*** LEILA SIMONA, BERNARD CASEY (Eds.): Between Growth and Stability. The Demise and Reform of the European Union's Stability and Growth Pact. Edward Elgar Publishing (Glensanda House, Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham, Glos GL50 1UA, UK. Tel: (44-1242) 226934 - Fax: 262111 - Internet: http://www.e-elgar.com ). 2008, 202 pp, ISBN 978-1-84720-206-2.
When adopted in Amsterdam in 1997, the EU's Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) provided the Member States with economic convergence criteria to be respected in view of the coming of Economic and Monetary Union. These criteria were considered unavoidable at the time, to such an extent that the SGP was described as the "guardian of the strength and credibility of the forthcoming Economic and Monetary Union". The cold shoulder came in 2003, however, when France and Germany were no longer able to follow the SGP and burst through the restrictions imposed by it, leading to the 2005 reform with more flexible rules in some areas. The authors of this book argue that the reform can be described as a downright failure for the SGP. Why? They argue and demonstrate that the events of November 2003 "and the changes to the SGP adopted in March 2005 configure a different political and economic instrument from the one which had been originally approved". So much for the 'guardian' on which all the EU's economic and monetary system architecture was based. This comment automatically raises a raft of crucial questions. How did the "disappearance" of the SGP impact on EMU? What role did the Member States have in the crisis? How did the financial markets react? Does the SGP's collapse signal a crisis in the overall European integration project? Does the reformed SGP provide suitable answers to the 2003 problems?
Throughout its six essays, this fine book written under the watchful eye of two leading London economists answers these questions, focussing on the question of credibility. Combining economic and political perspectives, it seeks more specifically to "find a solution to the dilemmas posed by fiscal policy coordination in the context of a single currency area" and analysing the credibility of this type of international economic agreement. To this end, the existing economic and political theories are first listed, described and studied in order to then reconcile each of the two fields of analysis in an integrated economic model. The second chapter studies the European monetary system's dependence on the "neo-liberal transnational financial order that displaces socio-economic contradictions from the US to other arts of the world, including Europe".
Probably one of the most interesting parts of the book, chapter three, answers the question about the survival of the single currency after the dulling of the budget rule that is supposed to ensure survival. How can this paradox be explained? The authors use an "incorporated" version of Moravsik's intergovernmental theory to this end. They argue that maintenance of EMU is explained quite simply by the desire of leading socio-economic groups in the most powerful Member States to continue to believe in the credibility of exchange rate mechanisms. Another equally interesting question raised by the authors is that of the credibility of the European Central Bank from the German point of view. How can one explain the fact that the country behind the rules of the ECB in Frankfurt actually failed in its attempt to follow those very same rules? The author of this chapter questions, with supporting evidence, the standard explanations of the imbalance cased by German reunification and problems posed by a budget rule imposed "from above". The last two chapters are devoted to the reformed SGP. Starting with an analysis of future challenges to be faced by the SGP and its ability to meet them in terms of credibility, flexibility and legitimacy, the authors state that even with watered down ambitions, the new SGP is far from pointless. All the same, its effectiveness will largely depend on "the ability of the Member States of the eurozone to develop complementary national fiscal frameworks and promote structural reforms," while awaiting the necessary but so difficult to achieve political union...
Very comprehensive and based on a detailed economic and political analysis, "Between Growth and Stability" is clearly a vital book for both students and seasoned economists at a time when the economic and financial crisis being experienced by the European Union leads one to raise with greater urgency than ever the question of true European economic governance.
Thomas Bauwens
*** JULIA SCHÄFER: Die Entscheidung des ECOFIN-Rats über das Vorliegen eines übermäßigen Deficit. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Kölner Schriften zu Recht und Staat" series, No. 30. 2007, 198 pp, €36-40. ISBN 3-631-55722-1.
Submitted as a doctoral thesis in the summer term of 2006 at Cologne University, this book is based on research that ended in 2005. Mention of this historical dimension is meant to show that the legal analyses discussed in this book are limited by the timing of the problem being analysed. The author shows the legal consequences of the ECOFIN Council's decision of 25 November 2003 that refused to follow the European Commission's recommendations on tackling the excess budget deficits of France and Germany, countries which should be subject to measures under Article 104, paragraph 9 of the Treaty of the EU. Not only did the Council refuse to follow the Commission's recommendation, but it even came up with new measures, which the Commission appealed against at the European Court of Justice. It is the entire legal procedure that arose from this which is the subject of the book. It is true that the economic arguments that justified the measure as far as the Council was concerned now seem out-of-date in the light of today's economic and monetary crisis. The debate about the respective responsibilities of the Commission and Council should be remembered, along with the power of imitative of either body in respect of specific emergencies. This problem is still of the moment. What is the European Commission's right of imitative in these domains and what decision-making powers does the Council have in emergencies? In the confusion surrounding the global crisis, this book, despite appearing to be set in the past, provides useful elements to feed the debate.
(GFr)
*** MOUSTAPHA LÔ DIATTA: Les Unions monétaires en droit international. Presses Universitaires de France (6 rue Reille, F-75014 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58103100 - Internet: http://www.puf.com ). "Publications de l'Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales de Genève" series. 2007, 375 pp, €35. ISBN 2-13-055915-8.
