europe's strategic culture

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Book Reviews

Democracy in Europe: The EU and National Polities, by V.A. Schmidt (Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 9780199266982); xv+317pp., 15.99 pb.

Schmidts book is a valuable and well-written contribution to the analysis of theimpact of European integration on national democracies. According to the author,democracy has become an issue for Europe and the suspension of the ratification

process on the Constitutional Treaty, following the failures of the referendums inFrance and the Netherlands, shows that it will remain a problematic issue in the nearfuture. The institutional reforms envisaged in the Constitutional Treaty may reducethe problem of EU democracy, but they would not solve the democratic deficit at thenational level. The problem at stake refers to Europeanization, which means thatnational conceptions of democratic power and authority, access and influence, voteand voice remain mostly unchanged. National leaders have failed to initiate ideas anddiscourse that would engage national publics in the discourse about the EU-relatedchanges to national democracy. Therefore, a key question here is how shouldnational leaders proceed in such a discourse?Firstly, they should decide what the EUis, in order to assess what their countries are becoming.

Thus, the fundamental assumption of Schmidts book is the idea of the EUconceived as a regional state. It is a regional union of nation states, where sovereigntyis shared with Member States, boundaries are not fixed, identity is understood interms of being and doing, governance is dispersed. Schmidt argues that in such afragmented democracy, the EUs legitimacy is in question because it is compared tothe ideal of the nation state. However, if it is conceived as a regional state, thedemocratic deficit would not be so great. But the problem is much more significant inrelation to national democracy. The author convincingly argues that this is because

while the EU makes policy without politics, its Member States realize politicswithout policy. National citizens have little direct input into the EU policies thataffect them. This results in the problems of voter disaffection and political extremismcharacterizing the EU Member States nowadays.

To solve this problem, Member States have to come up with new national ideasand discourse in order to adjust the EU-related changes to the traditional performanceof their national democracies. But firstly it is necessary to conceive how institutionsaffect European democracy at EU and national levels. Thus, Schmidts book is aboutthe nature of the EU governance system and its impact on national democracies. InChapters 24, the author examines the impact of the EU upon national institutions,taking into account in turn the policy-making processes and the representative politicsof the EU and the Member States. A special merit of Schmidts work is that the authorillustrates her argument with examples of four countries: Britain and France, as

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representing simple polities, Germany and Italy, as compound polities. They not onlyaccount for over half the population of the EU, but also can be compared andcontrasted as matched pairs of cases concerning governance practices.

Concluding on the prospects for democracy in Europe, Schmidt argues that todayEurope requires greater clarity of purpose and better understanding on the part ofits citizens. More democracy needs more avenues for interest consultation withthe people as well as further efforts to increase transparency and accountability ingoverning for the people. National interest and movements focused at the nationallevel need to learn to organize, pressure and protest at the EU level. On the otherhand, the EU itself would need to develop a more communicative voice to theEuropean public. Schmidt notices that the task is not so easy. But no one ever saidthat building Europe would be easy.

STANISAW KONOPACKI

University of dz

The European Union and Party Politics in Central and Eastern Europe, edited byP.G. Lewis and Z. Mansfeldov (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, ISBN9780230001831); xvi+260pp., 55.00 hb.

In January 2007 with the entry of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, wewitnessed the completion of the eastern enlargement of the EU. Lewis andMansfeldovs edited volume elaborates on a specific aspect of the accession process:the impact of the integration on central and eastern European (CEE) national party

systems throughout the enlargement period and within the first two years after theaccession until 2006. The book combines two branches of political science: com-parative politics (in its focus on party systems) and Europeanization theory (whichis a bit too briefly defined as a top-down EUs impingement on national processes,p. 7).

Lewis asks in his introductory chapter the main research question: did the EUreinforce the existing fragmentation of CEE party systems or did it contribute to theirconsolidation (p. 3)? As a sort of research sub-inquiry, though not directly stated, isthe emergence of Eurosceptic political parties in CEE in recent years. As we might

currently observe, populist political parties and leaders with somewhat anti-Europeanviews and rhetoric are on the rise. Therefore, Lewiss prediction that while there maywell be considerable scope for anti-EU activity in party systems overall, there are nostrong prospects of it taking root in parties close to the political centre or in those withreasonable chances of taking part in government (p. 13) has, with Czech PresidentKlaus, the Polish ruling Kaczynski twin brothers and the Slovak nationalist govern-ment, already been proven wrong.

