*** MIROSLAV N. JOVANOVIC: The Economics of European Integration. Limits and Prospects. Edward Elgar Publishing (Glensanda House, Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham, Glos, GL50 1UA, UK. Tel: (44-1242) 226934 - Fax: 262111 - E-mail: info@e-elgar.co.uk - Internet: http://www.e-elgar.com ). 2005, 918 pp. ISBN 1-84376-691-4.
A weighty tome like this could cause some sleepless nights. Likewise, its subject matter - the economics of European integration - is unlikely to attract many readers outside the very restricted circles of those already expert, or studying to become so. And yet, you can't put this book down - it is extremely user-friendly! An official with responsibility for economics at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva, Miroslav Jovanovic has managed to provide an extremely detailed overview of economic activity carried out in the European process, and to make it digestible for any European citizen wanting to simply have a greater understanding of the economic and political world surrounding him, which he may be called upon to give an assessment of in the future.
The author starts by underlining the key stages in the building of the European Community, from the relatively modest sectoral integration at the beginning to the European Union of today, spectacularly enlarged in terms of both powers and Member States. He then looks at monetary integration, arguing that although the eurozone experiences some fragility, the political determination of the countries that belong to it is so strong and clear that it will continue, at least into the medium-term. On fiscal and budget policies, Miroslav Jovanovic argues that most of the work has not even begun yet (he thinks that apart from for farming, the budget does not play a significant role in most aspects of the EU's economic policy). The way the negotiations over the new Financial Perspectives began gives disturbing credence to the author's view that "in 2004, the European Union entered a much more difficult integration phase than people tend to imagine". The fourth chapter looks at the Common Agricultural Policy, for which it would be unfair, pointless and damaging to assess the requirements, achievements and impact, using unconditional free-trade criteria, says the author, although pressure for greater liberalisation within the framework of the WTO will clearly lead to more reforms of Green Europe.
The same methodology - describing the backdrop, explaining the current situation and considering what directions might be taken in the future - is then applied to the industrial, trade and competition policies (the author comments that the EU is starting to be passionate about preferential trade agreements - in other words discriminatory ones) and then looks at regional policy, the mobility of capital and workers and the relatively limited but constantly changing common policies, like social policies (the author comments that while the aims of the European Social Charter are noble, its actual measures might introduce additional rigidity in the labour market, and in the author's view this is not the right road to take), the environment and transport. The last chapter looks at the repercussions of the EU expanding to 25 Member States. The author argues that it may well take the EU at least a decade, maybe a generation, to digest all the economic, political and organisational dimensions brought about by expanding to the East. This does not prevent Miroslav Jovanovic arguing that the EU, over and above all its imperfections and the major challenges lying ahead, has good chances of, and the motivation to, fine-tune its economic integration, as long at the politicians agree to favour the building of a common future, rather than hanging on to short-term national interests.
Michel Theys
*** KLAUS LIEBSCHER, JOSEF CHRISTL, PETER MOOSLECHNER, DORIS RITZBERGER-GRUNWALD (Eds.): The Economic Potential of a Larger Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing (see above). 2004, 312 pp. ISBN 1-84376-962-X.
Drawn up by eminent thinkers at the Austrian national bank, led by the bank's governor, Klaus Liebscher, this collection of essays takes an in-depth look at major economic issues surrounding the most recent round of EU enlargement, along with previous enlargements and those planned for the future, to predict outcomes. High-flying academics and practitioners study a panoply of decisive issues for fruitful transition periods and economic integration, to ensure a prosperous Europe in the future. Particular attention is paid to monetary integration, particularly new Member States joining the Exchange Rate Mechanism. A detailed book that manages to avoid over-technical jargon and is therefore more accessible for the general public.
(LD)
*** MAGDALENA LICKOVA: La Communauté européenne et le système Gatt/OMC. Perspectives croisées. Editions Pedone (13 rue Soufflot, F-75005 Paris). CEDIN Paris I series: "Perspectives internationales", No. 25. 2005, 201 pp, €20. ISBN 2-233-00464-7.
Not a week goes by these days without somebody talking about the World Trade Organisation and this is likely to continue in the next few months at an even greater pace. Hence the huge interest of this book looking from the legal point of view at how the universal meshes with the regional. The universal here is the WTO, created on 1 January 2005, and the body created in 1947 that preceded it, GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs). The regional is the European Community. This meeting is a marriage of fire and water. One aims to create a universal free trade system, while the other aims at regional integration which, by its very nature, establishes trade concessions between its Member States to the exclusion of others. In the first part of the book, Magdalena Lickova, studying for a doctorate in international public law at Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and Western Bohemia University in Pilsen (Czech Republic), looks at how the Community got involved in GATT, and then the WTO, recalling that the Treaty of Rome was never formally accepted (or formally outlawed) by GATT. She then considers the way the Community, with the general extension of its powers, has been involved in world trade bodies. The second part of the book looks at the role of global trade rules in the EU legal order. She also studies the 'unfinished' legal status recognised in EU law of reports adopted by the WTO dispute settlement body.