The entry into force of the single European currency on 1 January 1999 gave monetary unions second wind, explains this book, after the failure of previous experiments by Germany, Austria and Germany, Latin countries and Scandinavia, noting that they were limited to no more than a handful of small neighbouring countries or countries emerging from colonisation. To the displeasure of some, legal and economic arrangements of this type are being considered by more and more people, like the author of this book, as a credible alternative to the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, not to mention the fact that (to the displeasure of some parties no doubt) they act as an engine for regional and sub-regional integration. In this connection, the Senegalese lawyer and political analyst Moustapha Lô Diatta fills a gap in the research on international public law by looking in this book at the legal aspects of the theory and practice of monetary union. It provides a unified legal presentation of a phenomenon that had rarely been systematically examined in the past by anyone part from economists. He reveals the various aspects that make monetary union different from other, similar, configurations like monetary blocs and monetary zones. In this detailed study, the author defends the idea of the existence of a genuine category that is both original and coherent, the focus of which is the establishment of a single currency. According to the author, this is the "veritable revolution in international monetary law," the cardinal principle of countries' monetary sovereignty is being challenged. Based on many successful examples of monetary union, the author has drawn up a remarkably detailed analysis of all aspects of the operation of arrangements of this type, along with their implications for economic and legal relations. As Prof. Bastid Burdeau and Prof. Caflisch explain in the preface, globalisation and the growing opening to trade - not to mention the economic and financial crisis that is shaking up many a previous certainty - should encourage the appearance of new examples of monetary union, and the author's detailed analysis should provide valuable explanations for lawyers responsible for implementing monetary union because he also writes about treaty law and intergovernmental organisations.
(MT)
*** SERGIO NASARRE AZNAR: Eurohypothec & Eurotrust. Two instruments for a true mortgage market after the EC White Paper 2007 on the Integration of EU Mortgage Credit Markets. Zentrum für Europäische Rechtspolitik an der Universität Bremen (Universitätsallee, GW 1, D-28359 Bremen. Internet: http://www.zerp.uni-bremen.de ). "Zerp-Diskussionspapier" series, No. 7. 2008, 39 pp, €8.
This brief, packed and detailed academic working document looks at the old idea of setting up a Eurohypothec (Euro-mortgage) that is currently in favour at the European Commission. P. Sergio Nasarre Aznar describes what a Eurohypothec and a Eurotrust (loan) might be like in the light of the Commission's White Paper on the mortgage market in 2005 and the more operational White Paper in December 2007, taking account of the shortcomings noticed in the new law in Spain in this connection. The author sums but by saying that the Eurohypothec is necessary “to create a true pan-European mortgage market” as long as it is “as secure, useful and flexible as possible, both for lenders and borrowers,” and the European loan system should complete this “in order to facilitate all types of fiduciary mortgage operations”.
(PBo)
*** SJEF VAN ERP: Security interest: A secure start for the development of European property law. Zentrum für Europäische Rechtspolitik an der Universität Bremen (see above). "Zerp-Diskussionspapier" series, No. 8. 2008, 40 pp, €8.
Professor of civil law and private European law at Maastricht University in the Netherlands , Sjef van Erp looks in this brochure at the feasibility of unification or even harmonisation of law on security rights, without having to draw up an overall framework of European property law beforehand. Should more freedom of contract in the law of property be allowed? Is there a need for civil law systems to allow more flexibility with regard to their unitary concept of ownership? Should protection of ownership or protection of commerce have priority? These are some of the questions which find very clear answers in this book.
(PBo)
*** DANIEL GARRIGUE: Taux réduits de TVA: la restauration, enfin? Commission chargée des affaires européennes de l'Assemblée nationale (Boutique de l'Assemblée nationale, 7 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40630033 - Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). "Documents d'information" series, No. 1,230. 2008, 51 pp, €3-50. ISBN 978-2-11-124881-6.
This newsletter briefly analyses the draft directive unveiled by the Commission on 7 July 2008 that would make the reduced rate of VAT on highly labour intensive industries a permanent feature, particularly for the repair of buildings, home help and also, as far as French politicians are concerned, cafes and restaurants (eating out). Needless to say, French parliamentarian Daniel Garrigue backs the draft legislation despite what he describes as its modest, but realistic, nature. Last week's meeting of the ECOFIN Council suggests that a compromise may be reached on this issue in the near future.
(PBo)
*** RICHARD REGNER: Das Binnenschiffsverkehrsrecht der EG. Springer (P. O. Box 89, Sachsenplatz 4-6, 1201 Vienna, Austria. Tel: (43-1) 3302415-0 - Fax: 3302426 - Email: books@springer.at - Internet: http://www.springer.at ). 2008, 354 pp, ISBN 978-3-211-78535-5.
This book examines the development of internal water transport (rivers, canals etc) in Europe, studying EU law in this domain. The 2006 Naiades project illustrated recent efforts by the EU in this field, which have been growing under the influence of the single European market. Stressing that EU rules on transport by water will increase in the future, the author describes the current situation in case law, thereby filling a gap in the scientific literature. Liberalisation and regulation of market access, freight transport, technical rules and the harmonisation of Member States' regulations are some of the areas studied in this precise and useful tool.
(EPi)
*** Responsabilité & Environnement. Editions ESKA (12 rue du Quatre-Septembre, F-75002 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 42865573 - Fax: 42604535 - email: eska@eska.fr - Internet: http: //http://www.eska.fr ). "Annales des Mines" series , No. 52. 2008, 84 pp, €23. Annual suscription: €81 (France), €98 (elsewhere). ISBN 978-2-7472-1477-3.
This issue of what is always a serious publication includes a very interesting report on sustainable cities with articles explaining things like the historic origins of the concept, the situation in Europe and the challenges and leading lights in town and country planning in the European neck of the woods.
(PBo)