The book consists of ten chapters on new Member States and two chapters onwhat were, at the time of writing, acceding countries, organized according to acommon framework. Each chapter outlines a national party system with references toindividual parties, including their overall political programmes and attitudes towardsthe EU. The chapters then evaluate national referendums on the accession to the EUand elections to the European Parliament (EP) in 2004. In conclusion, the authors

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assess the EUs influence on a national party system and mark out alignmentsbetween the CEE and European parties in the EP. The common framework providesa good structure particularly for readers who are not too familiar with politicalconditions in the CEE countries. Nevertheless, the authors sometimes tend to overuseabbreviations of political parties in domestic languages (e.g. in the Polish and Latvianchapters) or do not clearly specify the political leanings of national parties (e.g. theSlovenian chapter), which makes the text difficult to follow. It would also be veryhelpful if the concluding chapter included a chart summarizing, for instance, alleurosceptic/populist parties or, at least, showed overall turnouts and voting results ofreferendums and the EP elections. The editors could have been more careful ininterchanging the word Slovak for Slovakian (pp. 233, 235) whose latter versionis nowadays no longer regularly used.

So far, the Europeanization literature produced one major hypothesis pertaining

to the EUs influence on (West European) party systems (Mair): the EU has a verylow direct impact on both the format (number of parties) and mechanics (polariza-tion) of party systems. However, there has not yet been a similar analysis regardingthe CEE party systems. The reviewed book fills this gap (besides, with analogousfindings), which presents its major contribution to the contemporary politicalscience literature.

TEREZA NOVOTNA Boston University

Democracy in the New Europe, by C. Lord and E. Harris (Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan, 2006, ISBN 9781403913036); ix+222pp., 18.99 pb.

This book revisits and re-contextualizes essential principles and various practicsedforms of democracy within and beyond European states. The main argument, build-ing a thread throughout the book, is that the prospects for democracy within andbeyond the state are interdependent under the conditions of the new Europe. Thetwofold dimension beyond the state would include efforts to apply democratic stan-dards to shared institutions at the EU level as well as efforts to promote democracyto countries within the European part of the international system. What appears at

first to be some kind of common sense evolves into a venture of actually bringingthese analytical dimensions together in a well-conceptualized and well-formulatedway. The authors start by discussing democracy inside the state as a complex ofvarious dimensions before looking at the diversity of democracy within Europeanstates and ways of contrasting and comparing these. Two more chapters follow onthe above-mentioned two dimensions of democracy beyond the state. Anotherthree chapters relate these various insights analytically while returning in moredetail to the argument of their interdependence when seeking to secure democraticstandards.

The slim appearance of the paperback should not raise low expectations about itscontent. Lord and Harris wish to address three audiences that are currently talkingpast each other (p. 13): comparativists, political theorists and students of interna-tional relations. While trying to accomplish this major task, they have come up with

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a discussion of democratic conceptions and performances that should certainly bewelcomed by two broader communities of readers. The engagement with existingtheoretical literatures, concise review of longstanding as well as recent arguments andideas on democracy, and the authors strong argument on the interdependence of thedemocracy within and beyond European states provide valuable reflection andabstraction for the more empirically oriented students of European integration, demo-cratic practice and democratization. At the same time, the many illustrative empiricalexamples and cases may offer interesting food for thought to theorists. However,given that a substantial part of the book is devoted to developments in post-communist democracies, one wonders whether indeed hardly any scholars withinthese countries have joined the theoretical debates about democracy promotion anddemocratization (except perhaps the one on euroscepticism). In this regard, thedebates considered here indicate a remaining challenge to the academic discourse

in this field which seems to mirror political practice where, as the authors note,Europeanization often means Westernization from the perspective of the newdemocracies.

DIANA SCHMIDTResearch Centre for East European Studies, Bremen

Wage Setting, Social Pacts and the Euro: A New Role for the State , by A. Hassel(Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2006, ISBN 9789053569191); 334pp.,29.95 pb.

My formative experiences of trade unionism occurred in the UK in the 1980s.Successive Conservative governments implemented monetarist economic policies,deregulated the labour market and introduced anti-union legislation which combinedto favour the development of business unionism. Anke Hassels book shows how, bya comparative study of 13 EU Member States, this market approach to tacklingunion power was actually exceptional. For Hassel, the formation of social pacts inmany EU Member States since the 1980s is evidence of the rise of a Third Way (p.237) whose approach to trade union power has been based neither on the disciplineof the market nor on strong corporatist institutions. The Third Way involves, as

the books sub-title indicates, a new role for the state in a process of negotiationwith unions regarded as social partners. The purpose of this dialogue has been toachieve the negotiated adjustment (p. 234) of wage levels deemed as a necessarycorollary of the new imperatives of economic internationalization and financialliberalization (p. 1).

