*** KATRIN RUCKER, LAURENT WARLOUZET (Eds.): Quelle(s) Europe(s) ? - Which Europe(s) ? Nouvelles approches en histoire de l'intégration européenne - New Approaches in European Integration History. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. E-mail: pie@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Euroclio" series, No. 36. 2006, 388 pp. ISBN 90-5201-040-0.
In Paris in 2005, the newly established association 'Richie' organised a conference on behalf of the "Réseau international de jeunes chercheurs en histoire de l'intégration européenne", where young post-graduates and post-grad students of thirteen different nationalities had a rare opportunity to present their work (along with nine eminent professors from six different countries, who are used to presenting their work at conferences). This forum was representative of work by the new generation of researchers and is outlined in this book illustrating the various types of European project that have been considered, planned or actually implemented throughout the twentieth century. Some of the 25 essays look at traditional issues from the viewpoint of previously unpublished archive material or new perspectives, while other cover original themes both in terms of chronology and in terms of subject matter and methodology. As the two editors explain in the introduction, the traditional approaches to political history, economic history and international relations are combined with the history of the European ideal, the history of representations and geographical history.
The first part of the book looks at the European ideal before the creation of the European Communities. Alongside essays in either English or French on how the ideas and pan-European battles of Count Coudenhove-Kalergi were interpreted by the British and pre-Second World War Franco-British plans for Europe, an essay by Jean-Michel Guieu on the Europe of the French movements in support of the Society of Nations between 1918 and 1950 looks obliquely at a highly topical question, namely setting Europe's outer limits. The problem existed already in the coteries at the end of the 1920s backing the Briand plan for a Federal European Union, when there were three problematic countries - Turkey (even back then), Russia (which, like Turkey, had developed in Asia at the same time as in Europe), and the United Kingdom, seen as the least European of the European powers although, as the author points out, many big countries refused to consider a Europe without the UK. Nothing new under the sun, in fact, although that time was also a time of European activism in the person, for example, of a certain Philippe Serre, who had the idea of a United Nations organisation becoming an inter-federal association, going on to become a federation of federations. Philippe Serre, the forgotten Geneva pacifist, added that a world government would be more easily formed from a union of vast federations than from the scattering of nations that currently make up the world. Has this idea lost any of its impact over the past sixty years? Later in the book the question of frontiers returns in a fascinating essay by Laetitia Harcour on the mental representation of the European area among leading French and German politicians and how this impacts on the building of the European project.
The second part of the book studies how the European institutions operate, taking into account both diplomatic history (the 'empty chair crisis' as seen from the Franco-German viewpoint and others) and the history of stakeholders and their representations. In this connection, we welcome the historiographical essay by Anna-Maria Fiorentini on Piero Malvestiti's concept of Europe. Piero Malvestiti, an Italian national who has been largely forgotten in his home country, was President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community until 1963. He eulogised the functionalist method dear to Monnet's heart, but saw the method as a tool in the service of a more ambitious political ideal, as can be seen from these admirable lines he penned for a speech in 1960: "Supranationalism is a historical victory because, if Robert Schuman correctly wrote in 1953 that the supranational is half-way between the national and the federal, then that means - since we have now entered the supranational phase - that we will have to leave behind the national phase, which inevitably leads to blind nationalism, a source of division, hatred and conflict. A moral victory because the supranational is the start of a process of reviewing moral values on our continent, since it disrupts identification of the state with the homeland, an identification which has inspired the spiritual and intellectual training of our communities for centuries, with the results that we are unfortunately all too aware of. I believe that in its primal source, the supranational principle is above all an ethical principle, a principle that we should get to germinate in Europeans' awareness to prepare them for a superior moral civilisation". You will agree that more than ever, these ideas provide ample food for thought for some parties today!
There are other pearls of this type scattered throughout the pages of the rest of the book too, on subjects connected with the issue of Europe of the regions, social, monetary and development cooperation policy, rounds of EU enlargement, Europe during the Cold War and Defence Europe. A fascinating book proving that the new generation of historians is perfectly capable of taking over from their elders!
Michel Theys
*** GIANCARLO VILELLA: Le fonctionnaire européen. Un essai d'introduction. Les Editions du Boulevard (France. Internet: http://www.editionsduboulevard.fr ). 2006, 109 pp, €8. ISBN 2-35211-003-3.
Giancarlo Vilella, an official at the European Parliament, university lecturer and international public service expert, aims to provide information in this essay for students and national and European civil servants to help readers understand the changes over the years in the work and the image of people working for the European institutions. These changes go hand in hand with changes in the European project and the European institutions themselves. The author's experience as Director General of the Institut International de Sciences Administratives (IISA) led him to participate in an international debate on public administration, helping him gain even greater understanding of the profile and special nature of European officials, who only came on the scene very recently, he points out, since European institutions are newcomers compared with local, national and international administrations. He writes that it is not easy to imagine the pioneering, adventurous spirit of the first European officials, or the huge uncertainties they faced. He describes various aspects of European officials, like their relations with citizens in the pursuit of the general interest and their relationship to the administration. On this point, the author writes that it would be a serious error of judgement if one did not recognise the enormous efforts and the fundamental contribution historically provided by European public service during a difficult transition period. Giancarlo Vilella describes the crisis at the European Commission in 1999 which, he writes, was strictly connected with administrative dysfunction; and the reform of the regulation governing the terms and conditions of officials and the employment conditions of other European agents, in other words, European public servants. The need for reform of this ilk was first noted at the end of the 1970s, leading to a report by the Spierenburg Committee, explains the author, noting that it would be necessary to wait for twenty years and the Santer Commission crisis before real reform is undertaken. A reform process which was necessary following the huge process of maturity undergone by the European administration and public service, which had to rapidly and creatively adapt to the uncoordinated changes around them. Giancarlo Vilella explains that during this period of change, European Parliament officials and structures witnessed the powers of the EP increasing in rather chaotic leaps and bounds, while European Commission officials and structures witnessed their institution playing a frustrated government role, and both came to understand that decisions were more the outcome of political approaches and dialectics than just conflicts of national and sector-specific interests.
