*** CLAUDIO GIULIO ANTA: Les pères de l'Europe. Sept Portraits. Presses Interuniversitaires européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 3477236 - Fax: 3477237 - Email: pie@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 180 pp. ISBN 978-90-5201-069-4.
This is the French translation of an Italian book on the founders of Europe published in 2005 under the same title, with portraits of seven politicians who directly contributed to the building of Europe and how Europe has expanded. The book compares and contrasts the politicians and their approaches, with portraits of Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, Alcide De Gasperi, Paul Henri Spaak, Altiero Spinelli and Jacques Delors, covering a period of the European project characterised mainly by Jean Monnet's functionalist approach, apart from the federalist dream pursued so obstinately by Spinelli - whom the author describes as the Don Quixote of Europe - and the very special role played by Jacques Delors who, as head of the Commission, did not need to set up new institutions as the founders of the 1950s had had to do, but rather to progress and grow the policies of the now well-established European Commission. In this connection, deciding to include the president of the European Commission in the 1980s-1990s (Delors) as one of the true 'Fathers' of Europe is perhaps not such a judicious move. All the same, these seriously researched and documented portraits make a useful and original contribution to knowledge about the history of the European project. The work is supplemented by a very detailed bibliography.
It is regrettable, however, that the portraits are somewhat 'traditional' in terms of content and the image they give of the launch of the European integration project. The aim, of course, was to paint rapid portraits from a multitude of sources rather than to provide detailed biographical research. Nevertheless, the reader's appetite is whetted but not entirely satisfied when it comes to analysis of the motivations of the various individuals and what lay behind their personal commitment to the action they undertook, particularly the political aims they had in mind. The huge value of this book is its wise analysis of the continuity of the visions put forward, explaining how Europe has evolved since the 1950 Schuman initiative, characterised by Jean Monnet's functionalism, through to the change to European Union under the Maastricht Treaty, prepared by the constitutional initiatives of Spinelli at the European Parliament in 1984 and Jacques Delors' "engrenage" policy of social engineering that led to the Single Act of 1986. The book helps readers gain deeper understanding of the institutional foundations and some of the democratic problems of modern-day Europe. A useful history book for anyone with an open mind about the future.
Gabriel Fragnière
*** MURIEL and YANN DE L'ECOTAIS: L'Europe racontée en famille. Editions Plon (76 rue Bonaparte, F-75284 Paris cedex 06. Tel: (33-1) 44413500 - Fax: 44413053). 2008, 193 pp, €12. ISBN 978-2-259-20634-1.
This slim volume, part of a series edited by Luc Ferry to help parents help their children, with a clear, lively introduction to how Europe works, from the Common Market to the EU, explaining the motives and illustrating the impact in daily life. This series corrects countless myths like the euro causing inflation. False, explains the book. It is the is the Council of Europe that decides on farm prices. False. Brussels technocrats decide everything. False. This is almost a public health book, with an ability to summarise and a happy way with words that is not often encountered in publications about Europe. As an example, this is how the authors explain to young people the French rejection of the draft constitutional treaty: "A referendum was necessarily going to crystallise all forms of opposition in France - opposition to capitalism, to the free market, to the powers-that-be, to rules on hunting birds, to Polish plumbers, etc, etc. (…) On 29 May 2005, we did not vote against what was new in the draft treaty but what was old in the Rome Treaty (…) The fundamental question that some French people were asking themselves was (still is?): Should we be part of the European Community? We had to decide once and for all - do we stay in the EU or get out? Don't try and convince us that we could win over all our partners to our views, in terms of taxation, type of society or relations with the United States, for example. If we are not part of the EU, with its compromise rules, we could imagine ourselves becoming a slightly bigger and much poorer version of Switzerland, or Norway without the oil. The things that bug us would continue and we would no longer be able to influence the decisions (…) It would be ridiculous to leave Europe or even try to veto it - which we wouldn't manage to do for long anyway".
This book by two authors - a journalist who was one of the first foreign correspondents based permanently in Brussels, who later become the director of L'Express in France and the author of several books on Europe; and a lawyer and senior lecturer at Picardy University in France - is eminently readable, accurate and written in a punchy style. At a time when there is much talk about school reform, I would like to make a humble suggestion that could have a significant impact - making this book, "L'Europe racontée en famille," a set text for secondary schools and further education, which would make an huge contribution in France to educating a new generation of young people aware of European issues.
(FR)
*** MARIANE DONY, LUCIA SERENA ROSSI (Eds.): Démocratie, cohérence et transparence. Vers une constitutionnalisation de l'Union européenne? Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (26 av. Paul Héger, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 6503799 - Fax: 6503794 - Email: editions@admin.ulb.ac.be - Internet: http://www.editions-universite-bruxelles.be ). "Etudes européennes" series. 2008, 367 pp, €35. ISBN 978-2-8004-1407-2.
This book emerged from international research funded by the European Commission on three EU objectives described as the main innovations of the now defunct treaty to establish a constitution for Europe, namely democracy, transparency and coherence. Are the challenges dead? Is the Lisbon Reform Treaty ambitious enough to meet them? The book is divided into two sections. The first looks at transparency and democratisation, illustrating that progress was (and remains) visible in terms of democratisation (the increased powers of the European Parliament and national parliaments, the Charter of Fundamental Rights) but the outcome when it comes to transparency is far less rosy due to the failure to simplify legislation. The second part looks at institutional coherence (between the EU and its Member States and between the EU institutions) and coherent subject matter (between foreign policies and foreign and domestic policies). The authors criticise the lack of ambition in the Lisbon Reform Treaty with regard to the constitutional treaty. Along with coherence between EU and international law, other vast, interesting issues are also discussed, like the EU's relations with Latin America, development cooperation and the division of the common foreign and security policy between the EU treaty and the treaty on the functioning of the EU. The book is an instructive balance sheet of progress in the 'constitutionalising' of the European Union.