Under the new conditions, rather than accommodating to union demands byexpansionary policies, which had been the case under previous conditions of politi-cal exchange, Hassel hypothesizes that governments have had an incentive to nego-tiate with unions in order to limit the economic and political damage of deflationarypolicies. Whether specific governments have in fact opted for the negotiated approachhas actually depended upon several factors. Hassel argues that governments whosedeflationary policies have been given credibility by central banks with a conserva-tive reputation have had less of a need to establish greater policy credibility by

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involvement in wage setting. This was proven by a strong correlation between levelsof state intervention and central bank independence in the 1980s and 1990s (0.72).Hassel is ever keen to stress the individual cases with Belgium having a high level ofstate involvement and a less independent central bank while Germany and Austriapossessed highly independent central banks and low levels of intervention. Hasselalso demonstrates a strong correlation (0.77) between levels of government interven-tion and measures of consensus democracy. Again Belgium has been a key case withhigh scores on both counts while the UK experience was the absolute opposite case.The Conservative Party achieved strong majorities in a competitive democracy whichinsulated it from any significant union political influence. Hassel also shows thatgovernment intervention in wage setting has been high where unions have been lessresponsive to the pressures to accommodate themselves to the new realities and havedefended real wage levels even at the price of higher unemployment. Here the UK

was an outlier as wages were bid up, but the government remained non-interventionist. Such examples highlight the utility of Hassels triangulated method-ology which enables her to explore the specific qualities of each case within heroverall analysis.

Interesting and useful as her book undoubtedly is, her overall analysis is disap-pointing as it limits the trade union response to neo-liberal globalization to relativeacquiescence. The development of social liberalism in EU Member States and at thetransnational level has resulted in most unions deploying an insipid political strategywhich has embroiled them in mechanisms of negotiation which have made them

complicit in making labour pay for the crisis of capital. Yet, as Hassel notes, suchmechanisms have been constructed by governments partly because of the continuedpolitical power of unions. Fortunately, a different path is possible as dissentingfactions (p. 183) to negotiated adjustment have rejected social partnership. Theseunion currents have developed a strategy of social movement unionism which hasbuilt on existing union power to engage politically to advance alternatives to both theneo- and social forms of liberalization.

ANDY MATHERSUniversity of the West of England

Japan and Enlarged Europe: Partners in Global Governance, edited by T. Uetaand R. Remacle (Brussels: PIE Peter Lang, 2005, ISBN 9052012598); 288pp.,27.00 pb.

The field of EUJapan relations is surprisingly thin and this volume adds to a smallbody of literature on the contemporary relationship. The volume is a collection of 15contributions to a series of seminars held between 2001 and 2003 and converted intochapters updated to take account of more recent developments. The book is dividedinto three main parts: the first examines the security relationship between the EU andJapan; the second looks at the international sustainable development agenda andcompares and contrasts the Japanese and EU standpoints; the third part of the volumelooks at issues of global governance and the extent to which the EU and Japan arecomplimentary or competitive actors across a range of issues.

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The authors are evenly drawn from Europe and Japan and, as might be expected ofa volume based upon seminar presentations, the contributions are variable in quality.This is a book which is empirically rich but generally does not seek to encumber itselfwith reflections on methodological, epistemological or theoretical issues (an excep-tion being the chapter by Tel on the concept of civilian power). Where the volume isat its most interesting is in the contributions that directly compare and contrastapproaches to policy issues in Japan and the EU (the contributions by Onta onenvironmental foreign policy; Karasinska-Fendler on the global trade agenda; andSeidelmann on the prospects and limits on co-operation in the UN and the G8). Thetwo chapters that examine how the EU and Japan are responding to wider develop-ments within international relations (Van Langenhove and Costea on the new region-alism; and Cameron on a new global order) are particularly insightful.

A surprising omission from the book are any chapters examining in depth how the

EU and Japan are responding to the contemporary challenge of China. This is ofparticular surprise as China does represent a significant challenge to the positions ofboth the EU and Japan (as the subtitle of the volume suggests) as prospectivepartners in global governance and both are defined by the editors as sharing thecommon characteristics of being civilian powers.

The volume would have benefited from a stronger introduction setting out a rangeof issues with which the EU and Japan are grappling and where one might find accordand dissonance in the relationship. Furthermore the book lacks a conclusion drawingtogether the parts of the volume and offering reflections on the future of EUJapan

relations. This does mean that there is still plenty of scope for the scholars contrib-uting to this volume and others to offer further reflections on the relationshipbetween the EU and Japan.

RICHARD G. WHITMANUniversity of Bath

The European Union at the United Nations: Intersecting Multilateralisms, by K.V.Laatikainen and K.E. Smith (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, ISBN1403995346); xiii+232pp., 45.00 hb.

