*** LAETITIA DRIGUEZ: Droit social et droit de la concurrence. Etablissements Emile Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5129842 - fax: 5119477 - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ) et Forum Européen de la Communication (47 rue Chardon Lagache, F-75016 Paris). "Fondation pour l'Etude du Droit et des Usages du Commerce International", "Concurrence" series, No. 5. 2006, 868 pp., €145 . ISBN 2-8027-2253-0 and 2-908274-18-3.
Courage was needed, even a certain lack of awareness to attack a concept that aims to analyse the relationships between social and competition law. This is a sensitive subject that gives rise to a polemic where there is a significant risk of leaving aside scientific rigour demanded for the exercise, in order to defend a political opinion. For those whose intentions are honest and who have a good head on their shoulders, nothing is impossible, however. The writer has solid educational foundations to back her up (legal studies crowned with a DEA , a higher diploma in Community law). She is also a former student at the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, with qualifications in economics and management). Laetitia Driguez meets the challenge with aplomb and provides a thesis that Professor Laurence Idot (Université Paris I-Panthéon Sorbonne) describes in his preface as providing the "technical" backing that enables specialists in these two areas to improve their knowledge and sharpen their arguments for many future disputes in this area. It is also a book of great interest to any Community citizen. It comes as no surprise that the book earned Driguez first prize in the Concurrences magazine and the Jacques Lassier prize, without counting the praise from the senior lecturer who gave Laurence Idot reason to believe that this book is "is just the first in a long career ".
The author's starting point is the old tension between economic or commercial law and social law, a debate that has been revived by Community construction and the development of the idea of competition in its broadest sense - in the European context, of course, but also in French competition law and other areas of national law, including the USA. Avoiding the habitually used terms of infiltration of social law by competition law or indeed its invasion, Driguez prefers to opt for a more neutral starting point and uses the term “inter-relation”…even though it is in terms of conflict that these relationships are analysed in the context of jurisprudence. In the first part of the book, she looks a the, “submission of social institutions to the standardising framework of competition law”, which enables her to illustrate the fact that although social law has largely been appropriated, it does not, nonetheless, apply to labour law. In light of jurisprudence governing the notion of enterprise and the Dutch pension fund affairs, she demonstrates, in the words of Professor Idot, “that labour relations, individual or collective, are largely excluded from the field of competition law, which effectively only exerts a limited control on employment policy”. However, it is, all the same, “encroachment that appears to dominate the interrelationship” and the hypothesis of submission, illustrated by examples of precarious employment conditions and collective agreements that are prone to being done away with.
In the second part of the book, which is more groundbreaking, Laeititia Driguez examines the, “reception given by competition law to social norms”. She tends to suggest that, once again the former comes out on top and that the nature of how the norms are received (for example, the consultation of workers when mergers are being examined) is limited and the interrelationship sometimes goes as far as assuming, “the form of a pure and simple disassociation”, particularly in the area of Community law. The only exception to the rule: state aid where exemption systems apply to aid for jobs, training etc. A conclusion that professor Idot describes that, “naturally backs up the argument put forward by some quarters that control of state aid does not reside in the area of competition law”.
The conclusion of the author's examination is undoubtedly critical, “as we currently strive to encourage corporate social responsibility, that of the competition authorities does not appear to be on the agenda”. Competition law unilaterally defines what derogations can be applied. In this way, competition authorities illegitimately extend their competencies, particularly at a European level. Driguez says that these relationships need to be re-appropriated by policy. She appeals for development of social standards and a genuine Community definition of the general social interest. We told you first, a book that is definitely not just for the experts!
Michel Theys
*** PATRICK SEGALLA: Kommunale Daseinsvorsorge. Strukturen kommunaler Versorgungsleistungen im Rechtsvergleich. Springer (P.O. Box 89, Vienna, Autriche). "Forschungen aus Staat und Recht" series, No. 151, 2006, 378 pp. ISBN 3-211-35199-X.
This very detailed study provides a comparison of the overall legal situation and shows how Community activities are organised and funded in three European countries: Austria, France and the United Kingdom. The author looks at the general support services in local areas , in a perspective of general economic aid activities to local people, such as services and social housing, assistance to pensioners, as well as technical services such as water and drains, rubbish collection etc. Due to the changes made to borough competencies brought about by recent development in policies on welfare, this study provides precise indications about the instruments and decision making mechanisms involved in the general legal set up when seeking concrete solutions.
Although it is certain that these three countries provide interesting comparisons about the historical heritage and political traditions explaining the prevailing legal situations, we can assume that the important notion of “public service” in the French tradition or the recent developments in the British privatisation policies are included, it is regrettable that from a European point of view, the comparison is not extended to other national situations (also quite specific examples), which would have allowed for this work to have been completed with a more precise analysis of the impact of European legislation on local management. This publication only achieves this end very briefly in its conclusions. It should therefore be considered that this publication is a first step in a very complex but important area in the future construction of social welfare for the European people.
(GFr)
*** La Directive européenne sur les services (Bolkestein). Centre Jean Gol (Brussels. Internet: http://www.cjg.be ). "Les Cahiers du Centre Jean Gol series". 2006, 59 pp., €5.
