*** ALFRED E. KELLERMANN, JENÓ CZUCZAI, STEVEN BLOCKMANS, ANNELI ALBI, WYBE TH.DOUMA (Eds.): The Impact of EU Accession on the Legal Orders of New EU Member States and (Pre-) Candidate Countries. Hopes and Fears. T.M.C. Acer Press (P.O. Box 16163, NL-2500 BD The Hague. Tel: (+31-70) 3420300 - Fax: 3420359 - Internet: http://www.asserpress.nl ). 2006, 465 pp. ISBN 90-6704-217-X.
Every country that joins the European Union sees its legislation hugely modified to fit in with EU legislation. On the other hand, each new Member State arrives with its own cultural and legislative baggage that influences future changes to EU legislation. It is this meshing of national and EU legislation - highly significant for Member States because they have to cooperate, but also for the EU whose legislation has to efficiently serve the interests of ordinary people - which is studied in this book. Great emphasis is placed on the degree of compatibility of national constitutions (whose role is often underestimated by European politicians) with EU legislation and public authorities' levels of preparedness. Adjusting the national constitution to bring it into line with the legislation establishing the EU requires a change of mentality: 'Gradually, the Founding Treaties acquired the same status of higher law or supremacy that was always an undisputed feature of national constitutions,' in the words of Alfred E. Kellermann.
The book is based on the closing conference of the "Matra Multi-Country" project held in The Hague, the Netherlands, in October 2004. The project was launched by the Dutch foreign ministry to study the impact of new candidate and pre-candidate countries joining the European Union. Slovenia was at first the only new country to take part in the Matra Multi-Country project, but the others were invited to the closing conference. This book covers the ten new Member States which joined in the EU in 2004, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro (one country at the time) and Turkey. As Alfred E. Kellermann explains, "in all cases, hopes and fears concerning further integration are not limited to the new EU Member States and (pre-) candidate countries alone, but are shared by the old Member States, as the negative outcome of the recent referenda in France and the Netherlands on the European Constitution have shown". The candidate and pre-candidate countries were therefore invited to present their experiences of adjusting to fit the EU legal framework, efforts to comply with the Copenhagen criteria and their views of the constitutional treaty.
The first part of the book looks at countries that took part in the Matra Multi-Country project, and the third part looks at the new EU Member States. A very similar structure is used for studying each country (like the transfer of legislative powers, the role of the judiciary and views concerning the constitutional treaty), with slightly different treatment for new Member States and countries participating in the Matra project. The second part of the book compares the impact of accession and national constitutions and parliaments, the judiciary and the executive.
The impact of accession on national legal systems is an important issue because, as Kellermann explains: 'the European Council of Laeken stated that the Union 'has to become more democratic, more transparent and more efficient'… It is in the interests of an enlarged EU to increase the effectiveness of the EU legal order… It was the rule of law at interpreted by the European Court of Justice which promoted further integration and not the rule of politics.'
Frederik Ronse
*** KESTUSIS PAULAUSKAS: The Baltics: from nation states to member states. 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 Paper", No. 62. 2006, 43 pp. ISBN 92-9198-089-7.
Three of the ten new Member States which joined the EU in 2004 had double reason to be cheerful - alongside joining the European Union, the Baltic States of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia had also just been admitted to NATO. In fifteen years, they went from being Soviet satellites with ruined economies to members of the European Union experiencing economic boom. Now the euphoria of joining the EU has vanished, what does the future hold for the Baltic States? What challenges and opportunities are they facing? These are the questions answered by Kestusis Paulauskas in this occasional paper. In the first part, he examines the tricky relationship between the Baltic States and Russia, looking at the reasons for the frostiness and how relations have developped in recent years regarding Kaliningrad and Russian energy policy. The author then looks at how the countries fit into the 'Europe of the regions' and how they will impact on the EU's neighbourhood policy. The third part of the book analyses the Baltic States' attitudes to the United States and NATO, attitudes which have led to them being seen as American Trojan horses in Europe but which also appear, at the end of the day, to be the best way of differentiating themselves from their Soviet neighbours. The author stresses that a strong Europe in terms of security and defence would be especially beneficial to them. The last part of the book considers the Baltic States' future policies, with the author suggesting that it would be in their best interests to normalise relations with Russia, build up contact with Scandinavian capitals, rethink their approach to the European security and defence policy and strengthen their positions as full members of the European Union.
(NDu)
*** KAI BEHRENS: Priotitätenwechsel in der deutschen Außenpolitik? Berlin, Paris, Washington - das strategische Dreieck der deutschen Außenpolitik nach dem 11 September 2001. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel./Fax: (41-32) 3761727 - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). "Europäische Hochschulschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 519. 2005, 182pp. ISBN 3-631-54371-9.
The 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2003 Iraq War have made the debate about whether Germany should continue with its old foreign policy and the change of direction described in the Berlin-Paris-Washington strategic triangle particularly acute. The question is examined in this book in a lively analysis of the rules governing German foreign policy. Recently, it was a series of conflicts with the United States that revealed a new level of hierarchy among the rules. The author argues that despite appearances, this change should not be seen as Germany taking a new direction but neither should it be seen as a fundamental change in German foreign policy in the strategic triangle.
