*** EDOUARD BALLADUR: L'Europe autrement. Librairie Arthème Fayard (Paris). 2006, 158 pp, €15. ISBN 2-213-62841-6.
The publisher decided that this book would have a red ribbon around it trumpeting 'At last: a Plan B!' After the earth-shattering French 'no' vote on the Constitution, someone is believed to have found a magic formula for getting Europe out of the current rut and the French out of their contradictions. Leaving aside the clearly commercial nature of the slogan, it is clearly eye-catching for people in France itself and beyond. Especially because the 'Saviour' and 'Messiah' in question is none other than former French prime minister Edouard Balladur which, at the very least, certifies that this book has been written by a political heavyweight who knows what he's talking about and is capable of taking a detached overview. So why not believe the slogan - that Edouard Balladur really has discovered the miracle solution? No longer at the helm but still actively working in the interests of France, the author has been able to tap into his vast experience and political maturity which no longer predisposes him to personal ambitions but allows him to use his political genius characterised by constructive wisdom. One can hardly fail to believe (or at least hope) it's true when one reads his words: 'Allowing the French to think that there is another, more promising, future for their country other than the construction of Europe is a pipe dream which, using voluntarist phrases, hides nostalgia for the past, ignorance of reality and scorn for the truth."
The problem is that as far as Balladur is concerned, Europeans and French people cohabit and continue to live separate lives, with Europeans simply being at the beck and call of the French. Rightly noting that 'the EU is less a victim of its own success, as people delight in asserting, than of lack of lucidity', he retorts that 'since the diagnosis of causes and operating problems was wrong, the solutions provided do not fit the bill.' Paradoxically, the bitter cruelty of this sentence sums up the entire book! As an illustration, let us take the fate reserved for the Commission. The author admits that the European Commission 'has been and remains the engine of the European project' and is the 'most integrated institution and in a way the germ of federal government'. The Commission has held everything together for the past half a century and now Edouard Balladur is suggesting cutting it down a peg, clearly subordinating it to the Council of Ministers which he describes as 'obeying an intergovernmental logic'. This would turn the EU into a political union, 'a priority that has to be given to a purely political body', explains the erstwhile resident of the Matignon Palace in Paris. This is also an echo of an era (which one hoped had ended) when some people in Paris dreamed of a European Commission that would be no more than a secretariat in the service of Member States, particularly of big Member States. The author recognises that the 'Commission is not a solely administrative body today', being populated with politically committed men and women. But nevertheless, he argues, it is true that 'behind them there are administrative logics at work which must not prevail over political decision-making.' Whatever criticisms one might make of the Commission and the way it functions these days, this analysis smacks of the most shameless and deceitful manipulation because political decision-making has always been the job of the Council. And when it comes to Community matters today, the Council now has the European Parliament as co-legislator. In this connection, Edouard Balladur is providing disinformation or at the very least, some biased approximations in favour of a 'certain idea about Europe' which no doubt no longer matches the expectations of many European citizens in France and Navarre.
It goes without saying that this comment casts a shadow of doubt or suspicion over the other ideas mooted by Edouard Balladur. The question, for example of whether it would be a good idea to 'adjust the influence of different Member States in the EU in decision-making bodies and procedures in line with both their population and their net financial contribution'. Or the idea of setting up 'specialised circles of cooperation' to avoid a rigid 'hard core' of always the same countries progressing together in identical domains which could move more quickly in the direction of integration and which along with a beneficial impact would also create imbalance, frustration and the danger of division.' Balladur clearly sees himself as the inventor of a method that would make it possible to bypass 'the inherent contradictions in the initial compromise between an intergovernmental type of structure and a federal type'. This method basically consists of favouring the least virtuous approach (and the most problematic)… Descartes must surely be turning in his grave!
Michel Theys
*** L'Europe, notre Etat souverain en devenir. Avenir de l'Europe et Citoyenneté: actions et réflexions des Fédéralistes européens. Union des Fédéralistes Européens - Belgium (214 D chaussée de Wavre, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5083035 - Fax: 6269501 - E-mail: uef_bel_fr@hotmail.com). 2005, 136 pp.
Following a series of conferences and debates organised by the Belgian French-speaking section of the Union of European Federalists and other civil society organisations (backed by European Commission DG Education and Culture) to raise awareness of the concept of European citizenship, this book includes essays on two themes - the draft constitutional treaty and citizen involvement on the one hand, and the future of Europe on the other. Among well-known signatories and interviewees, there are figureheads like Etienne Davignon, Bronislaw Geremek, Armand De Decker, Dusan Sidjanski, Pierre Jonckheer, Jean-Claude Juncker, Pervenche Berès, Didier Donfut and Gérard Deprez. The preface is by Jo Leinen, President of the European Parliament's Constitutional Committee and honorary President of UEF, who comments that it is difficult for the EU to agree on tangible projects if it does not know its own nature and ambitions, noted that European can no longer afford to keep dodging the issue of what the European project is for. The book is dedicated to the memory of late Fernand Herman, who has written a number of its essays. Echoing the arguments put forward by Edouard Balladur (see above), this MEP who died young explains why the European government he had always wished for could never be the Council. Firstly, he explained to the European Convention in June 2002, because 'governing one of the biggest trade and financial powers in the world has become a full-time job which can no longer be carried out as a sideline a few hours a month by people wholly absorbed in the management of their own countries' and also because the member of the Council are 'elected or appointed to defend national interests rather than European interests… and will never hesitate to sacrifice European interests to national interests.' Thirdly, because 'only answering to their national parliament, they can never be penalised for not having properly served the common interest' because these politicians are 'democratically unaccountable' to European citizens' elected representatives. Finally, most importantly, because 'although made up of strong men in their countries, the Council is the weakest of the European institutions', because 'a team of strong horses pulling in different directions will not take you as far as a team of old nags like Rocinante pulling in the same direction.'. Descartes can tell himself all has not been lost!