The book is an edited volume of essays which examine the role of the EU within theUN, the impact of EU co-ordination on Member States as well as the influence of theEU in various UN policies. Mary Farrell gives a first evaluation of the EUUNrelationship by suggesting that effective participation by the EU in the UN multi-lateral system remains restricted by the peculiarities of the EU system, its mix ofintergovernmentalism and supranationality that variously enhances the power andinfluence of individual Member States and at other times places limitations on thesupranational institutions, including the European Commission(p. 45). Most authorsput this claim to the test by taking into account the division between supranationaland intergovernmental elements and by providing an account of the limitations of EUactorness at the United Nations.

The second part of the book consists of three case studies on the EU MemberStates. The first case study focuses on the behaviour of France and the UK in the UN

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where it is mentioned that due to their size, resources and historic trajectories the twocountries have a special national role in the UN that they are still keen to maintain.The two countries therefore do not always find it easy to co-ordinate their policieswith the rest of the EU as they have a special status. In the second case studyLaatikainen examines the special influence of the Nordic states plus the Netherlandsin the UN by suggesting that in general this group of states had little problem inco-ordinating its policies with those of the EU. The same conclusion comes from thenext study on the Central and Eastern European EU Member States, although for thisparticular group of states it is claimed that the process of Europeanization is stillongoing. The third part of the book provides a few examples of EU actorness invarious UN policy arenas such as collective security, human rights, as well asenvironmental, economic and social issues.

The book is an interesting piece of work because it provides an analysis of the

EUUN bilateral relationship that although mentioned often in EU scholarship hasnot been previously analysed. As such, the book is a valuable contribution to theunderstanding of the actorness of the EU because it examines its impact on UNpolicies. There is a logical continuity in the way the arguments are presented and thecase studies that are included provide a good account of the limits of Europeanizationin terms of both national politics as well as of policy agendas.

VASILIS MARGARAS Loughborough University

The Eastern Enlargement of the European Union, by J. OBrennan (London:Routledge, 2006, ISBN 0415361265); xv+239pp., 65.00 hb.

This book constitutes a valuable contribution to the literature on EU enlargement.From being rather understudied, in particular in theoretical terms, the question ofenlargement has in recent years been the subject of several useful and innovativeanalyses. This is as it should be, not only because enlargement is a critical issue forthe future of the EU and European order, but also because it provides us with animportant intake into the understanding of the nature of the EU and the processes thatgovern it. It provides fertile ground for theoretical reflection on processes of integra-

tion and the emerging European order.Organizing the book in three fairly separate parts, the author presents a compre-hensive account of the process of enlargement to central and eastern Europe. In thefirst part he provides a historical overview of the enlargement process. In the secondpart the internal EU decision-making process is in focus, with a chapter on each of theEUs main institutions (the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament).In the third and last part the relevance of geopolitical, economic and normativeexplanations of Eastern enlargement are assessed.

The most important contribution to the existing literature comes in the second partof the book, with the analysis of intra-institutional decision-making. OBrennanstresses in particular the role of the Commission and its dual role in steering theinternal EU process and influencing developments in the candidate states. The Com-mission frequently found itself the sole policy innovator and the best-placed actor

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within the process. However, he also underlines the role of the European Parliamentand, interestingly, the influence and effectiveness of the Presidencies of the smallerMember States.

There is a certain lack, nevertheless, of conceptual nuance and analytical strin-gency in the book. Symptomatically, concepts like deliberationand bargaining, forexample, are used more or less interchangeably, without any apparent concern for thefact that they point to two very different types of decision-making processes. It wouldalso have been helpful to have had more explicit linkages between the different partsof the book and in particular between the second and third parts. In arguing in thethird part that eastern enlargement is best understood as a norm-driven phenomenon,the author confirms the findings of other studies on enlargement. But how, if at all,does this relate to his findings on the roles of the different institutions? Through areflection on questions such as this one, the author could have strengthened the

originality of his contribution even further.The book will be useful reading not only for those with a particular interest in

enlargement, but also for those with an interest in EU institutions and decision-making.HELENE SJURSEN

University of Oslo

Business and the Euro: Business Groups and the Politics of EMU in Germany and the

United Kingdom, by M.E. Duckenfield (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006,ISBN 1403998639); xiv+257pp., 55.00 hb.

European Monetary Union (EMU) has produced many conflicts between economistsand politicians: improvements in economic convergence and inflation expectationscompare with stalled growth and political divisions over EMU membership. Thesingle currency is shared by only 13 EU members, excluding the UK with itsconcerns about electoral impacts, entry criteria and timing. Business and the Euroadds to the understanding of these tensions by examining interactions during the1990s between policy-makers and leading business associations, in both Germanyand the UK. The books premise counters conventional wisdom: instead of politicianssupporting EMU under pressure from domestic interest groups, approaches to EMU

among business associations depend on their responses to stances taken by governingpolitical parties. The business lobby is seen as relatively passive, neither promotingnor blocking EMU on its own initiative.

