*** MURIEL BOULMIER, STEPHANE RODRIGUES: L'Europe et le logement social. Guide à l'attention des PME. La Documentation Française (29-31 quai Voltaire, F-75344 Paris Cedex 07. Tel: (33-1) 40157000 - Fax: 40157230 - Internet: http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr ). "Les entreprises sociales pour l'habitat" series. 2008, 120 pp, €27. ISBN 978-2-11-006783-8.
This unusual little book is an extremely useful guide for small and medium-sized enterprises and should prove invaluable, if not a pure godsend, for anyone working in the third sector who would like to have their voice heard in the EU domain but has given up in dismay when faced with the terra incognita of EU institutions and the European Union's decision-making processes. The authors specifically designed the book with social bodies working for housing in mind in order to help them feel, as Muriel Boulmier explains in the preface, that they "are at home in a European Union that is concerned about entrepreneurship and yet at the same time carries economic, social and territorial solidarity". The book clearly aims to "demystify and de-dramatise the EU image" and will be of equal interest to many other economic stakeholders in the third sector, to the delight of the authors who, through their fine work in producing this book, have also been prodigious activists: "At a time when a genuine debate is emerging in EU quarters on the future of public services and services of general interest in Europe," they write in the conclusion, "it is time for the men and women who are the incarnation of a modern vision adapted to the constraints of competitiveness (…) make themselves heard not only in order to make their own contribution but also to gain a fair return".
Muriel Boulmier makes no attempt to hide her political commitment as an activist, describing herself as a "social housing professional" wearing a hat as Vice-President of the French 'Fédération nationale des sociétés anonymes d'HLM' and President of a section of the 'Comité européen de coordination de l'habitat social'. In order to design this guide to help the social housing sector ensure its voice is heard at the European institutions, she joined forces with the scientific expertise of Stéphane Rodrigues, senior lecturer at the 'Centre de recherche sur l'Union européenne' of Paris I University (Panthéon-Sorbonne), a recognised specialist in services of general interest. The two of them have fashioned a remarkable pedagogic tool. After starting with a brief description of the European Union's institutions and main legal instruments, they make a very useful innovation by following the decision-making process right through the EU system. They focus on the drawing up of the 'Bolkestein' services directive, which began with a report on the state of the internal market in services in 2002 that identified a raft of technical and legal barriers to the achievement of a common EU market in services. They note in this connection that the Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs at the European Commission holds regular consultations with the social partners (trade unions and employers), "but this does not happen as systematically with other DGs, even on subjects described as 'horizontal' ". The authors give a range of advice on how to "participate in the debate" at this stage in the proceedings, like keeping up with what is happening and ideas circulating at the European Commission, forging contact with the unit responsible for the issue at the Commission, taking part in broad online consultation exercises and responding to non-binding documents (reports, sector-specific investigations and the like) because "unless the professions concerned actually come forward and express their views, they cannot then accuse the Commission of ignoring them"… In the same spirit, the authors go on to explain the following stages in the process, from the Commission's writing of a draft directive to its final adoption and transposition, via the intervention of the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Advice is given for each stage to help the sectors concerned get their views heard in the best way. The authors then explain what exactly the internal market is and how the social economy can be incorporated in it, and the instruments available to help boost the competitiveness of the European economy. The third part of the book is devoted to describing "a Europe of solidarity," considering social housing in the light of the Structural Funds and locating the recognised role of services of general interest. There are annexes with a glossary of EU jargon, a diagram describing the co-decision process, and summaries of Better Regulation measures promising a "new European commitment" with regard to services of general interest, including social services of general interest.
In this book, Muriel Boulmier and Stéphane Rodrigues do not only provide a service for all the "users" of Europe, but they also provide a service, as French Senator (and erstwhile French foreign minister) Jean François-Poncet explains in the preface, to European integration itself: "Euroscepticism (…) is quite attached to the mistrust that European bureaucracy inspires in citizens. Mistrust which will only be dissipated by lifting the veil on how Europe works and showing that in contrast to what many people believe, the European institutions are not a short-sighted mammoth far removed from reality but rather a competent trans-national civil service that will react if one knows how to approach it". From this viewpoint, the guide deserves the highest praise!
Michel Theys
*** LARS MAGNUSSEN, BO STRATH (Eds.): European Solidarities. Tensions and Contentions of a Concept. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, 1050 Brussels. Tel.: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Work & Society" series, No. 57. 2007, 355 pp, €34.90. ISBN 978-90-5201-363-3.
This third book arising from collaboration between the European University Institute of Florence in Italy and the Stockholm Saltsa programme studies the "tensions between a market Europe and a social Europe, between politics of social dumping and politics of social protectionism, and between Europe as a possibility and as a threat". More problematic since the 2004 round of EU enlargement because of tension between improvement in social standards to the east and deterioration of the social standards in the west, the idea of solidarity is dissected here, focussing on the questions raised by solidarity and the problems it generates rather than providing definitive answers. Noting the paradox of a Europe that is held to be responsible for social problems and yet at the same time devoid of real powers over social issues, and convinced that the "national frameworks of solutions are insufficient," the authors consider the European Union's capacity to develop socio-political powers. Fifteen chapters look at varied and important issues in the European social reality like the development of inequality between and within nations, the effectiveness of the European works councils established by the 1994 works council directive, the impact of social dumping on solidarity, the way that trade unions view the European project, and the social dimension of the Lisbon Strategy. The book leads to reflection on the future of Europe, based on a comparison with the system in the United States. Sound, comprehensive work.
