*** GEORGE CHABERT: L'idée européenne. Entre guerres et culture: de la confrontation à l'Union. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 310 pp, €30-90. ISBN 978-90-5201-076-2.
Following on from the masterly “28 siècles d'Europe” (28 Centuries of Europe) by Denis de Rougemont but not quite as imposing, this book reviews and puts into perspective seven centuries of reflection on Europe's destiny which, in the author's opinion, shows that the European Union as we know it today is the fruit of an impulse towards unity that is written in the very genes of our Eurasian peninsula. It is no doubt true that centripetal forces prevailed there over centrifugal forces for a very long time and that for every philosopher, poet, believer or politician defending the European ideal, there are legions of sincere apologists of the well-being of the primacy of the national state., which still remains manifest to the present day despite major advances since the Schuman Declaration. Nevertheless, observes George Chabert, the political and intellectual desire to unify the continent is a constant in European history. The erudition-steeped pages of this book are arranged in such a way to leave no doubt on the subject…
At the start of the preface, philosopher George Chabert quotes Jacques Delors: “In order for Europe to discover its inner self as it is leading us to build its future, it must first rediscover its memory”. In ten chronological and thematic chapters, Chabert, professor of French history and civilisation at Trondheim University in Norway, guides the reader on this long and winding search for memory, fully taking on board this cry from the heart from European pundit Denis de Rougemont, who comes from a different European country - Switzerland - which remains on the fringes of the unification project: “I would like to speak to you of Europe not as a cause to be defended or a greater fatherland to be glorified, but rather as a decisive experiment for the whole of humanity”. The unification plans down the centuries are re-studied in context, the projects put forward by Georges Podiébrad, Sully, William Penn, Saint-Simon, Victor Hugo and Konrad Adenauer. George Chabert invites readers to become aware of a unity movement that he describes as decidedly consubstantial with the continent, no matter what type of vicissitude has continued to divide it, looking back with the magnifying glass of history, or even to tear it up into bloody pieces. The author invites readers to take the measure of an incessant and inexorable march towards unity in diversity cherished in that 'the history of Europe could be described as the history of the emancipation of human beings'. The European Constitution is described from this viewpoint as having potentially been not an end point but rather a decisive step towards the collective affirmation of shared values, towards the building of a 'moral community which alone can bring perfection to the political community'. The Lisbon Reform Treaty does not have this symbolic value but it does have the same ingredients, which have not been altered in the slightest - particularly now that sixteen Member States have signed a Protocol stating their attachment to the symbols of the common adventure and a shared identity, no matter how tentative, around values taking the name, for example, of liberty, equality, secularity, democracy and social solidarity. Hence only the future will tell whether the author was right when he states at the end of the book that "together, Europeans can help build a better world" and only the future will confirm or invalidate an argument made by a pundit somewhat closer to us, French sociologist Edgar Morin, when he wrote that: “All European countries have been transformed in a certain way, and those of the West have been able to draw up together a type of sympathetic nervous system to regulate their first organic exchanges. But the cerebral system has not yet been formed. The metamorphosis is incomplete. We are neither pupa nor dragonfly but are still at the chrysalis state. The decisive effort has yet to be made. We are not in an epoch of completion but rather in a time of democratic beginnings”…
Michel Theys
*** MARKUS SÖBBEKE-KRAJEWSKI: Der religionsrechtliche Acquis Communautaire der Europäischen Union. Ansätze eines systematischen Religionsrechts der EU unter EU-Vertrag, EG-Vertrag und EU-Vervassubngsvertrag. Duncker & Humblot (Postfach 410329, D-12113 Berlin. Tel./Fax: (49-30) 79000631 - Internet: http://www.duncker-humblot.de ). "Münsterische Beiträge zur Rechtswissenschaft" series, No. 168. 2006, 398 pp. ISBN 3-428-12120-1.
This highly detailed study attempts to show how European legislation, as it has developed over the years, may or may not concern the positions of religious institutions in European Union countries. While recognising that the European Union has no legislative power to intervene in the running of religious or philosophical organisations, Article I-51 of the Constitutional Treaty did state that the EU should respect the existing status of churches and other religious communities under national law and should also develop dialogue with them. The author is at great pains, however, to analyse in detail the areas where the EU laws can in fact influence the life of religious and philosophical institutions. He starts by noting that the nature of the European Union has been transformed over the years from a simple Economic Community in the direction of a Union of Values. For example, Article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights affirms the right to freedom of religion for all individuals, a right which is never called into question. But most of the author's attention is devoted to the level of religious institutions, in other words formal welfare organisations with legal personality which can carry out certain economic activities where market regulations can intervene. Markus Söbbeke-Krajewski distinguishes between three different areas of activity. In the first, which concerns the internal organisation of churches and religious communities, their freedom to operate the way they want has to be respected but it is in the field of external action that problems arise. On the one hand, there are charitable activities which can have economic consequences and have to be the subject of compromise; and on the other hand, there are purely commercial activities (the management of property, investment portfolios, etc.) which are fully subject to the legislation in force. Many cases are analysed in this connection, revealing a huge array of different situations and enabling readers to get a slightly clearer view of the legal position of religious institutions and how they operate. The thesis upon which this book is based was presented in 2005, and the reference text, the Constitutional Treaty, has now been replaced by the Lisbon Treaty, meaning that it would be useful to update the book in a handful of areas, but the basic argument remains valid and solid.
(GFr)
*** HADJILA KRIFA-SCHNEIDER (Ed.): L'élargissement de l'Union européenne. Quels enjeux et défis majeurs ? 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.editions-harmattan.fr ). "L'esprit économique" series. 2007, 489 pp, €39. ISBN 978-2-296-03006-0.
