*** PATRICK DOLLAT: La citoyenneté européenne. Théorie et statuts. Bruylant (67 rue de la Régence, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 5129842 - Fax: 5119477 - email: jean@bruylant.be - Internet: http://www.bruylant.be ). "Pratique du droit communautaire - European Law in Practice" series. 2008, 699 pp, €95. ISBN 978-2-8027-2577-0.
At the start of this detailed legal book that is on occasions difficult to digest for the man in the street, although it provides reliable and useful information that will reward the effort of reading it, Patrick Dollat states point blank that European Union citizenship, as the European Court of Justice repeatedly points out, "is destined to become the fundamental status of people from the Member States" and looks like "the recent avatar of the ontological metamorphoses of Homo europaeus in his search for his identity and his continent". This gives an indication of the scale of the demonstration that the author gets down to in these dense pages characterised by the seal of legal precision in order to prove that European citizenship is no less than "the legal and political status from which a European people might arise, a demos, with its own existence, in addition to the existence of nations and the peoples of the European Union Member States".
The first part of the book sees the author developing a general theory of European citizenship. He delves into the conceptual system that is usually used to interpret European citizenship, in other words a superposing of civic, civilian, national and Community statuses in order to discern the fine detail of the complex mutual relationship between national and European citizenship. These potentially conflicting relations - which reflect and shape Community integration - shed light, through the author's demonstration, on the evolution of European citizenship in the direction of a "citizenship of residency that tends of shake off nationality and the obligation to circulate or to carry out an economic activity". In this connection, comments Patrick Dollat, "the European Union can take pride in distancing itself from Ancient Greece and the societal division between politically privileged citizens, economically tolerated 'metics,' and legally reified barbarians," this protective legal status also being granted to foreigners who have close ties with the Member States. From this theoretical starting point, the author (senior lecturer at the Political Studies Institute of Strasbourg University in France) unveils the individual and collective dimensions of citizenship. To this end, he starts by studying the civilian status of the European citizen which, comprising European freedoms and fundamental rights, determined the social and human substratum of the European Union. The author shows that it comes in a variety of forms in an empirical and sometimes confused manner depending on the nature of the beneficiary. Patrick Dollat then repeats this approach for the civic status, which remains "incomplete" but, having the democratic vocation of shaping and guaranteeing the civilian status, is consubstantial with European political society.
This impressive legal fresco clearly shows that European citizenship is an idea in flux, often due to the enlightened action of the European Court of Justice. As Prof. Vandersanden, an emeritus professor at the 'Université Libre de Bruxelles' points out in the introduction, however, the project remains fragile because the rights of European citizens are scattered in a series of legal texts, the principles and limits of which are not always clearly set out, which means that uncertainty surrounds the scope of these rights, which can vary from one context to another. Whence this vibrant appeal by the emeritus professor: "When will there be a European Citizens' Charter that would be the crystallisation of all the rights and obligations, not only in the form of a constitutional-type legal text but also as a practical guide setting out recognised rights, and restrictions and exceptions to those rights, how they are exercised and the right of appeal (in and out of court) if the rights are violated?" It is unfortunately not a foregone conclusion that this appeal will be heard everywhere in Europe…
Michel Theys
*** INGE GOVAERE, GEORGES VANDERSANDEN (Eds.): La fonction publique communautaire. Nouvelles règles et développements contentieux. Bruylant (see above). "Pratique du droit communautaire" series. 2008, 212 pp, €45. ISBN 978-2-8027-2561-9.
The reform of the European civil service that has been underway since May 2004 aimed to be progressive in terms of improving civil servants' careers. It overhauled their terms and conditions and came in for often bitter criticism from staff representatives. As far as many of the union representatives were concerned, the reform did not answer the aspirations of the majority of officials and even targetted the latest arrivals - men and women who started working for the EU institutions after the 2004 enlargement were, in fact, the first to experience the consequences of the new terms and conditions. Promotion procedures, pension scheme, new grades for managers and assistants and new disciplinary measures were some of the areas of tension between the civil service and its staff, with dialogue between managers and trade unions becoming far tougher, leading to conflict at times. A modern civil service like the European public service should, in the view of the authors of this book, aim to ensure a meeting of minds among staff around the idea of the European project, and should achieve this by developing a team spirit of solidarity or through dialogue and avoiding excess authoritarianism. They note, however, that this is a long way off for the moment. When disputes arise in the European civil service, there remains the hope generated by the creation of the European Civil Service Tribunal, a new court whose specialist nature provides the judges with the option of learning about what is at stake in the dispute without outside ”interference“ and also giving them the opportunity to judge the situation while paying greater attention to the human aspects of the dispute and fully applying the principles of fundamental rights involved.
Everything leads to question burning on many lips - Was the reform a process of simplification and progress or rather a desire to undermine terms and conditions that, although imperfect, had nevertheless proved their worth? With the aim of ensuring progress in the debate, the essays in this book follow on from a conference at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) in June 2007 and deal with the creation of a modern European civil service capable of providing the best response to the challenges posed by the European project. To this end, the authors address the topic in ten chapters, discussing.the changes to the officials' terms and conditions and how they compare to the past, along with the civil service's attitude to the dispute with its staff. There are also contributions on fundamental rights and the general principles of EU law, procedures, the right of appeal and the case law of the European Civil Service Tribunal.
