*** ANTO GAVRIC, GRZEGORZ W. SIENKIEWICZ (Eds.): Etat et bien commun. Perspectives historiques et enjeux éthico-politiques - Colloque en hommage à Roger Berthouzoz.
Peter Lang (32 Hochfeldstrasse, Postfach 746, CH-3000 Berne 9. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 -
Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2008, 302 pp,
ISBN 978-3-03911-467-2.
Thomas Aquinas' concept of 'common good' only tends to be found these days in official documents from the Roman Catholic Church and the work of the increasingly rare intellectuals (they are far more discreet, at any rate) who claim to follow Catholic thought to one degree or another. Prof. Yves Semen of the 'Faculté de Philosophie Comparée' in Paris (also director of the European Institute of Anthropological Studies in Freiburg) rightly points out at the start of his contribution that modern political thought has a greater impact on expressions of general interest, public interest, public good or state good. Whichever term is used, the fundamental question of the connection that commits the state vis-à-vis the vast array of goods proper to each territorial community is raised today in a new and worryingly acute manner, also within the European Union. Prof. Semen argues that Thomas Aquinas invariably demanded the principle of the common good as an end in political society and a judging principle in terms of social organisation, while Nicolas Michel notes that these days, many people feel it is impossible to clearly define the essence of the common good, be it national, European or global. In the preface, the deputy secretary general for legal affairs at the United Nations asks questions that illustrate this: To what extent are these various goods interconnected? What is the specific role of political action and governmental organisations? How do government organisations organise their powers at regional, national and global level? What is the economy of the common good and what about political and legal matters?
At the end of the day, all these questions can be summed up in a single, more fundamental, question - what role should be recognised for the person and human communities in the world of the twenty-first century? It is to this question that philosophers, historians, economists, lawyers, political decision-makers, scientists and theologians provide answers in this magnificent book that arose from a conference held at Freiburg University in the memory of the Swiss theologian, philosopher and thinker Roger Berthouzoz. Often characterised by personalist thinking, these answers (or rather, these suggestions for reflection) emerge from study of philosophical themes like liberalism, the common good in political philosophy and in the philosophy of law, and study of how they have been cultivated in the Dominican and modern traditions. The authors also fashion them in the light of work on the economic and ethical challenges of the modern world, while other writers describe the issue of the common good in the Catholic Church's teachings. Clearly, Anto Gavric and Grzegorz W. Sienkiewicz explain in the introduction, it is the nature and depth of commitment of the political in social dialogue that is at the heart of these juxtapositions that combine the twin requirements of thought and action.
It goes without saying that a book of ilk cannot be summed up, and it is also a fact that it demands a degree of intellectual humility from readers. In essays mostly in French but also on occasion in German, English or Italian, the authors cover Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, various popes, Lacordaire and Montesquieu, Habermas, Ratzinger when he was 'just' a cardinal, John Rawls, Thomas Hobbes, Kant and more. Only the finest intellectual pedigree in other words. As a taster, we will start by mentioning two essays on personalist philosopher Jacques Maritain who, as Prof. Roberto Papini of Trieste University in Italy points out, argued in the 1950s for the birth of a global political society capable of achieving the common good of humanity. At the time of globalisation, this early call is fully worth its salt and significance. One could also mention a remarkable essay by Henri Torrione on the notion of a 'good' in political and legal thought. Torrione is professor in law and the philosophy of law at Freiburg University. He expresses alarm at the dangers arising from machines and technical matters getting the upper hand over the human species, asking whether Western humanity has recently shaken off the ideology of communism, the idea of a praxis that would allow human beings to self-produce as a new being, only to fall under the spell of another type of ideology with another type of transformation, not a transformation at the social level through class struggle, but transformation that could be achieved by techno-scientific praxis in the silence of the laboratories? Adriano Previtali explains how human rights are a vital component of the common good and points out that in a democracy, a ban on the death penalty, torture and discrimination can only be the minimum requirement. Finally, we could single out an essay by historian Karel Bosko on the philosopher Jan Patocka, on Vaclav Havel and Charter 77, as an incarnation of ethics, while today, new walls are being built, walls of closed nationalism, deathly racism and greedy individualism, where the Wall of Shame stood in the past.
Michel Theys
*** JOHN MCCORMICK: Understanding The European Union. A Concise Introduction. Editions Palgrave Macmillan (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, UK. Tel: (44-1256) 329242 - Fax: 842084 - email: mdl@macmillan.co.uk - Internet: http://www.palgrave.com ). "The European Union Series". 2008, 239 pp, £19-99. ISBN 978-0-230-20102-6.