(PBo)
*** PIERRE-BRUNO RUFFINI (Ed.): Economic Integration and Multinational Investment Behaviour. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (see above). "New Horizons in International Business" series. 2004, 457 pp, $135. ISBN 1-84376-652-3
The title of this book fits into modern thinking and contemporary events like EU enlargement, boosting the Common Market and globalisation and its accompanying opportunities and dangers. The book clearly has more specific aims and is divided into three sections. The first section looks at economic integration and the behaviour of international investors working for multinationals, studying the connections between where the business units are based and their global performance. To this end, the authors study the influence of factors like the degree of protection afforded to patents and R&D capacity. They also look at the spread of foreign direct investment abroad (French fdi in this case) at national and regional level and the positive impact of fragmented production on Japanese multinationals. The essays in the second part of the book look at the effect of fdi on the recipient country in terms of regional integration. The last part looks at the impact of fdi overseas in terms of the economy of specific regions, demonstrating, for example, how Spain and Portugal joining the EU led to a mushrooming of trade between the two, which had been virtually non-existent beforehand. Another essay looks at the role of the same factors in improving the quality of exports from central and East European countries. Although Prof. Pierre-Bruno Ruffini (University of Le Havre), the book's editor, and other contributors are of French or Portuguese nationality and the first part of the book tends to focus on information concerning French companies, the book's centre of gravity is situated in East Asia, the region where the most investment is placed.
(FRo)
*** R. SCOTT HACKER, BÖRJE JOHANSSON, CHARLIE KARLSSON (Eds.): Emerging Market Economies and European Economic Integration. Edward Elgar Publishing (see above). 2005, 352 pp, $120. ISBN 1-84376-679-5.
The 2004 enlargement of the European Union to 10 new Member States, eight of which from the former Soviet bloc, awakened a flurry of interest that soon gave way to indifference tinged with concern about, for example, waves of Eastern European workers flooding into Western Europe. This book explains, however, that the transition of these centrally planned economies to a market economy, and their integration in the EU, is a major event that will cause enormous and fundamental changes in the emerging market economies, but will also provide opportunities. The authors provide models of inter-regional and international trade, the effect of this transition on employment markets and the migration of workers, and its impact on the budget, finance and environmental policies of the eight new Member States. To this end, some essays look at general changes in the prism of contemporary economic theories, while others consider in more detail issues like Romania's fiscal policy, immigration in Germany (only looking at immigration from the founder states of the EU) and changes in border towns in Eastern Poland. The latter essays shows, for example, how such border towns have become boom towns with all the cross-border trade carried out the army of 'ants' - individual traders who come to Poland to sell bags of vodka and cigarettes - but this is sometimes reversed later on. The book's authors are academics from Sweden, Germany, Austria, Latvia and Poland and the volume will be of use to any economist interested in the subject.
(FRo)
*** CHRISTINA MARIA PELZER: Die Kompetenzen der EG im Bereich der Forschung. Eine Analyse ihrer Reichweite und Grenzen vor dem Hintergrund des Art. 5 Abs. 3 GG. Dargestellt am Beispiel der Gentechnologie. 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 ). "Kölner Schriften zu Recht und Staat" series, No. 24. 2004, 219 pp. ISBN 3-631-53341-1.
Potential areas of conflict between the EU's research policy under Articles 163-173 of the Treaty and other relevant legal bases on the one hand, and protecting academic and scientific freedom as guaranteed by the German Constitution on the other, are examined in-depth in this doctoral thesis by a young German lawyer from Cologne University. Christina Maria Pelzer concludes that the legal limits of the EU research policy, like the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, will not necessary suffice in future to prevent EU activity overflowing and hampering national research policies. Clear analysis of the current legal situation facing research under Community law and certain EU Member States.
(PB)
*** MICHAEL KUHN, SVEND OTTO REMOE (Eds.): Building the European Research Area. Socio-Economic Research in Practice. Peter Lang Publishing (275 Seventh Avenue, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Internet: http://www.peterlangusa.com ). 2005, 318 pp. ISBN 0-8204-7471-1.
Michael Kuhn, Director of the Bremen University forum for regional European research, and Svend Otto Remoe, a political analyst advisors to the European Commission on technology and innovation, take a look in this book at an area of academia largely unexplored, research in social science that crosses borders to match the shifting sands of trans-national events that gave rise to the European Community. The authors make a series of recommendations on further progress in this area.