With its most recent round of enlargement, the European Union opened up to countries poorer than the EU average. Will this give it the necessary stimulus for the EU to become a truly global scale economic power or on the contrary, will it prove to be a trap which, due to an amplification of divergences, will lead to a two-speed economic Europe? This is the question studied in this book, the extension of a conference of economists organised by universities in Lille, France, in late 2004. Looking at the question of catching up, the first section of the book opens with an essay by Hadjila Krifa-Schneider noting that the most recent enlargement (to Bulgaria and Romania) was the riskiest of them all and it was here that the EU proved itself to be the least generous and displayed the least solidarity, choosing to favour integration through the market which is supposed to provide trickle-down solidarity, a scenario in which welfare measures are seen as no more than accompanying measures. Anna Tykhonenko uses a study of real convergence to demonstrate that the criteria have not been met to ensure the 'high level of convergence in economic performance' promised since the Maastricht Treaty. Delphine Tatot looks at budget issues, putting forward a methodology to determine Member States' level of contribution in terms of their trade gains or losses and their relative level of development. The second part of the book looks at the monetary policies of the enlarged Europe, with researchers writing on the extension of monetary mechanisms to new member countries and the role of central banks. Entitled 'On the integration of trade and manufacturing sectors in the enlarged Europe,' the third part of the book contains essays on trade and foreign direct investment (therefore also looking at the fear of company relocation) from the angle of how they impact on the country in question and their industry-wide and strategic consequences for companies. Then the social consequences of enlargement are studied, with researchers looking in depth at questions relating to demographics, the funding of pension systems, inequality and the labour market. This is a very comprehensive book, the reading of which will be facilitated and enhanced by a basic understanding of economics.
(PBo)
*** HENDRIK THOß (Ed.): Mitteleuropäische Grenzräumen Duncker & Humblot (Postfach 410329, D-12113 Berlin. Tel./Fax: (49-30) 79000631 - Internet: http://www.duncker-humblot.de ). "Chemnitzer Europastudien" series, No. 3. 2006, 150 pp. ISBN 3-428-12157-0.
This book comprises research presented at a conference organised in January 2004 by the history department of Chemnitz University in Germany. The European interest of the book lies in the fact that after analysing the impact of the EU's INTERREG programme on the border regions of the new reunified Germany, concentrating on the eastern borders with new EU member states. There are various historical studies of these regions, linking up recent developments with the cultural and political heritage of the regions, often characterised by crisis, conflict and even war. In a more ideological perspective, there is also an analysis of the ideas of Carl Schmitt, an ideologue of the notion of a "Großraum ohne Grenzen", a "vast, border-free area" for central Europe, an idea defended at the time of the Nazis. It is useful to compare this past dream (but is it really a past dream?) with the reality that is currently developing through cross-border, transnational and inter-regional cooperation. Rethinking the border question in its historical dimensions at a time when the countries of central Europe are entering the Schengen Area, which will totally change the way the inhabitants of the regions feel about their new living space, is what is particularly useful about this book.
(GFr)
*** ISABEL KOSKE: Equilibrium Exchange Rate Models, the Euro and the 2004 Expansion of the EU. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel.: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.de ). "Studien Zu Internationalen Wirtschaftbeziehungen" series, No. 10. 2007, 204 pp, €36-40. ISBN 978-3-631-56703-6.
Moving towards a euro exchange rate that is neither under-valued nor over-valued is clearly critical for European monetary policy. It is also crucially important for the harmonious inclusion of new EU member states which joined the EU in 2004. Isabel Koske starts by describing the different theoretical models of equilibrium of exchange rates operating for the euro and the currencies of the new member states, going on to look in greater detail at how the euro has fluctuated in recent years against several other major currencies. She also looks at the currencies of the new member states, adjusting Stein and Allen's natural exchange rate model to match small countries. This is a monetary economics book that both describes and comments upon various mathematical and conceptual models rather than a book for the man in the street.
(FRo)
*** KATJA FUNKE: Balance of Payments Issues in Central and Eastern European Countries' Run-Up to Euro Area Accession. Peter Lang (see above). "Studien Zu Internationalen Wirtschaftbeziehungen" series, No. 9. 2007, 241 pp, €39-70. ISBN 978-3-631-55694-8.
Following a period at the European Central Bank, economist Katja Funke now works for the International Monetary Fund. In this very dense work, she studies various aspects of the approaches taken by countries of Central Europe when they joined the EU on 1 May 2004 to move closer to the single currency. She starts by assessing the balance of payments issue in their current accounts and the sustainability of their foreign debts before looking at how they can attract fdi from industrialised countries. These countries have high public deficits and the author analyses the impact of the expenditure consolidation policies that will be imposed by the European institutions will impact on their foreign balances. Needless to say, this is a book for readers with a degree of background knowledge…
(PBo)
*** JOSEP BORRELL FONTELLES: Recueil des Discours et des interventions. European Parliament. 2007, 667 pp.
This impressive volume includes the entirety of Spanish Socialist MEP Josep Borrell's speeches and other addresses during his time as President of the European Parliament from July 2005 to January 2007.
(MT)
*** PIERRE LEQUILLER (Ed.): Un nouveau traité pour une relance de l'Union européenne. Délégation pour l'Union européenne de l'Assemblée nationale (Boutique de l'Assemblée nationale, 7 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris. Tel.: (33-1) 40630033 - Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). "Rapport d'information" series, No. 248. 2007, 65 pp, €3-50. ISBN 978-2-11-122726-2.
This newsletter reports on work by Pierre Lequiller and colleagues in eight EU Member States to argue in favour of the Reform Treaty and gauge public opinion
(MT)