(MG)
*** STEVE JACOB: Institutionnaliser l'évaluation des politiques publiques. Étude comparée des dispositifs en Belgique, en France, en Suisse et aux Pays-Bas. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (see above). "Cité européenne" series, No. 35. 2005, 271 pp. ISBN 90-5201-078-1.
The examining of public policies corresponds to a desire to cut public deficits and provide a high quality public service by updating the civil service and boosting the population's confidence in it. Steve Jacob studies the institutionalisation of public policies, based on case studies in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Switzerland. The four countries are geographically close to one another, are similar in many respects and have had an influence on one another. Steve Jacob combines case studies in areas where institutionalisation is strongest in the four countries (health and education) through a comparative study.
(FRo)
*** RAINER PITSCHAS: Trusted Governance due to Public Value Management. Public Governance in Europe between Economization and Common Weal: A Value-Based Concept of Public Administration. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - E-mail: info@peterlaang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). "Speyerer Schriften zur Verwaltungswissenschaft" series, No. 1. 2006, 137 pp. ISBN 3-631-55490-7.
Governments and civil services are currently the focus of a huge modernisation movement to improve efficiency, cut costs and move more in the direction of 'customer satisfaction'. Inspired by market economy doctrines, this 'economising' of governance, explains Rainer Pitschas, raises questions like which moral values underpin the relationship between the civil service and the citizen, and how entrepreneurship should mesh with governance subject to legal requirements and responsibility for the public good. This book is based on the situation in Germany and elsewhere.
(FRo)
*** HERWIG C.H. HOFMANN, ALEXANDER H. TÜRK (Eds.): EU Administrative Governance. 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 ). 2006, 640 pp. ISBN 1-84542-285-6.
One special aspect of the European Union is the interaction it brings into play among several levels of administration. This book shows how these different administrations interact in an innovative way, leading to the EU's own multi-level governance, and also considers other issues. Alongside an 'external' view of the laws and procedures of administrative work, it also provides an 'internal' insider view of the least well-known role of the administrations in terms of structuring and coordination throughout the political cycle, from setting the agenda to applying standards and the concept of comitology. The second part of the book looks in more detail at EU administrative governance sector by sector (state aid, the environment, etc.), while the third part is composed of horizontal analysis.
(FRo)
*** The EU Made Simple. All you need to Know about the European Union. Editions AmCham EU - American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (53 av. des Arts, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32 2) 5136892 - Fax: 5137928 - E-mail: amchameu@amchameu.be - Internet: http://www.amchameu.be ). 2006, 158 pp, €30. ISBN 2-914685-46-7.
The American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, seen as one of the most influential lobbies in Europe, has published an introduction to how the EU works. Faced with the complexity of the EU system, the authors have decided to cover the most important areas in the simplest and most direct manner possible. They start by looking at the origins of the European project - how and why it was created, the history of the treaties, key characters in the history of the EU, etc. Issues like the Constitution, the rounds of enlargement and the budget are also covered clearly and succinctly. The second part of the guide provides information and statistics about the Member States (surface area, date they joined the EU, Gross Domestic Product, broken down into industries, etc.), followed by an introduction to the European Institutions. The institutions' connections and inter-dependency is described, along with the role of each and how they operate, covering topics like the powers of the European Commission, the work of the Commission President and the Commissioners, the various structures (Directorate-Generals, departments, etc.) and officials' average pay rates. The European Parliament is broken down into political groups and there is a description of the electoral process for becoming an MEP and the EP's internal structure. The Council of the EU is also described, along with its rotating presidency and the different voting systems. The three European Courts, the various Committees and other EU bodies are also covered. The fourth part of the guide deals with decision-making. There is an alphabetical index of the most important names and a glossary of EU jargon. Very user-friendly and therefore highly useful for getting a foot in the door of the EU environment…
(NDu)
*** The Federalist. A Political Review. Fondazione Europea Luciano Bolis(Edif Onlus, 5 via A. Volta, Pavia, Italia. Internet: http://www.euraction.org ). 2006, No. 2, 67 pp.
This issue of the federalist review founded in 1959 is wholly devoted to the heritage of Altiero Spinelli, who died twenty years ago. Mario Albertini recalls the action principles contained in the Ventotene Manifesto (named after the island where Spinelli was incarcerated under Mussolini's Fascist regime in Italy, where Spinelli started thinking about Europe and his federalist campaigning, in the company of Ernesto Rossi), including extracts from this important document and two of Spinelli's speeches. The book outlines his ideas, which remain highly topical and relevant today.
(PBo)