*** CATHERINE ILIC, CHLOE LEPRINCE: God Save l'Europe. L'Europe vue par les Britanniques. Editions Jacob-Duvernet134 rue du Bac, F-75007 Paris. Tel (33-1) 42226365 - E-mail: louis.sfg@noos.fr). 2006, 183 pp, €18-90. ISBN 2-84724-101-9.
"There is an island off the coast of Europe where the newspaper headlines on a day of bad weather in 1911 explained that the Channel was so foggy that the Continent was cut off from the world!"… This is how this amusing book opens - highly recommended holiday reading if one wants to learn something on the beach without getting a headache. Two talented, caustic and refreshing journalists take the United Kingdom to court and argue the prosecution and defence cases in terms of the British outlook on Europe. Highly nuanced journalism, with reporters stationed in London interviewing people left, right and centre to compare and contrast views and sensitivities, providing a portrait far removed from caricature.
Why are the British so 'one foot in, ocean without end but nickname the Atlantic 'the Pond'? Catherine Ilic and Chloé Leprince write that the sea has a lot of explaining to do. The ocean on the one hand allowed Great Britain to build the world's first empire based on trade and being masters of the sea. The sea does not only isolate, but also brings neighbours from the rest of the world closer. Also, the authors explain, in the 1975 referendum on whether to remain in the European Community, the anti-Europeans based their campaign on a revealing slogan: Leave Europe and join the world! But compared with the Continent, the sea also creates an island mentality and a very specific form of political history, from the Bill of Rights to common English law to the Magna Carta and Habeas Corpus. The special nature of the UK means that the British (and especially their government) saw the European project from the start as a French job, in other words a text inspired by a strong, all-powerful central state. Brussels and the European Commission soon appeared in this connection as symbols of lost sovereignty. And this is the wave British politicians have been surfing ever since, starting with Churchill, who in the words of Hugo Young, author of the monumental 'The Blessed Plot', encouraged Europe to misjudge Great Britain and Great Britain to misjudge itself. From Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell, who had the honour of being labelled the first 'eurosceptic', to Tony Blair via Lady Thatcher and her built-in anti-European instincts, rather sceptical Europeans, to say the least, have taken pride of place in the corridors of power in the shadows of Westminster. To such an extent that being pro-European in hostile territory, like Kenneth Clarke and Denis MacShane, smacks of the daredevil. Even the indubitable Europhile Tony Blair, described in the book as planning for his reign to be characterised by embracing the single currency, missed his date with Euro-British history. Timothy Garton Ash, Director of the European Studies Centre at St Anthony's College, Oxford University, writes that one of the main reasons for this is that Blair did not dare take on the eurosceptic media, because if you've been married to the same person for more than thirty years and you are still asking yourself whether you did the right thing in getting married, something is up… There is a whole chapter (pretty devastating) on the media and an unparallelled gutter press taking Europe hostage, to the extent that Ian Barber, who works for the European Commission's Representation's press department in London, queries the journalistic integrity of the media - depriving British readers of the truth about EU policies and institutions.
So much for the visible part of the British iceberg. But what about the British people? What do they really feel about Europe? To find out, Catherine Ilic and Chloé Leprince went to investigate British school-children, at the bottom of the class, taking less advantage of the opportunities provided by the Erasmus programme than other young Europeans, who have long been victim to a kind of 'Hitlerisation' of history classes, although a course in citizenship open to the European dimension was recently made compulsory. The writers followed British people in their journey across the Channel, becoming champions of medical tourism, particularly for dental treatment, given the failings of the British Health Service. The writers surveyed the countryside, where many farmers told them that the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy desired by British political classes would be yet another blow to them. The authors went for a stroll round Liverpool, which is picking up both economically and socially due to huge financial support from the Structural Funds, which the authorities are careful not to mention. They went to visit football stadiums where football fans in the past used to follow Cantona, and now follow Thierry Henri. They also followed British families, more and more of whom go to the Continent on holiday or decide to retire there… In the end, all these different areas could lead one to believe that this comment by the European Commission's representative in the UK, Reijo Kempinnen, is losing relevance: 'British euroscepticism is fed by ignorance, genuine lack of information and a degree of xenophobia'.
Michel Theys
*** DEIRDRE CURTIN, ALFRED E. KELLERMANN, STEVEN BLOCKMANS (Eds.): The EU Constitution: The Best Way Forward? T.M.C. Asser Press (P.O. Box 16163, NL-2500 BD The Hague. Tel: (31-70) 3420359 - Fax: 3420359 - Internet: http://www.asserpress.nl ). 2005, 555 pp. ISBN 90-6704-200-5
This fine tome is a collection of essays on six themes by four dozen writers from academia and the European institutions. The first part, for example, looks at the process of drawing up the EU constitution and the ratification process, and the authors outline their views on the EU's constitutional iconography and tension between intergovernmentalism and constitutionalism. Bruno de Witte moots some solutions in the event of crisis during the ratification process, and Anne Peters looks at the basis of referendums. Another area of discussion is the treaty's influence on democracy in the EU, like including national parliaments, public access to documents and the role of the EU Ombudsman. Other sections look in more detail as areas like openness, the distribution of power, access to justice and national perspectives on the constitution's impact. The book publishes the proceedings of the thirty-fourth conference on EU legislation organised in 2004 during the Dutch Presidency by the Asser Institute. Completed a few days before the French and Dutch referendums (Deirdre Curtin is pretty pessimistic about the outcomes of the two referendums in the introduction), the book something event which does not actually exist (yet?). It is possible, however, that the constitutional will arise from its ashes and remain a reference for debate on the future of the European Union, in which case this book will be a very comprehensive tool.
