*** JAN WOUTERS, ANDRE NOLLKAEMPER, ERIKA DE WET (Eds.): The Europeanisation of International Law. The Status of International Law in the EU and its Member States. T. M. C. Asser Press (P. O. Box 16163, NL-2500 BD The Haag, The Netherlands. Internet: http://www.asserpress.nl - Distribution: Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK. Internet: http://www.cambridge.org ). 2008, 238 pp. ISBN 978-90-6704-285-7.
In the sea of international law, is the European Union an island that is Europeanising the sea around it? If so, “to what extent do EU Member States recognise the effect of their Europeanisation?” “What is the specific role of the European Court of Justice with respect to the application and interpretation of 'Europeanised' international law?” ”What are the consequences of 'Europeanisation' for the unity and coherence of public international law?” These are the main questions addressed in this fine book following on from a conference organised in 2005 by Amsterdam University's Centre for International Law in collaboration with the universities of Leuven (Belgium), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Pecs (the Czech Republic).
In the introduction, the book's editors start by pointing out that European countries have had a deciding influence over the course of history on the development of international law, before relinquishing this influence after the Second World War. They have, however, indirectly taken on this lead role again through the European integration process and the three 'communities' (the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community and Euratom) each with 'legal personality,' along with the European Commission as the central supranational player and the 'Luxembourg factor,' meaning the key role played by the European Court of Justice (based in Luxembourg) in interpreting and developing EU law and its precedence over the domestic law of the Member States. The powers held by the EU have continued to expand, as has the Europeanisation of Member States' domestic law. This means that the EU now has a greater ability to Europeanise international law through collective action, including its legal preferences exported to other countries by means of the European Economic Area, for example, or the EU's Neighbourhood Policy, Association Agreements and policies that influence the rest of the world to such an extent that they are described by some parties as “European 'regulatory imperialism'”. Finally, and most importantly, international law can morph and even change character when it becomes part of the EU legal system, even when the EU is not actually party to a treaty - the authors give the example of GATT, which the EEC could not of course have joined because GATT was signed in 1947 before the EEC even came into existence, but it was the EEC that managed GATT measures on behalf of the Member States due to its exclusive powers over trade policy. Not to mention the fact that the European Court of Justice has made sure it is the only body with powers to decide on the applicability of GATT measures in the light of its own interpretation of their direct impact, which has also contributed to the Europeanising of international law in terms of the application of international law within the EU and differentiation amongst the two. This has given rise within the EU to a triangle of international law - EU law - the national law of each of the Member States: “the 'Europeanisation' of international law means that it is EU law that determines how international law is to be applied in the EU Member States”.
The first part of the book examines this Europeanisation. Rainer Wahl of Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg starts by exploring the complexity of Europeanisation, describing it as extending well beyond the supremacy of EU law and generating a “profound metamorphosis” of Member States' legal systems. Looking at the same question from a different angle, Bruno de Witte of the European University Institute of Florence argues that EU Member States “are no longer sovereign states to the same extent as other states round the world”, having become, together, the “strange subjects” of international law. The following three essays examine the role of international law in European law in the light of European Court of Justice case law, the World Trade Organisation, rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. The second part of the book looks at the impact of Europeanisation on Member States' domestic law, international law and legal protection within the EU, focussing on the situation in Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Hungary. Prof. Joost Pauwelyn of Geneva compares attitudes in Europe and the United States, arguing that rather than threatening the unity of international law, the EU can improve it. A must-read book!
Pierre Bouvier
*** SONIA LUCARELLI, LORENZO FIORAMONTI: Have you heard of the EU? An analysis of global images of the European Union. Garnet Network of Excellence (56 rue Jacob, F-75006 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 58717000 - Fax: 58717091 - Internet: http://www.garnet-eu.org ). "Garnet Policy Brief", No. 7. 2008, 8 pp.
How is the EU viewed by the rest of the world? Does the idea the EU has of itself as a global player that is very different from what went before match how the EU is seen from the outside? This brief, dense and striking publication provides some intriguing answers to these questions. Researchers at Bologna University in Italy, the authors are part of the Garnet Network of Excellence (Global Governance, Regionalisation and Regulation: the Role of the EU) of forty-two European academic institutes backed by the European Commission that are involved in ongoing research in various corners of the world. Their work has already demonstrated that very few individuals outside Europe actually understand the EU at all, and this lack of knowledge is particularly strong in emerging economies. Worse still, even among the educated, only a minority believe the EU is a credible and politically effective world player. The EU clearly suffers, the authors argue, from an image deficit beyond its borders (some would say it also suffers from an image deficit within its borders). To address this, the authors recommend that European leaders improve EU policies (like the Common Agricultural Policy, economic governance, climate change, intercultural dialogue, immigration policy etc), communicate better, improve the EU's visibility (by strengthening the legitimacy of the High Representative) and listen more to views expressed elsewhere in the world.
