 ISBN 2-913389-29-5.
It was only a matter of time before someone thought of it and someone did it. The seductive idea of teaching children about Europe through the eyes of young citizens of the twenty-five countries of the European Union mobilised a huge number of people in the countires in question (as proven by the long list of names of people thanked at the end of the book). The charm of the book (anyone knowing the "Les Triplés" series will immediatley recognise the handof Nicole Lambert) should of course be matched by correct information. Consulting this book, in fact, both children and adults will learn a lot about what is special about each country, described by a child showing their house, toys, favourite food, books they wouldn't want to give away, monsters they're frightened of, etc. Thanks to the work of the team moblised by Nicole Lambert, we discover the most popular names in each country, along with the festivals, Christmas traditions, recipes and what happens in each coutnry when a child loses a milk tooth. In each chapter there is a picture of a child by a great artist of the country in question. There is even a vocabulary list so readers can count and say a few common phrases from daily life in all European languages, along with a short history of Europe from the first men of prehistory to the most recent EU enlargement. The book has been designed and produced with such abundant enthusiasm and attention to detail that if it were to be read by all European schoolchildren, the children would tend to know far more about Europe than their parents … (LG)
*** The EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following document:
*** L'Environnement pour les Européens. DG Environment, Communications Unit (Internet: http: //europa.eu.int/environnement/mailingregistration/main/mailing_reg.cfm). March 2005, No. 19, 16 pp.
In December 2004, representatives of 189 met in Buenos Aires to hold serious discussions about action to be taken under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Overall, the European Union was happy with the outcome of the meeting, but the perils of inaction at the global level remain. For this reason, this issue of 'L'Environnement pour les Européens' includes a special dossier on climate change. It explains the global challenges of the issue and outlines some of the tools established at global and European level to counteract these dangers, like the Kyoto Protocol or the trading system for greenhouse gas emission authorisations that was opened to companies on 1 January 2005. Other articles look at matters like the EU's action plan for ecotechnology, and ratification of the Aarhus Convention that gives citizens the right to express their views in decision-making concerning the environment.
*** 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 ). March 2005, No. 123, 12 pp, 32 euros. Annual subscription: 867.85 euros.
The main subject of this issue is European companies (ec), according to the special European terms and conditions for commercial companies with trans-European business. The least one can say is that after almost forty years in the pipeline, the ec is currently a flop given the paucity of enthusiasm it is generating among businesses. In fact, at present, only five companies have registered as ecs. There are certain advantages, however, to being an ec, and several recently merged companies swear that they would have chosen to be ecs if the legislation had existed at the time of the merger. Other articles look at updating Luxembourg's law on collective bargaining, German efforts to provide apprenticeships and training to young unemployed people, and harassment being seen as the equivalent of a professional danger justifying downing tools in Spain.
*** Paneuropa Intern. Paneuropa-Union Deutschland e.V. (17 Dachauer Straße, D-80335 Munich. Tel: (49-89) 554683 - Fax: 594768). March 2005, No. 3, 4 pp, Annual subscription: 95 euros.
This issue of Paneuropa Intern, dated 18 March, touches on current events (the death of the Pope) on its first page, looking at the interaction (and sometimes the confrontation) of Christian groups with the European Union's politics. The areas that cause most aggravation are obviously the composition of the family unit (man-woman or otherwise), and bioethics, particularly the use of human embryo cells and cloning, even for so-called therapeutic purposes. Other articles look at Croatia's path towards joining the EU, and the “Europatag" on frontiers and foundations, looking at the idea of limits to Europe and the cultural and historical origins of Europe.
*** Nonmarket nonsense. 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.cato.org ). "Trade Briefing Paper" No. 22. March 2005, 12 pp, 2 dollars.
This newsletter points out that while the United States' trade relations with China have changed and there has been a mushrooming of bilateral trade and investment, there are also more reasons for disputes. One of the reasons of this rising tension is the United States' anti-dumping policy with regard to China. This policy is analysed in the newsletter by Daniel Ikenson, who says it is anachronistic, unfair and inconsistent with the Bush Administration's general policy towards China.
*** ASEF News. Asia-Europe Foundation (31 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, 119595 Singapore. Tel: (65-687) 49700 - Fax: 21135 - E-mail: info@asef.org - Internet: http://www.asef.org ). February 2005, No. 68, 12 pp. Annual subscription: 27 euros.
The Asia-Europe Foundation describes its 13 new partner states (the Baltic States and several South-East Asian countries) and their activities. Many have cultural, scientific or social characteristics, like intercultural dialogue seminars on sexual equality, and differences in cultural, religious and social concepts of justice.