The book has a symmetrical structure: an introductory chapter that outlines thecentral question of why business associations in both nations pursued different EMUpolicies, followed by two chapters each on Germany and the UK covering respec-tively the politics of EMU and business. The research methodology section is briefwith just a passing reference to the choice of associations and interviews and a limitedtheoretical framework mentioning the economic interest and collective action litera-tures, emphasizing that business associations are political entities themselves as wellas transmitters of members preferences.

In Germany the ruling coalition promptly encouraged moves towards EMU whilebusiness groups, benefiting from the Bundesbanks independence and the D-Marks

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anchor role, engaged later in the debate. While many firms saw relatively feweconomic advantages, the powerful business associations, such as the Bundesverbandder Deutschen Industrie (BDI), covering 35 sectors, and the Deutscher Industrie und

Handelstag (DIHT) representing the Chambers of Commerce, endorsed the govern-ments EMU commitment, using the lever of adherence to the Maastricht criteria.

The book argues three factors influenced UK business associations attitudes:their focus on specific, technical policies; their decentralized political organizationand narrow policy evaluations; and the governing political partys prevailing stance,a factor complicated by deep divisions over Europe among both Conservative andLabour administrations. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) was broadlysupportive but reluctant to lead without political support, whereas the Institute ofDirectors (IOD) and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) were more openly vocif-erous against integration. The London Investment Banking Association (LIBA) con-

centrated on technical issues, while the pro-EMU National Farmers Union (NFU)sought early entry.

It is unclear what is the intended audience for Business and the Euro; the maintitle suggests the business market yet the political, macro-level focus limits referencesto euro-business issues and to influential individual companies vociferous in thesingle currency debates. Hence the assumption is the book is intended for contem-porary European historians and students of political and institutional decision-making. Nevertheless, whatever the audience, the book offers an informedperspective on the path to EMU, the ramifications of which continue.

ROGER HENDERSON Leeds Metropolitan University

The EUNATO Relationship: A Legal and Political Perspective, by M. Reichard(Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006, ISBN 9780754647591); xv+412pp., 65.00 hb.

Relations between the EU and NATO have become a topic of increasing discussionin recent years without having as yet generated a substantial scholarly literature. Thisbook represents a notable attempt to remedy the deficiency. Martin Reichard givesequal weight to the legal and political dimensions of relations, as suggested by his

subtitle. Whilst the discussions on the former may prove to be occasionally ratherdaunting for readers without specialist legal knowledge, on the whole he conveys hispoints and develops his arguments crisply and accessibly. The individual chaptersalso stand alone effectively, so that readers who prefer to focus on either the politicalor the legal dimension can dip into the book in the knowledge that each chaptercontains interesting and worthwhile discussion in its own right. The author facilitatesthis through effective cross-referencing.

The book is not a mere review. Reichard has a case to make: that the balance ofEuropean security is shifting from NATO to the EU (p. 21). In making it he focuseson the peacekeeping and related operations which the EU has conducted since 2003,in particular those in Macedonia and Bosnia where it took over from in situ NATOoperations. Underpinning this argument is the contention that, contrary to widespreadperception, there is no underlying legal or political imbalance in security relations

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between the two institutions. In a particularly provocative Chapter 5, Reichard deniesthat NATO has ever asserted a right of first refusal over peacekeeping operations.Later, in Chapter 8 he develops a persuasive argument that, whilst NATOs so-calledBerlin Plusagreement (setting out principles on when and how the EU can call uponNATO military assets and resources) is not a formal treaty in international law, itnevertheless has come to be seen as being de facto binding on both parties.

In general, Reichard makes his case clearly, vigorously and effectively. Naturallyelements of it are open to challenge. For example, his argument about the shiftingbalance does not really take into account NATOs continuing core role in Kosovo,where it still maintains over 16,000 troops. Further, there is a suspicion that Reichardis aware that Kosovo detracts from his case. He does not serve it well, however, byappearing to gloss over the Kosovo situation (less than two substantive pages aredevoted to the question of whether the EU could take over peacekeeping duties there).

It is or should be in the nature of effective scholarship to challenge precon-ceptions and provoke debate. For readers with an interest in the EUs ESDP andCFSP, and for those interested in contemporary European security more generally,this book will very likely do both these things. It is therefore, warmly recommended.