(TBa)
*** GIAN ENRICO RUSCONI, HANS WOLLER (Eds.): Parallele Geschichte? Italien und Deutschland, 1945 - 2000. Duncker & Humblot (Postfach 41 03 29, D-12113 Berlin. Tel/Fax: (49-30) 79000631 - Internet: http://www.duncker-humblot.de ). "Schriften des Italienisch-Deutschen Historischen Instituts Trient" series, No. 20. 2006, 574 pp. ISBN 3-428-12300-X.
This is the translation from Italian into German of research following a study week at the Trento German-Italian History Institute in September 2002, published in Italian by "Il Mulino" as "Italia et Germania 1945-2000. La costruzione dell'Europa". It is obvious that the construction of Europe was key for both countries in the period covered by the twenty-five essays, and the book's originality lies in the fact that it constantly compares and contrasts the two countries' parallel histories, which is why the German title is better suited to the spirit of this very original work. While it is true that comparisons are not always accurate, it is undeniable that these two countries, which both came out of the Second World War defeated, went on to rebuild their domestic political situation and find their own place in an uncertain world, often followed very similar routes. The second part of the book, comparing and contrasting the political philosophy of the political parties established with a Christian background (the CDU/CSU in Germany and the DC in Italy) and looking at the special role of the two enigmatic leaders Adenauer and De Gasperi, is a perfect illustration of the book's approach. It is unfortunately not possible here to resume the rich interest and detail of the essays, but I would like to stress the scientific nature of the essays and congratulate the Trento Institute for the publication - one in a series of highly interesting tomes published by the same publishing house.
(GFr)
*** European View. Religion and Politics. Editions Springer (SpringerDistribution CenterGmbH, Haberstrasse 7, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany. Tel: (49-6221) 3454304 - Fax: 3454229. European - E-mail: ev@epp.eu - Internet: http://www.europeanview.eu ). 2007, No. 6, 160 pp.
The sixth book in the "European View" series edited by the European Studies Centre, an official think tank of the European People's Party, looks at the way religion and politics interact, focussing on the expansion of radical Islam. Throughout its 160 pages, politicians, journalists, academics and religious leaders write on this controversial subject, coming up with solutions or at least food for thought and possible outcomes. There are essays by figures like the Patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches of Constantinople and Moscow, Wilfried Martens (President of the EPP), Silvio Berlusconi, Romanian President Traian Basescu and EU Commissioner Ján Figel.
(NDu)
*** CLAUDIA STACHEL: Schutzpflichten der Mitgliedstaaten für die Grundfreiheiten des EG-Vertrags unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Grundrechtsschutzes in der Gemeinschaft. Duncker & Humblot GmbH. Berlin (see above). "Schriften zum Europäischen Recht" series, No. 121. 2006, 237 pp. ISBN 3-428-12183-X.
This law thesis for Würzburg University in Bavaria results from research to develop a dogmatic approach to the duty to protect individual fundamental rights, a duty which is part of the remit of the Member States, in the face of the development of EU law in the European Union. The key question raised is whether there is a genuine need to take state measures to protect such rights or whether there are already sufficient legal instruments in the treaties to put an end to any malfunctioning of the Single Market that might be caused by individual acts. An in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding this question is provided, along with analysis of the powers the European Court of Justice could develop to protect the fundamental rights of individuals against the 'negative' impact of various parts of competition law. A raft of possible solutions is put forward that take account of German law in this domain. A highly detailed study that raises a series of important questions at a time when various aspects of competition law, often very free market in inspiration, are being called into question.
(GFr)
*** THIERRY CORNILLET: Guide des aides de l'Union européenne. European Parliament (ASP 09G103, rue Wiertz, B-1047 Brussels. Internet: http://www.cornillet.net ). 2006, 143 pp.
A member of the Democratic and Liberal group at the European Parliament, French MEP Thierry Cornillet publishes this masterpiece every year (so far only in French) giving an update of all the potential European Union financial aid available for projects of European interest. Designed to be eminently user-friendly, the publication describes how to set up a European project and the various EU funding programmes, from Comenius (education) to cooperation programmes with non-EU countries, via EU initiatives like Eurydice and Jessica and other types of aid (subsidies, public tender, prices and European competitions). Following a brief description, the author explains who can apply, the amount of funding available and the criteria governing the aid. Characterised by a clear desire to explain the issues to non-specialists, with an index of key terms, classification according to potential beneficiaries, useful websites, etc, this invaluable handbook is free of charge and can be downloaded from http://www.cornillet.net
(FRo)
*** Confrontations Europe. La Revue. Confrontations Europe (227 bld Saint-Germain, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 43173283 - Fax: 45561886 - email: confrontations@wanadoo.fr - Internet: http://www.confrontations.org ). 2008, No. 82, 42 pp, €7. Annual subscription: €28.
Economist and former MEP Philippe Herzog provides his association, Confrontations Europe, with an outstanding quarterly publication that is a cut above the rest. In this issue, he gives excellent reasons for turning Europe into a global player and Alain Lamassoure and Pierre Jonckheer debate the idea of moving from the Delors Method to the Herzog Method for breathing new life into Europe through a revisited Lisbon Strategy. The other subjects covered make the review a gripping read from start to finish!
(MT)