(TBa)
*** KAREL DAVIDS, GRETA DEVOS, PATRICK PASTURE (Eds.): Changing Liaisons. The Dynamics of Social Partnership in the 20th Century West-European Democracies. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (see above). "Work & Society" series, No. 59. 2007, 265 pp, €36.90. ISBN 978-90-5201-365-7.
Paying particular attention to Belgium and the Netherlands (but there are also chapters on France, Italy and Austria), this book studies the historic development of institutional relations between the social partners (trade unions and employers) and the state. The authors have chosen an approach that stands out in terms of originality because, in the past, research on this topic tended to be economic or political. The choice of Belgium and the Netherlands was no accident because the authors explain that the two countries have highly developed social partnerships and welfare economies that "in many ways reflect more general European patterns". This, in fact, is the principle objective - to determine at EU level which external historic catalysts (economic recession, war, the European project, etc) and which domestic historic catalysts (social pacts, labour conventions, etc) encouraged the development of the social partners. The book is highly instructive because the authors believe that “at the end of the day, policy learning, transnational influences and the relation dynamics between the state, the employers and the trade unions mattered more for the development of consultation economies than path dependency and the weight of history”.
(TBa)
*** Réalités industrielles. Editions ESKA (12 rue du Quatre-Septembre, F-75002 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 42865573 - Fax: 42604535 - email: eska@eska.fr - Internet: http://www.eska.fr ). May 2008, 124 pp, €23. ISBN 978-2-7472-1436-0. This publication of the French 'Annales des Mines' includes a comprehensive assessment of the 'poles of competitiveness' launched in France four years ago.
(PBo)
*** JOACHIM FISCHER, ERHARD NULLMEIER (Eds.): Hauptsache Arbeit!? Peter Lang (see above). 2007, 222 pp. ISBN 978-3-631-54898-1.
This book arose from a series of conferences at the Fachhochschule für Teknik und Wirtschaft in Berlin in the summer term of 2005 attended by experts in various disciplines of economics, sociology, politics, company management and psychology. What is happening to work in a society in full flux? What role does work play in the organisation of human life? Does it still determine social and political structures? What value does work still play in societies that are no longer able to ensure work for all? Is work still the main activity in individuals' lives? The editors added an exclamation mark and a question mark to the title to underscore the ambivalence of the issue, along with the complex nature of any interpretations that might be made. The book looks at various aspects of the problems raised, both in terms of the satisfaction of workers themselves and in terms of employment policies and the radical transformations undergone in labour markets in Germany and other European countries in the face of globalisation. The EU dimension of these questions is addressed repeatedly, particularly in connection with the freedom of circulation of workers and the liberalisation of services and employment conditions. It also looks at the essential relationships raised by these questions vis-a-vis professional training and changes in information technology that are radically transforming the domain of work itself. A comprehensive book with plenty of food for thought due to its raising of a raft of questions without claiming to answer them all.
(GFr)
*** SALLY BRAILSFORD, PAUL HARPER (Eds.): Operational Research for Health Policy: Making Better Decisions. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the European Working Group on Operational Research Applied to Health Services. Peter Lang (32 Hochfeldstrasse, Postfach 746, CH-3000 Bern 9, Switzerland. Tel. (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 277 pp, €55-30. ISBN 978-3-03911-093-3.
The 31st Annual Conference of the European Working Group on Operational Research Applied to Health Services was held in the United Kingdom in 2005, where 83 scientists from 21 different countries provided "a broad perspective on current research in this area across Europe and beyond". This very technical book publishes nineteen of the forty-one scientific articles presented at the conference. A wide range of subjects is addressed, divided into five categories: health service planning models, making the best use of resources, measuring performance, patient-related issues and modelling illnesses. Based on statistical and mathematical models, each of the articles aims to measure how the best can be made of individual components of healthcare systems (from the assigning of rooms for out-patients to waiting times via ambulance logistics and dealing with post-operation infections). The book stands out through the scientific rigour of its content but for that same reason, it is also only accessible to experts and specialist political decision-makers.
(TBa)
*** ETIENNE GERARD (Ed.): Mobilités étudiantes Sud-Nord. Trajectoires scolaires de Marocains en France et insertion professionnelle au Maroc. Editions Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-3) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - email: publisud.editions@cegetel.net). 2008, 379 pp, €46. ISBN 978-2-86600-591-7.
Written by four sociologists and a demographer, this book looks at the selective immigration policies implemented in France in the light of Moroccan students coming to study in France, describing their departure and residence conditions and analysing the social morphology of the Moroccan students and their socio-scholarly careers. The authors also address a rarely explored aspect of social science research into immigration, namely how and where graduates' careers develop when they return to their home country and the value on the Moroccan labour market of what they have learned in Europe. Intellectual pathways that will shatter some received ideas …
(PBo)
*** NADIA BENTALEB: Vieillir dans la dignité. Editions Publisud (see above). "L'observatoire des sociétés" series. 2007, 168 pp, €19. ISBN 978-2-86600-847-5.
An economist by training, the author of this book describes the living conditions of retired immigrants living in a particular area of Marseilles in France (the first 'arrondissement') in terms of income, housing, health and access to social rights. Their connections with their countries of origin are also studied.
(PBo)