MARTIN A. SMITHRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst

Global Security Governance: Competing Perceptions of Security in the 21st Century,edited by E.J. Kirchner and J. Sperling (London: Routledge, 2007, ISBN

9780415391627); xviii+

290pp., 22.00.The present volume a collection of thoroughly researched essays empiricallygrounded on national surveys is a most welcome and distinct contribution to thestudy of international security co-operation. Global Security Governance not onlypresents a novel and intellectually stimulating approach to security studies in generaland security governance in particular, but also expands our knowledge of contempo-rary security relations on a global scale. Setting out to demarcate the hindrances andpathways to enhanced security co-operation among nine great and middle-rankingpowers (plus the European Union), the book deserves to be widely read by both

scholars and students of security studies as well as by decision-makers.The study is divided into three main parts, each focusing on countries in threedifferent regional contexts (Europe, North America and Eurasia). Two principalpuzzles provide the platform for the common analytical framework guiding theindividual country studies: what factors facilitate or bar regional security co-operation? Should the major powers seek the ambitious goal of global securityco-operation or must they settle instead for the less ambitious task of regional securityco-operation?

The first chapter identifies the key areas of divergent and convergent interestsamong the most important powers that may facilitate or impede international securityco-operation. Based on a critical assessment of the current state of security studies,Kirchner finds that three elements are of particular importance when analysing theprospects for increased collaboration between the contemporary worlds strongest

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powers: threat perceptions, the institutional and instrumental preferences shapingnational security policies, and national security cultures. If these aspects are synchro-nized between the major powers Kirchner and Sperling argue convincingly theprospects of solid security co-operation are good; and vice versa.

Based on the easily comparable and high standard country studies, Kirchner andSperling conclude that the prospects for effective and institutionalized global secu-rity co-operation are poor. Although the great powers share a common interest inavoiding war, it is unlikely that a more mature and global system of co-operation aworld-wide post-Westphalian system will materialize any time soon. The majorpowers do to a great extent share a common understanding of what constitutes themajor threats in todays security environment, but they differ widely with regard tothe origins of those threats and the preferred responses and ways in which securitychallenges should be mastered.

In sum, the volume presents a convincing and thought-provoking account of theglobal security landscape, as well as a persuasive picture of the barriers and facili-tators of future security co-operation on a regional and global scale.

JENS RINGSMOSEDanish Institute for Military Studies

Adjusting to EU Enlargement: Recurring Issues in a New Setting, edited by C.Stephanou (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2006, ISBN 9781845426040); xiii+232pp.,47.96 hb.

The 12 chapters of the volume evaluate the impact of the eastern enlargements of2004 and 2007 from the point of view of the European Unions economic setting,internal governance and cohesion and external relations.

The economics part concentrates, not surprisingly, on the key areas of EU inte-gration, namely trade and investment, competitiveness, location, the CAP and mon-etary integration. These are exactly the issues on which economics-oriented literatureon enlargement concentrate. Generally, this part contains a lot of basic statistical factsbut only the chapters on location and monetary integration make an attempt to havea closer look behind the cold numbers. Especially in the trade chapter, the level of

analysis could have gone much deeper whereas the EMU chapter contains a thoroughdiscussion of the most relevant aspects of enlargement with respect to monetaryunion. Part II of the volume deals with governance and cohesion. To put these twointo the same part is somewhat artificial, especially as cohesion is closely linked withthe CAP via the EU budget and location using typical winners and losers of (deeper)integration arguments. An additional burden of both the CAP and cohesion chapters,especially the latter, is that they are mostly based on summarizing Commissiondocuments. In these chapters, it is impossible to find any links to the wide criticaldiscussion on the future of the EU budget after enlargement. This would have madea linkage to adjustment, which is a part of the title of the volume.

The chapter on political dynamics is a detailed description of the issues involvedin enlargement. I would have liked a little deeper discussion about the reactions to theincreasing heterogeneity and expanding membership. As an example, the extended

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role of QMV is a partial solution to avoid paralysis in decision-making but QMV inthe EU of 27 members is completely different from QMV in the EU-15 as far asrelative majority quotas are concerned. Moreover, when reading the chapter, I at firstmissed the discussion on enhanced co-operation understood as functional federalism.

The last part covers the external relations of an enlarged EU. Four of the fivechapters in this part concentrate on the EUs neighbouring regions either in the eastor south. They all provide detailed summaries of the problems and also offer solu-tions. The final chapter discusses the CEE countries different approaches to trans-atlantic relations. In sum, I find that the volume raises many points that are relevantfor the future EU after the 2004 and 2007 enlargements and also before the nextexpansions. In many parts of the volume, however, I would have expected a moreanalytical approach and overall greater internal homogeneity between the chapters. Inedited volumes, though, this is a common problem.

MIKA WIDGRNTurku School of Economics

Policy Coherence for Development in the EU Council: Strategies for the Way

Forward, edited by C. Egenhofer (Brussels: Centre for European Policy Studies,2006, ISBN 9290796537); x+202pp., 17.00 pb.

