*** STEFAN GRILLER, JACQUES ZILLER (Eds.): The Lisbon Treaty. EU Constitutionalism without a Constitutional Treaty? Springer-Verlag (4-6 Sachsenplatz, P.O. Box 89, A-1201 Vienna. Tel: (43-1) 3302415 - Fax: 3302426 - email: books@springer.at - Internet: http://www.springer.at ). 2008, 383 pp. ISBN 978-3-211-09428-0.
What is new in the Lisbon Treaty? What changes does it make to the balance of the EU institutions? Is it in fact a constitutional treaty? The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is uncertain because of problems arising from the Irish no vote so it may seem a little odd to publish a book wholly devoted to these issues. Nevertheless, it has to be admitted that the questions remain relevant irrespective of the outcome of the flurry of doubts inundating the European Union since the French and Dutch no votes and, more intensively, since the Irish no vote in June of this year. Why? Firstly, because the EU has experienced other such moments and history has shown its capacity to pick itself up, dust itself off and carry on. After all, ambient Euroscepticism "reflects the price that the majority had to pay to a very rigid Eurosceptic minority" and "the mood of the states depends on variables that at least in some cases may rapidly change and consequently isolate the most stubborn ones'. Next, as the editors of this book point out in the preface, these doubts do not detract in any way from the value of the debate surrounding European constitutional issues, a debate which has accompanied the European Union at every stage of its construction and will certainly remain one of its main challenges in the years to come. As Giuliano Amato points out so pointedly, the European Court of Justice was talking about a European constitutional order back in 1964, a year when it decided on the primacy of European law over the domestic law of the Member States. Therefore the question of whether the Treaty will actually come into force is irrelevant because it is being studied here for its constitutional value. Lisbon is no doubt a key stage in this constitutionalising process. After all, it is surely a slightly genetically modified clone of the child engendered by the Convention?
The fruit of debate on the changes the European Union's constitutional framework will undergo in the event that the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, there are essays in the book from fifteen leading authors, each studying a specific dimension. The aim is to discern all the constitutional aspects of the treaty, its limits and, above all, the subtleties whereby the limits can be bypassed (human rights, bridges between the intergovernmental method and the Community method, the European Parliament's control over the Council, separation of executive powers, etc). Taken together, the essays provide a very interesting explanation of the treaty, with essays, for example, by José Maria Beneyto on "Eight theses on the (future) constitutionalisation of Europe," taking an unblinkered look at a series of serious gaps in the constitutional treaty - the lack of any common vision on foreign policy, the impact of strengthened cooperation in the domain of freedom, justice and security and other areas, the impasse in economic and social affairs and the growing gulf between citizens' expectations and the policies carried out, etc. In a different register, Paul Craig looks at the role of the European Parliament, which he describes as the big winner if the treaty is ratified because it would make it possible for the EP to legislate with the Council "on an increasingly equal footing" thanks to greater use of codecision. Digging beneath the appearances, the author spends time on a number of murky areas, like the institutionalising of the Council/Commission/EP dialogue and the ever more regular use of the Open Method of Coordination (that excludes the European Parliament). Catherine Barnard has written a brilliant article on the consequences of Poland and the United Kingdom's opt out of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. Christine Kaddous considers the Permanent Representative's two hats and his/her future links with the various EU institutions, leading her to query the coherence of foreign policy and possible 'communitarisation' of the second pillar.
More than the originality of the questions addressed, this book's strength lies in the angle from which the questions are discussed, and the way the research extends to the very limits. It is the very nature of the European project that is considered in this book. And the verdict? Discussing six different aims and constitutional problems, the conclusion does not forecast any radical changes. Ascribing the aim of "multilevel democratic constitutionalism" to the EU, the author of the conclusion argues that "the evolution of European constitutional law will continue to differ from" the constitutionalisation of national legal systems, and "the future of European constitutionalism remains unforeseeable and contested". With implacable pragmatism, the book clearly leaves the idea of a United States of Europe, which some people are still dreaming of, on the back-burner for several years to come…
Thomas Bauwens
*** PIERRE PESCATORE: Études de droit communautaire européen 1962-2007. Avec une liste bibliographique complémentaire. Établissements Bruylant (67 Rue de la Régence, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5129842 - Fax: 5119477 - email: jean@bruylant.be - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ). "Droit de l'Union européenne - Grands écrits" series, No. 6. 2008, 1006 pp, €125. ISBN 978-2-8027-2531-2.
This 1,000 page tome by Pierre Pescatore, professor of law at Liège University in Belgium and judge at the European Court of Justice from 1967 to 1985, is certainly impressive but although one might be forgiven for thinking that given its size and subject matter, this is a book for legal experts alone, this is not the case and it makes fascinating reading for many reasons. The forty essays on European law written over Pierre Pescatore's forty-five year career are certainly 100% legal essays that point out the sheer importance of law in the European integration process and cover vital issues (hot potatoes at times) in the order of the day. In addition to returning to fundamental rulings in the case law of the European legal order like the "Cassis de Dijon" case or the "Van Gend en Loos" case, the author considers the connections between human rights and European integration, the international personality of the European Community, the notion of federalism, a brilliant essay on the legitimacy of supra-state structures and a reflection on linguistic aspects of the European construction. All this is accompanied by articles on the main European treaties and the functioning of the European Court of Justice, which provide this eminent lawyer with an opportunity to discuss a wide range of domains without abandoning his chief objective of explaining the main concepts in EU law. This book will be of interest to newcomers as well as the most experienced lawyers.
(TBa)
*** ROBERT LECOURT: L'Europe des juges. Établissements Bruylant (see above). "Droit de l'Union européenne - Grands écrits" series. 2008, 321 pp, €60. ISBN 978-2-8027-2474-2.