(LD)
*** DANIEL GARRIGUE, CHRISTIAN PAUL: Brevetabilité des logiciels: enjeux et débats pour une stratégie européenne. 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 ). "Les rapports d'information de l'Assemblée nationale", No. 2426. 2005, 31 pp, €3.50. ISBN 2-1111-7510-2.
This report by two French parliamentarians looks at the challenges inherent in the controversial reform of software patenting, analysing the legal solutions Europe has been debating for several years now, and debate surrounding the draft directive on software patenting and the views of the different stakeholders. The authors explain that the debate reflects the problem of agreeing on exactly what patents should cover in order to meet the general interest in this political and business minefield.
(PBo)
*** The EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Official Publications Office of the European Communities, L-2985 Luxembourg. Internet: http: //publications.eu.int) has published the following document:
*** Des agences européennes oeuvrent pour vous à travers toute l'Europe. 2005, 20 p.. ISBN 92-9157-384-1
Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg and, in a more restricted sense, Frankfurt, are cities famous as the location of European institutions. With a desire to decentralise Community activity and make it more visible, sixteen agencies (soon to be joined by five new ones) are scattered among different EU Member States. From Lisbon to Thessalonica and Alicante to Copenhagen, they respond to the need to develop scientific or technical know-how in specific areas or act as forums of integration and dialogue at European level. This booklet describes each of the agencies, working in areas like improving working conditions, food safety, maritime and aviation safety, the environment or combatting xenophobia.
*** Notabene. Observatoire social européen (13 rue Paul Emile Janson. B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5371971 - Fax: 5392808 - E-mail: info@ose.be - Internet: http://www.ose.be ). June 2005,No. 138, 16 pp. Annual subscription: €20.
This issue looks at water in Europe, studied by Eric Van den Abeele, director of studies at Mons University in Belgium. He initially writes about the current situation in the water industry, characterised by huge disparities, and then outlines the European legal framework the Commission would like to 'update', but which some see as a desire to privatise the industry. The third part looks at modernisation and seems to corroborate the hypothesis of moving in the direction of privatisation, since the Commission sees the water industry as a typical business activity. Short articles look at issues like sexual equality, the Justice and Home Affairs Council and recognition of professional qualifications.
*** Forum. Bertelsmann Stiftung (256 Carl-Bertelsmann-Straâe, D-33311 Gütersloh. Tel: (052-41) 8181310 - Fax: 8181999 - E-mail: info@bertelsmann.de -Internet: http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de ). 2005, No. 2, 42 pp.
Following the first issue looking at integration, this second issue of Forum considers the quality of education. Germany's economic prospects and demography mean that it must count on innovation if it is to continue to be a strong economy in the next few years. This innovation policy must be based on well-trained citizens, hence the review describes a whole panoply of projects and directions for education, from re-designing playschools to boosting night school.
*** Economia Exterior. Estudios de Politica Exterior SA (49 Núñez de Balboa, E-28001 Madrid. Tel: (34-91) 4312711 - Fax: 4354027 - E-mail: suscriptiones@politicaexterior.com - Internet: htpp//http://www.politicaexterior.com ). Summer 2005, No. 33, 171 pp. 13 euros. Annual subscription: 93 euros.
Tourism accounts for 11.5% of Spain's GDP, but changing tourist behaviour and growing competition from countries like Turkey, Croatia, Morocco and Tunisia mean that this issue of Economia Exterior focuses on tourism, studying tourism in Spain and also, more generally, in Europe and the OECD. It looks at big issues like the fragmentation of mass tourism, 'tribal' tourism, the impact of low cost flights and coaches and the impact of the internet on where people travel.
*** Biblioteca della libertà. Centro di Ricerca e Documentazione "Luigi Einaudi". Edizioni Angelo Guerini e Associati (28 viale Filippetti. I-20122 Milan. Te.: (39-2) 582980 - Fax: 58298030 - E-mail: info@guerini.it - Internet: http://www.guerini.it ). January - March 2005, No.178, 146 pp. Annual subscription: €56.
In its fourth year of publication, Biblioteca della libertà has been re-designed, including its editorial policy, and now calls on new contributors to reflect and react to contemporary liberal democratic society and the international political system, or rather to international political disorder, one might be tempted to say after reading the first article on the 'unipolar' inefficiency of the United States forces of coercion in terms of giving order and structure to the international system. Other articles look at the growing privatisation of politics (which leads to the use of force), the role of the United Nations in combatting terrorism, and the role of United Kingdom between the United States and Europe, seen through defence eyeglasses.