BOOK REVIEWS

Date: 11/04/1996

Rory Watson and Tim Jones review a selection of books on the EU which may be useful sources of interest, reference or entertainment for readers.

Free Movement of Goods in the European Community, by Peter Oliver. Publisher: Sweet & Maxwell, London, UK. 455 pages. Price: £102.

The author, a senior member of the European Commission's legal service, is one of the Union's leading experts on the free movement of goods. This volume takes full account of extensive developments in this fundamental area of EU activity since publication of the second edition in 1988.

Some of these developments have been politically driven, with the reunification of Germany and EU membership for Austria, Finland and Sweden. Others stem from the legislative drive towards the single market. A third category reflects expanding case-law, with some 150 judgements from the European Court of Justice clarifying and developing Articles 30 to 36 of the Treaty of Rome.

The author analyses in detail the rules which must be applied to ensure that goods can flow freely between member states and the exceptions which can be justified on grounds of public health or the protection of the environment.

His updated comprehensive work provides one of the most authoritative exposés of this core aspect of business in the Union.

EC Law on Protection of the Environment and the Free Movement of Goods, by Caroline London & Michael Llamas. Publisher: Butterworths, London, UK. 262 pages.

Price: £90.

This is a unique book by practitioners for practitioners.

It examines in detail what happens when there is a collision between the sometimes conflicting principles of the free movement of goods and the need to protect the environment.

The first is a long-standing EU objective. The second is more recent.

The authors break new ground by examining the evolution of this relationship, focusing on key legal judgements in cases involving issues ranging from Danish bottles

to Walloon waste. Particular attention is devoted to legislation on packaging, packaging waste and hazardous waste.

The casual reader will be overwhelmed by the detail included, but this book contains a useful set of annexes on treaty articles and relevant EU legislation.

It also offers invaluable insights for lawyers, businesses and campaigners involved in this complex, and continually expanding area of EU activity.

Business Guides to EU Initiatives. Publisher: EU Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium (Fax: 32 2/513 7928). Price: 2,000 BEF.

Although 1996 will be dominated by the IGC and preparations for the single currency, the day-to-day work of the institutions will continue. This book is the most comprehensive, yet readable, update on legislation and initiatives passing through the Union's legal labyrinth.

From the regulation on technology transfer agreements to a proposal for liberalising airport groundhandling, it is all there in a handy paperback.

In A Larger EU, Can All Member States Be Equal? Publisher: The Philip Morris Institute, Brussels (Fax: 32 2/ 732 1307). 96 pages. Free on receipt of written request.

The EU assumes a certain degree of equality among its members. But already tensions are emerging between the five large member states and their increasingly numerous colleagues over the current distribution of power.

The six authors, drawn from different backgrounds, propose a variety of ways in which the system can be updated. The central conundrum they tackle is how to prevent the larger populations of big countries being overruled by the greater number of smaller countries.

The decision-making solutions are invariably mathematically complex.

But enlargement also has implications in other emotive areas such as the number of Commissioners and official languages. Not surprisingly, there is little consensus, but the arguments raised in this ninth PMI discussion paper foreshadow the negotiations which will take place in the IGC.

Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence, by François Duchêne. Publisher: WW Norton & Co., London, UK. 478 pages. Price: £9.95.

The arrival of this paperback edition is timely. It coincides with the launch of the Intergovernmental Conference, the search for a clear direction for the EU and frequent calls for the resurrection of the clarity of vision deployed by its founding fathers. Without doubt, the most influential of that early group was Jean Monnet, the former cognac salesman who shaped much of France's post-World War II economy and in the 1950s laid the foundations for today's Union.

Duchêne, who worked with Monnet for the best part of a turbulent decade, provides a fascinating insight into the man, his working methods and the forces that drove him from one challenge to another. This highly-entertaining account of the Union's formative years is not only accessible to the general reader, but may also offer some much needed inspiration for the current generation of policy-makers.

Cultural Funding in Europe.

202 pages. Price: 40 ecu.

European Foundation Centre Profiles. 160 pages. Price: 45 ecu. Publisher: European Foundation Centre, Brussels (Fax: 32 2/512 3265).

These twin publications provide the first clear picture of the work of the many different cultural foundations operating in Europe and possible sources of funding. They are designed to help stimulate cooperation between foundations and corporate funding.

The volumes offer information on the aims, background, membership, assets and current programmes of foundations as diverse as the Polish Children and Youth Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

They are equally practical starting points for anyone seeking grants from more than 100 cultural sources ranging from the Korea Foundation or the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.