"For all those who still doubt the solidity of the Community construction, it would be a good idea to prescribe the reading of this exceptional book by Robert Lecourt, L'Europe des juges"… Thus begins the preface by Prof. Fabrice Picod (Panthéon-Assas University in France) to this reprint of a book published by the same publishing house back in 1976. 'Guardian of the Rolls' under the Fourth Republic in France, Robert Lecourt was appointed as a judge at the European Court of Justice in 1962 and became its president in 1967, a position he held for nine years. During these nine years, explains Prof. Picod, the Court of Justice issued "some of its finest rulings". In this book, which has not aged a day, Robert Lecourt provides a detailed and extremely enlightening analysis of the building of the European Community through law in the way it had been done thus far (and continues to be done), namely as undertaken by judges. Studying the relations of the judges among themselves, the constituent and the legislator is carried out in the book, explains Prof. Picod, "using concrete examples and colourful expressions that turn the book into a masterpiece of an intensity comparable with the books written by Pierre Pescatore" in the "Le droit de l'intégration" series. The author certainly sheds light on the excellent work between the European Court of Justice and national courts, illustrating the cornerstone of the Community of Law that is the European Community. The direct impact of the primacy of European law and the uniform interpretation of EU law, the rising power of competition policy and the rights of the individual are described with conviction and mastery, providing excellent confirmation that the European Community is, as far as its judges are concerned, "quite different from an international organisation".
(PBo)
*** GIUSEPPE VEDOVATO: Destinazione Europa. Nuove memorie e testimonianze. Libreria Commissionaria Sansoni (1/1 via Duca di Calabria, I-50125 Florence. email: laura.mori@licosa.com - Internet: http://www.licosa.com ). "Biblioteca della Rivista di studi politici internazionali" series. 2008, 694 pp, €25. ISBN 978-88-6087-194-8.
Born in 1912, Giuseppe Vedovato has led a very full life. Professor at La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy, where he taught international relations for a long time, he was also an MEP from 1953 to 1976, President of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly from 1972 to 1975 and President of the Western European Union's committee of defence and arms issues. In this impressive volume, which he assures us will not be his last, he has assembled speeches, articles and reports which he wrote mainly in Italian but also in French from 1992 to 2008. The book is divided into three sections, the first looking at Europe's 'two lungs,' namely the Council of Europe and the European Union. The second section looks at various matters regarding Europe's presence in the world, and the last part looks at great Europeans like De Gasperi, Adenauer, de Rougemont and Lord Russell-Johnston. Fine first-hand eye witness accounts.
(PBo)
*** YVES BERTONCINI, THIERRY CHOPIN, ANNE DULPHY, SYLVAIN KAHN, CHRISTINE MANIGAND (Eds.): Dictionnaire critique de l'Union européenne. Editions Armand Colin (21 rue du Montparnasse, F-75006 Paris). 2008, 494 pp, €39-50. ISBN 978-2-200-3550-6.
"Badly naming an object adds unhappiness to the world," wrote Albert Camus. Hence the usefulness of dictionaries… The European Union, a more or less identified object, has had its own "Dictionnaire de l'Union européenne" (Christophe Degryse, Publisher De Boeck & Larcier, Brussels, 3rd edition published in 2007) since 1995. A new "Dictionnaire critique de l'Union européenne" has just been published, edited by five historians and political analysts, with contributions from 166 specialists who have written 236 articles from letter A - "Action européenne fédéralistes" - to Y - "Yaoundé et Lomé". The book also contains a chronology (1929-2008) and sixteen pages of maps and graphics.
The adjective "critical" (Critical Dictionary of the European Union) for this particular dictionary does not mean, warns the preface, that "negative analysis of the European Union has been favoured, but rather making an effort to echo the debates surrounding the EU, based on analysis and properly marshalled arguments". This is a must-read working tool for anyone who has dealings in any sense whatsoever with European circles. There are articles on, for example, the "open method of coordination", the history of the Single Market, the euro, and European figureheads like Schuman, Monnet, Spaak, De Gasperi, Spinelli, Hallstein, Delors, etc. Readers will find useful information about issues like European public opinion (Alain Lancelot), Eurobarometer polls (Céline Belot) and "Symbolism" (Carole Lager). Each entry has links to other entries and further reading. The dictionary will help the European Union in its process of identification…
(J-RR)
*** Procédures de consultation dans les Etats européens. Evaluation des systèmes de consultation entre gouvernements nationaux et associations nationales de collectivités locales. Council of European Municipalities and Regions (1 square de Meeûs, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5117477 - Fax: 5110949 - email: cemr@ccre.org - Internet: http://www.ccre.org ). 2007, 243 pp.
With a membership of national associations of citizens and regions from thirty-six countries of Europe, the CEMR summarises and evaluates local and regional authorities' consultation procedures in thirty-five European countries in this very useful publication. For each case, the degree of decentralisation (over time, the legal framework of the autonomy of local and regional powers) is summarised before the institutional framework is briefly described, along with the links between local and regional bodies and the state, the consultation procedures in force, legislative practices and European Union policy, not to mention an assessment of the consultation procedures and future prospects. In the introduction, the CEMR general secretary, Jeremy Smith, observes that consultation procedures on European issues tend to be minimal or non-existent and, as far as the CEMR is concerned, this has to be changed as a matter of urgency.
(PBo)
*** Spain today 2008. Ministry of the Presidency (Madrid. Internet: http://www.la-moncloa.es and http://www.060.es ). 2008, 231 pp.
Beautifully laid out and presented, with a raft of illustrations and images, this Spanish government publication briefly describes the salient facts about Spain and the changes experienced by the country in terms of its population, history, culture, organisation of the state, foreign policy, defence policy, relations with Latin America, economic model and system of social well-being.
(MT)