This introduction to the European Union is in its fourth edition, bearing witness to its quality. Decidedly brief, it is aimed at anyone who wants to understand how the EU works without going into too much detail. Arguing that most literature claiming to explain the EU is rather obscure for mere mortals, the author aims at simplicity, leaving aside theoretical debate, articles from the treaties and other political and philosophical theses on what the EU should be. Analysis focuses on the real changes made in the lives of inhabitants by the EU. It starts by examining changes in Europe since 1945, stressing the uniqueness of the EU project and the unprecedented stability enjoyed by the continent since the end of the Second World War. From this emerges a picture of Europe based on cooperation and mutual aid rather than war and rivalry. The web of institutions is also explained, as it the institutions' interaction with the various Member States and the EU's decision-making process. John McCormick studies the impact on the population in terms of the economy (with the Single Market and the euro) and in social affairs (with greater mobility and greater familiarity with neighbours who tended to be seen as merely rivals or enemies in the past). The book includes an analysis of European economic policies. It focuses on the Single Market, looking at how it was set up, how it operates and its repercussions. The author reports on the efforts to try and create a common foreign policy, problems with European defence, the at times troublesome relations with the United States, and the emergence of Eastern Europe on the EU's political agenda. A clear, detailed, user-friendly book.
(NDu)
*** MARTA PETRICIOLI, DONATELLA CHERUBINI (Eds.): Pour la paix en Europe - For Peace in Europe. Institutions et société civile dans l'entre-deux-guerres - Institutions and Civil Society between the World Wars. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 656 pp, €52-90. ISBN 978-90-5201-364-0.
This imposing book of essays in French and English fills a real gap in the market in that it looks at Europe between the First and Second World Wars not only in terms of government and institutional initiatives to ensure sustainable peace (that soon proved to be a pipedream) but also from the viewpoint of civil society - not called 'civil society' at the time of course. The first part of the book looks at peace bodies and instruments, including the Society of Nations, of course, with an essay on a certain Jean Monnet to provide an economic and financial dimension. The second part of the book studies peace projects and initiatives and the next section discusses the intellectual and political choices facing pacifists at the time, especially in Italy. The final section looks at research into various peace events in the cultural world. (PBo)
*** CONSTANTIN DUCHS: Die Behandlung von Leistungsstörung im Europäischen Vertragsrecht. Duncker & Humblot (Postfach 410329, D-12113 Berlin. Tel/Fax: (49-30) 79000631 - Internet: http://www.duncker-humblot.de ). "Untersuchungen zum Europäischen Privatrecht" series, No. 19. 2006, 412 pp. ISBN 978-3-428-11975-4.
This book is a doctoral thesis in private law for Mainz University in Germany. It makes a detailed theoretical analysis of how malfunctions in EU contract law are dealt with. The central question is the legal system for measures to be taken when contracts are broken. The legal system has to draw up fixed rules for deciding when creditors can legally expect to find an answer from EU contract law and when debtors can be freed of their debts. Answers to these questions should be found within EU contract law, irrespective of developments in the near or distant future which may lead to a codification of law in this domain. The author carries out comparative research on existing sources which might be used as a model for drawing up such a codification. Meticulous, painstaking and crucial work.
(GFr)
*** WILLEM H. VAN BOOM, MEINHARD LUKAS, CHRISTA KISSLING (Eds.): Tort and Regulatory Law. Springer (Vienna and New York) and the European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (11 Landesgerichtsstrabe, 1080 Vienna. - Tel: (43) 1401271688 - Fax: 2401271685 - email: ectil@ectil.org). "Tort and Insurance Law" series, No. 19. 2007, 477 pp. ISBN 978-3-211-31133-2.
This is the nineteenth volume in this series of systematic analyses of how administrative law interacts with civil liability laws, a series in which lawyers often compare notes. The authors of this volume focus on measures taken to protect the environment - a particularly interesting subject in that it includes the EU dimension (the environment is covered by EU law). The authors develop an overview based on analysis of several countries' legal systems - Austria, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. In addition to these national reports drawn up using questionnaires on general matters and practical cases, the book includes special reports on the connection between regulatory law and the law of civil liability in Italy, the strategy and objectives of this connection, analysis from the insurance viewpoint and also analysis in terms of business. The book also contains a comparative analysis and demonstrates the extent to which regulatory law influences the law of civil liability in many ways. (TBa)
*** HELMUT KOZIOL, REINER SCHULZE (Eds.): Tort Law of the European Community. Springer-Verlag (see above). "Tort and Insurance Law" series, No. 23. 2008, 693 pp. ISBN 978-3-211-77585-1.
Following the European Parliament's desire to ensure approximation among Member States' civil and social legislation, the 'Centre européen du droit de la responsabilité civile et des assurances' has been seeking common solutions and concepts in EU case law and the EU acquis to set up a body of European law in this domain. The authors start by identifying the work that has been carried out at EU level to develop such a body of law, going on to examine various European legal families in order to find common threads. There is also a section on EU tort law terminology. (NDu)
*** NEIL CRAIK: The International Law of Environmental Impact Assessment Process, Substance and Integration. Cambridge University Press (The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK. Internet: http://www.cambridge.org ). Collection "Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law". 2008, 332 p., 55 £. ISBN 978-0-521-87945-3.
In the light of the environmental dangers of the current time, no political decisions should be taken without first carrying out an environmental impact assessment (AIE). Most Member States have included AIEs in the decision-making process but it appears that at the end of the day, the politicians have the option of whether or not to include them. Given the optional nature of AIEs that are forced to win over rather than be compulsory, the author assesses their utility in implementing international environment laws. Based on a series of case studies, the author, who is law professor at Brunswick University in Canada, shows how AIE processes arose, describing their every growing role in international agreements, their contribution to the development of new environment protection tools and their ability to assert themselves at international level. (NDu)