(MT)
*** MARTIN HOLLAND, PETER RYAN, ALOJZY Z. NOWAK, NATALIA CHABAN (Eds.): The EU Through the Eyes of Asia. WWZ (Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydzialu Zarzadzania Universytety Warszawskiego, Poland. Internet: http: //esia.asef.org). "European Studies in Asia" series. 2007, 304 pp. ISBN 978-83-89069-74-0
The image problems from which the European Union has been suffering in the eyes of ordinary people have become a major concern for the European Commission in recent years. Despite the best intentions in the world, the EU institutions have not been able to get through to citizens and explain the usefulness and objectives of many EU decisions. Hence the statement by EU Commissioner and vice-president of the Commission Margot Wallström that "the real problem in Europe is that there is no agreement or understanding about what Europe is for and where it is going". In these times of crisis, however, when it is not good to go it alone, Europe is not the only part of the world involved in integration. Many countries in Asia (China, South Korea, Thailand and others) are also working more closely with their neighbours. One might therefore imagine that Asia would be taking a closer look at the EU, which was the first group to bring together twenty-seven Member States under a single flag. But they are not in fact looking towards Europe because the problem besetting the EU seem to be spreading beyond its borders and people in Asia has very little, if any, knowledge about the EU. Asia is monopolised by the United States and also, increasingly, by China. The EU's image problem is sending out an ambiguous message about its international role, both within the EU and beyond. Aware of the damage this lack of information is wreaking, the EU has set up partnerships with countries in Asia to encourage cultural and human exchanges and promote better mutual understanding. This book arose from one of these partnerships. It gauges how the EU is seen by the general public, the media and the elite in various Asian countries. It shows that despite the scant coverage of the EU in Chinese media, it is still viewed with a sympathetic eye as an important strategic partner, particularly in business. It also shows that most Japanese are indifferent to the EU, only having eyes for the United States. Hence the utility of the Asia-Europe Foundation publishing this book and helping the EU to emerge from this lack of clarity on the world stage.
(NDu)
*** RONJA KEMPIN: Frankreichs neue Sicherheitspolitik. Von der Militär- zur Zivilmacht. Nomos (3-5 Waldseestrasse, D-76530 Baden-Baden. Tel: (49-07221) 2104-0 - Fax: 2104-79 - email: broenneke@nomos.de - Internet: http://www.nomos.de. "Aktuelle Materialen zur Internationalen Politik" series, No. 75. 2008, 233 pp, €34. ISBN 978-3-8329-3614-3.
Based on theories and methodologies of figures like French philosopher Michel Foucault, this book analyses changes in France's security and defence policy through a series of case studies: the war in Kosovo, the war on terror in Afghanistan, the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire and the war against Saddam Hussein. There has always been a Gaullist consensus among the French elite on aspects of the grandeur, independence and even a civilising mission in security policy and they have impregnated France's action on the global stage. The question of moving from being a military power to a civilian power is based on the new post-Cold War prospects - the development of NATO's role and the drawing up of a security policy at EU level. The author argues that the incorporation of notions of civilian forces in discourse on the French security and defence policy has resulted in a collapse of the Gaullist consensus.
(EPi)
*** ANNE DUDECK, BETTINA JANSEN-SCHULZ (Eds.): Zukunft Bologna? Gender und Nachhaltigkeit als Leitideen für eine neue Hochschulkultur. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (+41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 440 pp, €41.90. ISBN 978-361-56-174-4.
This book publishes the contributions made at a large international conference at Lüneburg University in the north-east of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) in Germany in September 2006, one of a series of events at the University at the time looking at wide reforms in recent years to higher education in the region to take account of the 'Bologna Process' of restructuring education and degrees and other diplomas. Lüneburg University was renamed Leuphana in 2007 (after a place in north Germania mentioned in Ptolemy's geography in the second century, the old name of Lüneburg). It is open to society's new needs and is therefore trying to refocus the academic culture at the university and the quality of its work around central themes, two of which are discussed in this book. The two themes that seem so vital are the gender issue, in other words the feminising of structures, teaching and programmes to ensure recognition of the existence of both men and women in modern ways of living, learning and pursuing knowledge; and sustainable development, in other words being aware and open to the concerns of future generations and the fact that the environment has to survive into the long-term, a concern which has to ensure the sustainability of not only the university but also of the design of education itself, open to lifelong learning. Both aspects are described as guiding ideas for a new higher education culture and directly related to the introduction of the “Bologna Process” with the aim of pursuing a high quality, sustainable education rather than simply reforming structures. It would take too much space to list the various aspects in relation to which these ideas are discussed and developed in the two dozen essays, but they will provide the reader with an outlook on problems which the tradition has so unceremoniously dropped from consideration without proper thought. Readers will find here new perspectives on possible future developments in higher education. The book questions many habitual analyses of universities which often go no further than wanting to ensure the survival of traditions. There are essays making the case for a genuine "future for Bologna," although readers will not necessarily agree with the scattering of ideological reflections. One must, however, sometimes dare to travel outside one's comfort zone in order to ensure the progress in ideas needed by universities in Europe.
(GFr)
*** MARTIN F. LEMANN: Waste Management. Peter Lang (see above). 2008, 381 pp, €61.90. ISBN 978-3-03911-514-3.
Written by a waste management expert who lectures in the subject at ETH Zurich, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in waste management, recycling and renewable energy. The author describes the history of waste management from the childhood of humanity to the modern age, going on to describe the existing waste management techniques. The idea here is not to determine the best approach but rather to be a very comprehensive guide to the origin, composition, volume and category of waste produced in the European Union and Switzerland, whose waste management and recycling systems are also described, such as incineration, detoxifying fumes, the management of dangerous waste and sewage. Current legislation is analysed in the EU and Switzerland and a glance at the rest of the world sheds light on the specifics of the European situation. A well-argued, user-friendly book that will delight experts and neophytes alike.
(TBa)