(FRo)
*** KONRAD AMANN, LUDOLF PELIZAEUS, ANNETTE REESE, HELMUT SCHMAHL (Eds.): Bayern und Europa. Festschrift für Peter Claus Hartmann zum 65. Geburtstag. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - e-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2005, 451 pp. ISBN 3-631-53540-6.
This tribute to Prof. Peter Claus Hartmann on his 65th birthday includes twenty-six essays on the topic of Bavaria and Europe, giving a fascinating overview of the history of Bavaria and Europe from the Middle Ages to the modern age. The inter-disciplinary approach ranges over subject matter like the history of music and the history of the Church along with broader, more traditional areas of historical study. A remarkable fresco!
(CDi)
*** ERAN GUDUZ: Das türkische und französische Nation-Verständnis im Vergleich. Zwischen staatsbürgerlicher Gleichheit und kultureller Differenz. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 514. 2005, 116 pp. ISBN 3-631-53510-4.
This well-honed study looks at the paradox of citizenship in the form it takes in France and Turkey. The author's starting point is the structural resemblances between the French and Turkish ideas of 'nation'. He goes on to examine the French and Turkish interpretations of nation with the aid of theories of nationhood, paying particular attention to the question of recognising national minorities. In France, this issue centres around immigrants from North Africa, while in Turkey the issue centres around minorities within Turkey itself. (CDi)
*** HELGE BEYER: Kosten-nutzen-analytische Beurteilung der Auswirkungen der GAP-Reform 2003 auf den EU-Getreidesektor. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 3129. 2005, 179 pp. ISBN 3-631-53894-4.
Growing market imbalances, ever more burdensome budgets and political challenges poisoning international trade - it was in this challenging context that the 26 June 2003 Economic Council in Luxembourg decided on profound reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. In terms of arable crops, the main areas of reform were decoupling of aid from production, regionalisation and restrictions on direct payments for individual businesses. The impact of reform on the arable market and market operators are studied and assessed in this book. The author says the reform has had little impact compared with the effects of implementing Agenda 2000. Helge Beyer argues, however, that overall the CAP reform has led to the arable industry being in a better situation. It is forecast to be worth around 1.1 million euros for the 2005-2010 period.
(CDi)
*** JEAN-MARIE SERMIER: OCM sucre: réformer pour durer. 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" series, No. 2602. 2005, 131 pp, €5. ISBN 2-11-119458-1.
For more than thirty years now, the oldest and most integrated of the EU's common policies, the Common Agricultural Policy, has been experiencing permanent revolution with the aim of adjusting to new demands and pressure from multinational trade negotiations. But reform of the sugar industry is not like other areas of reform. The French parliamentarian who has written this very detailed comprehensive newsletter explains that the EU's sugar industry and operating mechanisms have remained virtually unchanged since they were first set up, being a 'quintessence' of the old-style CAP. Jean-Marie Sermier observes that for the first time in its history, the EU has to reduce the quantity of sugar it grows to the extent of losing independence, thereby conforming to the rulings of the World Trade Organisation dispute settlement panel. For this reason, the European Commission unveiled reform plans in June of last year, to cut EU production over a very short time period. The author describes the plans as constituting genuine progress over the plans published in July 2004, seen as politically unacceptable and absurd from the business point of view. He sees the new proposals as an acceptable starting point, but in order to be agreed upon by France and its partners, the Commission's documents must be made fairer and the central issue of Community preference must not be ignored. For this reason, the first part of this newsletter looks at the challenges of the now inevitable reforms, going on to examine the European Commission's proposals and formulating ideas for getting round the problem.
(NDu)
*** BRIGITTA LURGER, SUSANNE AUGENHOFER: Österreichisches und Europäisches Konsumentenschutzrecht. Springer-Verlag (Vienna. Internet: http://www.springer.at ). "SpringerNotes - Rechtswissenschqft" series. 2005, 214 pp. ISBN 3-211-27827-3.
This book provides very useful analysis of Austrian and European consumer protection legislation. The introduction looks at consumer protection and consumer rights in general, focussing for example on over-fervent application of directives. Individual EU regulations and their application at Austrian level are then discussed. The description of 'autonomous' consumer rights raises the question of imposing such rights. Two chapters study purity and consumer protection and the special problems surrounding cross-border consumer contracts. This is all looked at through the prism of case studies and special issues, thereby facilitating assimilation of the subject matter. The book includes many references to relevant literature, making it a very useful reference tool.
(CDi)
*** Dokumente. Gesellschaft für übernationale Zusammenarbeit e.V. (86 Dottendorfer Straße, D-53129 Bonn. Tél.: (49-228) 92129365 - Fax: 690385 - E-mail: aboservice@guez-dokumente.org - Internet: http://www.zeitschrift-dokumente.org ). June 2006, No. 3, 112 p., 4-50 euros. Annual subscription: 18-90 euros.