This publication received the support of the European Parliament and the European Liberal Democrat Reform Party and was produced by the Jean Gol Centre. Jean Gol was a liberal politician from the French speaking community in Belgium who died in 1995. The brochure highlights the effort, described by the Belgian finance minister, Didier Reynders (president of the MR) as “scientific pedagogy”, in developing reflection and a draft services directive. The goal of the brochure's authors was to present a synthesis that went beyond, “emotional and partisan quarrels and claims”, which would allow everyone to develop an opinion based on the facts at hand.
(MT)
*** MARIE RAMOT: Le Lobby européen des femmes. La voie institutionnelle du féminisme européen. L'Harmattan (5-7 rue de l'Ecole-Polytechnique, F-75005 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40467920 - fax: 43258203 - E-mail: diffusion.harmattan@wanadoo.fr - Internet: http://www.librairieharmattan.com ). "Inter-National". 2006, 162 pp., €14.50. ISBN 2-296-01299-X.
This publication is the extension of a final studies thesis at the Political Studies Institute in Strasbourg. It provides a useful examination made by the European Women's Lobby. The investigation is mainly based on interviews (particularly with women who are or who were MEPs: Geneviève Fraisse, Anne Van Lancker, Ilda Figuiredo and Lissy Gröner). The author is successful in three respects. Firstly, the publication highlights how Europe developed in the 1970s as a “driving force for equal opportunities” in an era were feminists were encountering strong opposition at a national level. Secondly, it demonstrates how the European Commission was able to give a boost to the Lobby, due in particular to the impetus of Fausta Deshormes, who effectively brought the association into being in 1990. Finally, it clearly illustrates how the Lobby modified the feminist tradition, based on the model of opposition, to a model of action that serves the general European interest while seeking to develop European construction in the direction of progress towards gender equality. By choosing the institutional path, Marie Ramot believes that, “the lobby had been banking on an innovative approach” that proved successful.
(MT)
*** BRIGITTE LESTRADE (Editor): L'emploi des seniors. Les sociétés européennes face au vieillissement de la population active. L'Harmattan (see address attached). "Questions Contemporaines" series. 2006, 367 p., €31. ISBN 2-296-00958-1.
The difficulties experienced by the pension systems, as well as contemporary corporate human resources management practices, have placed the question of the employment of senior citizens among the priority subjects of sociologists and employment policies. This book, which results from a colloquy organised in 2005 at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, brings together fifteen different contributions. The first part looks at the, “economic, social and legal aspects of employing senior citizens”. It begins with an examination of the general situation of pensioners in Europe (including the new Member States) and points to a generalised lowering in the age of those taking retirement. Other contributions tackle, for example, the reshaping of the role of the state and the “commercialisation” of pensions and the strengthened concept of the “welfare mix”, which brings the different stakeholders together. The writers are mostly French and some of the contributions focus on specific data on this country (such as the study made at a bank) but the general target is the European dimension, experienced by all countries of the Union, with certain variations. The second part of the book provides examinations made in different European countries, representative of different models and situations, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark and Bulgaria, as well as comparisons between France, Germany and Spain.
(FRo)
*** NIAMH NIC SHUIBHNE (Editor): Regulating the Internal Market. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (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, 370 pp., £85.
ISBN 1-84542-033-0.
Initially planned for 1992, the single market, as explained by Niamh Nic Shuibhne, “seems locked in a state of 'nearly there'”, even if in fact it already constitutes a very comprehensive reality. Although, in the context of a Europe that is seeking to find itself, the single market is described by some quarters as being the European Union's most convincing raison d'être, the way it is regulated (the concept has a variety of meanings but in the broadest sense) requires a rethink. This is affirmed by the author of the book, “this means that questions of market regulation, of regulatory techniques, and of the increasingly blurred boundaries between law and regulation are as much about democracy, power sharing, competence, transparency and legitimacy as they are about efficiency, competition and results”. The goal of this book is to therefore examine the way the single market works and look at how it is regulated by the different actors. The different contributions focus (as well as an historical introduction) on sectoral cases, such as the media or transversal themes. Bruno de Witte, for example looks at non-commercial values in internal market legislation and the balance between market integration and integration of policies. Other contributions focus on, for example, the place of the individual and his/her capacity to influence the single market.
(Fro)
*** STEFFEN KERN: The Behaviour of Interest Groups in Trade and Industry Towards Monetary Policy and Central banks. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel.: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). "Studien zu Internationalen Wirtschaftsbeziehungen" series, No. 6. 2006, 381 pp.. ISBN 3-631-54615-7.
Few books deal with the significant impact of action by central banks on economic life. Trade and industry are obviously involved. In this context, this study looks at the sometimes shifting relationships between different interest groups in these sectors and the central banks. Consequently, the latter are unable to work in isolation from the economic world, in ivory towers. The author explains that, “in fact, no central bank official would claim to be operating in complete isolation”. The book also tackles relationships with the European Central Bank but does not stop there. This is because this institution is relatively recent and the position of interest groups towards it is still developing and result from their previous relationships with national banks, relationships that are also tackled in this book (particularly for the Bundesbank from which the European Central Bank has inherited many facets). The book does not claim to be a practical kind of study guide for representatives from interest groups, even if it could prove interesting to them. Initially, it sets out the conditions and the theoretical, historical and legal framework and explains how these relationships developed. It then tackles the action of interest groups, particularly German ones, as well as the action they take, but refrains from formulating any value judgement.
(FRo)