Policy coherence for development (PCD) is not a new concept for the internationaldonor community nor is it for the European Union. The principle of coherence of EUpolicies with development-co-operation objectives was introduced in the Maastricht

Treaty which entered into force in 1993. However, only in 2005 was PDC firmlyestablished on the EU agenda, with the Commission adopting a Communicationfocused on PCD and with the EU Council adopting Conclusions on PCD (May 2005).

The study conducted by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) examineswhether EU policy-making processes in non-development policy areas accommodatedevelopment-related priorities and assesses whether they undermine the Europeandevelopment objectives. The analysis concentrates on the 12 thematic areas identifiedin the 2005 Council Conclusions: trade, environment, climate change, security, agri-culture, fisheries, the social dimension of globalization, employment and decent

work, migration, research and innovation, information society, transport and energy.The book is divided into two sections. Part I the main report presents a generaloverview of the concept of PCD and the principal initiatives taken by the EU andother donors to promote coherence for development. It also provides an investigationof EU policy-making and the key EU institutions. While the focus of the study is theEU Council, the role of the Commission and its various Directorate Generals (DGs)are also analysed in depth. In the main report the authors identify key drivers forenhancing PCD in EU policy-making and outline six proposals for structural reformsand a series of short and long term recommendations for improving PCD in both theCouncil and the Commission. Part II of the study is a collection of 12 policy areas,one for each of the thematic areas identified in the EU Council Conclusions and sixspecific case-studies (on the Economic Partnership Agreements; Climate Change; theEU Code of Conduct on Arms Export; the Reform of the Sugar Regime; the Fisheries

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Partnership Agreements; and the EU Strategy for Action on the Crisis in HumanResources for Health in Developing Countries).

The strength of the collection of studies is the empirically nuanced account of theextent to which the EU has so far taken development concerns into account in policyareas with development dimensions. The detailed fiches and case studies provideextremely useful insights into the EU policy-making system and the complex inter-actions between institutions and their subordinate bodies. What is missing is adedicated section on the EU development policy outlining overarching priorities andprinciples driving the EUs relations with the developing world. Despite this, thefocus on the EU decision-making processes and the broad range of policies coveredmake the book highly recommended reading not only for practitioners and policy-makers, to which it seems to be mainly addressed, but also to EU scholars.

GIULIA PIETRANGELI

London School of Economics and Political Science

The Struggle for a Social Europe: Trade Unions and EMU in Times of Global

Restructuring, by A. Bieler (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006, ISBN9780719072529); xvi+254pp., 55 hb.

Bielers work investigates the position of trade unions on EMU, from the negotiationsto the implementation, and their willingness to co-operate at the European level, infive countries: Britain, Sweden, France, Germany and Austria. The first two do notbelong to the euro area, but are in any case affected by EMU. This is an original work,

which attempts to analyse systematically a topic to which so far little attention hasbeen paid. Previous analysis of the processes that resulted in EMU examined onlymarginally the role of trade unions and their possible impact. Thus Bielers analysisis complete and exhaustive.

The underlying hypothesis is that trade union support for EMU varies accordingto the type of workers they represent. When the latter belong to transnational pro-duction sectors, then trade unions are not only more likely to support EMU, as theyare close to the companies which enjoy monetary stability, but also more keen onco-operation at European level with other unions. On the other hand, those unions

that still significantly influence national policy-making will not support EMU, norwill they be interested in co-operation with other unions, as the sectors they representwill be threatened by EMU itself.

Bieler offers an in-depth analysis of the theoretical approaches used to explain theconceptualization of labour as an international actor. In his view the best one is theneo-Gramscian theory on social relations of production, as it accounts for the for-mation of transnational classes. He also examines the influence of globalization in therestructuring process of finance and production, towards an increasing international-ization of labour relations. The authors hypotheses are proved from Chapter 5onward, with the analysis of the different models of capitalism of the five case studiesas determinants of the reaction to EMU. His conclusions are that the attitude of tradeunions towards EMU changes according to whether they are confederations, tran-snational sector unions or national ones. Bieler finds that union confederations clearly

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supported EMU, and so did transnational sectors unions, whereas the willingness toco-operate at European level appears to be stronger in union confederations than intransnational sector unions. When national sector unions are examined, outsiders likeSweden and Britain obviously opposed EMU, while France, Austria and Germanyaccepted it. In all the cases considered, co-operation at European level was notwelcomed, due to the diversity in the national industrial relation systems (p. 176).

Overall, Bieler addresses his hypotheses well and his work opens the way to furtherinvestigations in the field of social policy and wider debate on the impact of EMU.