(CDi)
*** C HRISTINE KADDOUS, MONIQUE JAMETTI GREINER (Eds.): Accords bilatéraux II Suisse - UE et autres Accords Récents - Bilaterale Abkommen II Schweiz - EU und andere neue Abkommen. Helbing & Lichtenhahn(8 Elisabethenstrasse, CH-4051 Basel. Tel: (41-61) 2289070 - Fax: 2289071 - E-mail: info@helbing.ch) with Editions Bruylant and L.G.D.J. "Dossiers de droit européen" series, No. 16. 2006, 1006 pp. ISBN 3-7190-2476-8 et 2-8027-2159-3.
Ever since the signing of the first bilateral agreements in 1999, Switzerland and the European Community have expressed a desire to open negotiations on other issues. Known as the 'Bilateral II' talks, and leading to documents being signed in October 2004, the talks have been concluded in nine fields, namely cooperation in areas covered by the Schengen and Dublin agreements, saving tax, pensions, processed farm products, statistics, the environment, fighting fraud, education, professional training and youth policy. In parallel with these agreements, Switzerland and the European Union have agreed to extend the agreement on the free circulation of individuals to citizens of the ten new EU Member States. Solutions have also been found with regard to cooperation in science and technology and cooperation with Europol. The book is written in both French and German and includes a transcript of the agreements in question. Forty-seven articles by negotiators, professors and specialist EU lawyers then analyse the agreements in terms of their political, legal and business significance. (NDu)
*** PANOS KOUTRAKOS: EU International Relations Law. Hart Publishing (Salters Boatyard, Folly Bridge, Abingdon Road, Oxford, OX1 4LB, UK. Tel: (44-1865) 245533 - Fax: 794882 - E-mail: mail@hartpub.co.uk - Internet: http//: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). "Modern Studies in European Law", No. 9. 2006, 542 pp, £35. ISBN 1-84113-311-6.
The European Union's role on the world stage remains open to question. Although the EU has over the years attempted to forge an international role on a par with its economic and demographic clout in the world by building on economic cooperation with countries outside itself and international organisations, and giving itself a common foreign and security policy and a security and defence policy, uncertainty about the constitutional treaty and divisions among EU Member States over the most recent Iraq War, to name but two points, have given rise to doubt about the EU's ability to really throw its full weight and influence into international relations. The European Communities' international relations are still dynamic, however, and as Anthony Aust explains (quoted by the author of this book), "anything to do with the European Communities is complex, and this is particularly so for the law governing their external relations". In this field, the question of the balance of EU powers and Member States' national sovereignty is highly controversial. The book looks at EU international relations legislation, paying particular attention to trade, policy and defence issues. It starts by studying the legislative sources of European international relations and how they are implemented, before considering its content and political aspects in more detail, along with the impact the constitutional treaty may have.
(FRo)
*** ELISABETH DIETL: Ausbau der Konfliktmanagementfähigkeiten der EU durch den Sonderbotschafter für den Nahen Osten. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulsschriften - Publications Universitaires Européennes - European University Studies", No. 517. 2005, 388pp. ISBN 3-631-54129-5.
The work of the first Special EU Middle East Envoy for peace, Miguel Angel Moratinos, is examined in this book. Using an investigative framework backed up by theory, the author analyses the extent to which the current Spanish foreign minister was able to work to help consolidate the EU's conflict management capacity. The Special Envoy's successes and failures are explained and analysed in detail. In the view of Elisabeth Dietl, the balance sheet of Miguel Angel Moratinos' work is highly ambivalent - the European Union has been able to extend its conflict management capacity in the Middle East, but is still far from wielding its full influence in the world.
(CDi)
*** JEAN-PAUL MARTHOZ: Et maintenant, le monde en bref. Les médias et le nouveau désordre mondial. Editions Grip (33 rue Van Hoorde, B-1030 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 2418420 - Fax: 2451933 - E-mail: admi@grip.org - Internet: http://www.grip.org ) and Editions Complexe (24 rue de Bosnie, B-1060 Brussels). "Les livres du Grip" series, Nos. 283-285. 2006, 324 pp. ISBN 2-8048-0012-1.
To follow the US sociologist Todd Gitlin's metaphor, we are swamped by a storm of sounds and images. But does this necessarily mean we are well informed? In this impressive book, journalist Jean-Paul Marthoz, formerly news director at Human Rights Watch and at the International Journalists' Federation's 'Media for Democracy in Africa' programme, gives a generally negative answer to this question, slamming the merger trend in the media world, which has resulted in self-censorship and conformity. The Editor-in-Chief of the Courrier International explains in the preface that reporters are requested to be reverent towards institutions and companies, to prioritise local affairs and anecdotes, to summarise to ensure interest does not waver and to ignore things that nobody's interested in, like bad news from the other side of the globe (unless spectacular or exotic aspects can be emphasised). This second edition covers the media impact of 11 September 2001 and the rising power of the internet and freebie newspapers, but still finds reasons to be cheerful because, despite (and even because) all this, the press and journalists are still at pains to be watchdogs of democracy and civil liberties. The book explains in this connection that in 1999, journalism seemed to be under threat mainly from paying too much attention to commercial and business interests, populist temptations and conformist reflexes. Today, however, it is the very foundations upon which it is constructed - freedom of expression - that is under attack, meaning that the challenge now is to turn freedom of speech and expression into everyone's business rather than a sectarian battle.
(MT)