(NDu)
*** CHRISTIAN LEQUESNE, OLIVIER ROZENBERG: The French Presidency of 2008: The Unexpected Agenda. Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (Sieps, 21A Svante Arrhenius, 11418 Stockholm, S weden. Tel: (46-8) 164600 - Fax: 164666 - email: info@sieps.se - Internet: http://www.sieps.se ). 2008, 55 pp.
In this brochure, two researchers from the 'Centre d'Etude et de Recherches Internationales de Sciences Po' in Paris assess the balance sheet of the recent French Presidency of the Council of the EU and attmept to discern changes in French views on European issues. The authors look at the unexpected events that the French Presidency had to contend with, like the Georgian crisis, the international financial crisis and the Irish no vote on the Lisbon Treaty. They also review progress in security and defence, immigration in the light of the blue card, the Common Agricultural Policy and the climate change package. President Sarkozy's dynamism is discussed, as is with criticism of him in certain capitals vis-à-vis the Union for the Mediterranean and the global governance problematic.
(MT)
*** ATTILA ÁGH, JUDIT KIS-VARGA (Eds.): New perspectives for the EU team presidencies: new members, new candidates and new neighbours. "Together for Europe" Research Centre (Fóvam tér 8, H-1093 Budapest). 2008, 496 pp. ISBN 978-963-06-5779-2.
An excellent idea, this work under the "EU-Consent" project funded by the European Union's 6th framework programme on research, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung office in Budapest and the Hungarian Academy of Science. An excellent idea because it helps readers understand how European issues are understood and viewed in the new Member States of central Europe, particularly Hungary. It is also an excellent idea because it addresses the immediate future in the light of the how the future teams on the presiding of the Council of the EU (the upcoming Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian presidencies) are preparing for the task. Prof. Ágh starts off by saying that the intensive cooperation that is now taking place among the three teams, cooperation that marries old and new Member States, "has produced a new quality of EU cooperation". Several essays examine the problematic (to be revisited in the light of the new political context) of extending EU integration in the face of enlargement, with Prof. Ágh observing that the key problem for the next few EU presidencies will be reconciling the current priority, acknowledged to a greater extent by some parties than by others, of extending integration with the need to pave the way for EU enlargement to Balkans States, not to mention the lessons to be learnt from the problems clearly being encountered by the countries of the previous wave of enlargement, Romania and Bulgaria. To sum up, an interesting book developing unusual points of view.
(PBo)
*** MATTHIAS BOHNET, HENNING HOPF, KLAUS LOMPE, HERBERT OBERBECK (Eds.): Wohin steuert die Bundesrepublik? Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 214 pp, €36.40. ISBN 978-3-631-55763-1.
This volume publishes the proceedings of a series of public conferences at Braunschweig Technical University in the winters of 2004/05 and 2005/06, providing perspectives on the future of the Federal Republic of Germany (the former West Germany) and a scientifically-based vision based on issues of burning concern to public opinion and decision-makers. The question asked in the book's title, “Where is the Federal Republic heading?” is addressed through five themes: the economy; demographic upheavals; the state and the media; natural sciences and scientific institutions. The demographic issue is covered in most detail with twice as many articles as the other subjects because this is an urgent issue and many people ask whether demographic changes will lead to a huge event, namely the disappearance of the welfare state, which it will no longer be possible to finance. Another obvious question: how will the elderly affect the country's political life? The relationship between changes in the German constitution and changes to the European Union is also discussed. The discussion on natural sciences focuses on the prospects for medicine, and analysis of scientific institutions raises a series of questions about changes in universities and the impact the Bologna Process might have on academic qualifications and the country's university tradition. It is interesting to see how intellectuals considered the future of the society in which they lived and worked, but their arguments are not always as convincing now because they lack the necessary hindsight. The book remains, however, a useful and interesting read.
(GFr)
*** MATHIEU L. L. SEGERS: Deutschlands Ringen mit der Relance. Die Europapolitik der BRD während der Beratungen und Verhandlungen über die Römischen Verträge. Peter Lang (see above). "Europäische Hochschulschriften" series, No. 551. 2008, 343 pp, €52.80. ISBN 978-3-631-57105-7.
This book explains the Federal Republic of Germany (the old West Germany)'s policy during the negotiation of the Treaty of Rome and the country's role in the development of the European project. The author, professor of international relations and European integration at the History Institute of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, analyses in detail the convergences and divergences of interests between Germany and France that led to the treaty establishing the European Economic Community. At the height of the Suez crisis, an initial meeting of the heads of the two countries prepared the way. The author examines the probable decisive influence of the Suez crisis in this process of kick-starting integration, focussing on Germany's contribution.
(EPi)
*** JEAN-PAUL COINTET, BERNARD LACHAISE, SABRINA TRICAUD: Georges Pompidou et les élections (1962-1974). 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.net ). "Georges Pompidou - Archives" series, No. 3. 2008, 3441 pp, €35.90. ISBN 978-90-5201-336-7.
In this book based on French state archives, three historians explain the role of Georges Pompidou in elections, firstly as prime minister and head of the majority from 1962 to 1968, and then as president from 1969 to 1974. Of particular note is President Pompidou's sales pitch for the French referendum on the first round of enlargement of the European Community in 1972. "When a decision involves the future of the nation, it should be taken by the people," announced Charles de Gaulle's successor, adding that "in order to found Europe of the Peoples, we should let the people speak". His comments echo eerily after the French no vote on the constitutional treaty…
(PBo)