(MT)
*** HURREM CANSEVDI, MONIKA SEINEL: Das Rädewerk der Europäischen Kommission. Economica Verlagsgruppe Hüthig Jehle Rehm (Postfach 102869, D-69018 Heidelberg. Tel: (49-06221) 489591 - Fax: 489450 - E-mail: rez@hjr-verlag.de - Internet: http://www.huethig-jehle-rehm.de ). 2006, 295 pp, €49. ISBN 3-87081-451-9.
How does the Commission operate? What responsibilities does it have? How is its work organised? How is work divided up among the EU institutions? And most importantly, how can one get in contact with it? This book provides clear answers to these questions (and many others), unveiling the workings of the European Commission. The fourth edition has been completely revamped, expanded and updated, with several new diagrams and tables. A very useful reference book for anyone operating in the orbit of the European Commission, an institution that is such an emblem of Europe and yet so little understood.
(CDi)
*** The Federalist. A Political Review. Fondazione Europea Luciano Bolis (Edif Onlus, 5 via A. Volta, Pavia, Italy. Internet: http://www.euraction.org ). 2006, No. 1, 76 pp.
Ever since 1959, this review founded by Mario Albertini has been publishing federalist reflection on the world and how it is developing under the impulse of the European avant-garde. This issue looks at the ever more heated subject of energy and its direct meshing with 'economic nationalism'. The authors argue that this calls for the establishment of a European avant-garde. There is also a magnificent article by Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa on 'the Europe of Melancholy".
(PBo)
*** ANNE-KATRIN NEYER: Multinational teams in the European Commission and the European Parliament. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, Postfach 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). "Forschungsergebnisse der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien" series, No. 10. 2005, 143 pp. ISBN 3-631-54332-8.
By their very nature, there are a lot of people involved in the European institutions from all EU Member States. One of the EU's strong points (and sources of pride) is diversity and diversity is omnipresent in EU institutions where all the different nationalities work together on the future of Europe. The focus is on teamwork in order to ensure efficiency but very little research has been done to date to establish the extent to which different cultures, sometimes hostile to one another, are able to work together. Ann-Katrin Neyer helps fill this gap with this study carried out as part of her doctorate at Vienna University's European Institute. Using the European Commission and the European Parliament as examples, she aimed to identify characteristics likely to influence the performance of multinational teams in public administrations. After a brief introduction, the author outlines the theoretical foundations of her research before analysing existing literature on the subject. The third part of the book considers the methodology used, a collection of empirical data (mainly interviews with European officials). The fourth and fifth chapters describe the results of the research at the Commission and Parliament respectively. The conclusion summarises the results of the empirical sections and offers a number of management methods suited to multinational teamwork and areas where further research might be carried out in the future.
(NDu)
*** GERRIT LINKE: Das Instrument der verstärkten Zusammenarbeit im Vertrag von Nizza. Peter Lang (see above). "Interdisziplinäre Europa Studien" series, No. 3. 2006, 226 pp. ISBN 3-631-54781-1
Although the 'strengthened cooperation' foreseen under the Nice Treaty has never been applied in practice, it does exist on paper and progress in European integration does not necessarily have to be made at exactly the same time in all Member States, come what may. This is certainly important after the constitutional mishaps in the constantly enlarging EU with all its heterogeneous interests and capacities. This legal research provides an overview of previous forms of theory and practice of differentiated integration. It also looks at the legal requirements for actually getting strengthened cooperation up and running and what impact it would have on EU legislation. The author also tries to discern the areas where action of this type might be considered. (CDi)
*** SUSANNE PFEIFFER: Die deutsch-französische Partnerschaft: störanfällig, aber strapazierfähig ? Eine Analyse im Bereich der Außen-, Sicherheits- und Europapolitik (1990-2000). Peter Lang (see above). 2006, 419 pp. ISBN 3-631-54656-4.
Since the December 2000 Nice Economic Council, there has been constant speculation and questioning, at least, about the continuation of Franco-German relations and the driving force in the EU of these two founder EU Member States. This study demonstrates that these doubts and pessimism are partly justified. Susan Pfeiffer demonstrates in this book that French and German government elites do not have the adaptability required to ensure Franco-German cooperation evolves over time and therefore no longer encourage it (which also affects the quality of relations between the two countries). The author, a political scientist, argues that Franco-German relations are not as rock solid as one might believe (or hope) …
(CDi)
*** TAMARA EHS: Helvetisches Europa - Europäische Schweiz. Peter Lang (see above). "Politik und Demokratie" series, No. 6. 2005, 206 pp. ISBN 3-631-54381-6.
Research into European integration is still often rooted in the debate between functionalists and federalists, a debate which certainly over-simplifies matters and is perhaps out of date. But other commentators do not hesitate to describe the growing European awareness as a no more than a stylish ornament. The author of this book takes the example of Switzerland to demonstrate the reciprocal relations over the course of history between development of the concept of unity on the one hand and evolution of the state and the nation on the other. This example may seen rather astonishing because Switzerland is not part of the European Union but it does provide some interesting perspectives. The research is original and provides a fine textual analysis to reveal how the idea of 'Europe' has been taken advantage of in domestic and foreign policy, inviting readers to draw their own conclusions on how the European project is currently developing.
(CDi)