MONIKA MURAUniversity of Bristol

EU Foreign and Interior Policies: Cross-Pillar Politics and the Social Constructions

of Sovereignty, by S. Stetter (London: Routledge, 2007, ISBN 9780415414913);

xxi+238pp., 65 hb.In scientific terms, but also by policy standards, justice and home affairs (JHA) andthe common foreign and security policy (CFSP) have become the most dynamicfields of EU policies. The problem, according to Stephan Stetter, is that the formalendurance of the pillar design by which these policies are typically characterizedneglects the mechanisms of integration that substantially (re)configure foreign andinterior policies. Indeed, traditionally, the literature on foreign and interior policies ispremised around the claim that the processes and weaknesses of these fields resultfrom either supranational or intergovernmental logics. On the face of it, the book

shows that students of EU politics who adopt this posture often hold that no instruc-tive comparison could be drawn on the dynamics of integration in EU foreign andinterior policies. To circumvent these problems, the book pursues three objectives.First, detect cross-pillar intersections which underpin developments in both JHA andCFSP. Second, on a more holistic level, assess the impact of cross-pillarization on thepolitical system of the EU. The analytical setting is then brought to bear on twopowerful case studies: the European Mediterranean Partnership and migrationpolicies, from Maastricht to Nice.

What the book does extremely well is to challenge the pillar approach to EU

foreign and interior policies by tracing the functional unity that brings both policiestogether. The basic idea here is that, in many ways, despite obvious technical andlegal differences, there are functional, substantive and institutional overlaps betweenthe two policy areas. Thus, Stetter argues, addressing the functional unity across thepillars offers a unique opportunity to grasp the emergence of what he calls a distinctsovereignty dimension of the EU (p. 15). It is precisely the constitutive mechanismsof this sovereignty that enables Stetter to bring to light, beyond the seeminglyinstitutional fragmentations, the construction of the EU as a Self which is funda-mentally distinct from Others. The inside/outside distinction thus forms thebackbone of the EUs internal and external sovereignty dimension. Further, theconstruction of an EU sovereignty dimension coincides, by accident or by design,with the steady increase in the dominance of executive actors i.e. the Commission,the Council, and the Council Secretariat. Moreover, in stark contrast to what is

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usually held, the book shows that the delegation of extra-powers to supranationalexecutive powers is severely constrained by subtle mechanisms of control establishedby Member States on the Treaty level. This explains, in part, the meagre outcomes ofEU actions in the Palestine peace process, for instance. In this light, what matters inthe case studies is not so much the results day-to-day policy-making achieves as itsimpact on the functional structure of the EU.

One of the weaknesses of the monograph rests with the underdevelopment of whatis arguably the theoretical framework which gives meaning to the case studies.Indeed, given the centrality of the inside/outside distinction, readers will expect moreon this; but, I am afraid, they will be disappointed. I think there is more to thatdistinction than cross-pillarization might explain. The architecture of the EuropeanNeighbourhood Policies, for example, teaches us that the inside/outside distinction isa variable geometry scheme that should be handled with care. In this context, the

inside/outside distinction varies both in its purposes and in its mode of governance,depending on where one crosses the external limits of the EU. The immediateimplications are, first, that the functional unity of the EU foreign and interior policiescannot gravitate around one unique conceptual couple; and, second, that this concep-tual couple leads to two questions at least, identity and borders. The former isunderspecified and the latter is glossed-over.

In sum, however, the book remains theoretically sound and empirically strong. Byfocusing on cross-pillarization, Stetter adds texture to the literature on EU integrationtheory. Further, by offering an innovative reading of the EU sovereignty dimension, the

book clarifies certain important aspects of the emergence of EU internal identity.Finally, by exploring the mechanisms of control which limit the delegation of authorityto supranational actors, Stetter is able to excavate the deep meaning of the communi-tarization of EU policies. This is where, I believe, the book could spark a debate.

THIERRY BALZACQUniversity of Namur

The Quest for a European Strategic Culture: Changing Norms on Security and

Defence in the European Union, by C.O. Meyer (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan,2006, ISBN: 9781403992802); xii+211pp., 45.00 hb.

Are Europes national strategic cultures gradually becoming more similar? ChristophMeyers new book examines this possibility, and suggests that national strategiccultures in Europe, although still distinct, have converged substantially enough toprovide an ideational and normative space for the emergence of a European strategicculture. This in turn could contribute positively to the future development of theEuropean security and defence policy (ESDP).

Meyers project is ambitious because it attempts four goals at once. He tackles theorigins of normative change on the question of strategy. His comparative researchdesign then identifies four key strategic norms in four large Member States: Britain,France, Germany and Poland. Having assessed both stasis and shifts in these norms,Meyer indicates the contours of an existing European strategic culture, from which hethen assesses the potential for the ESDP.

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Closet historians will certainly find appealing his in-depth look at deep-seatednorms, beliefs and ideas about French self-perception, German ideas of legitimacy offorce, British concepts of means and ends as well as Polish perceptions about thefuture of the ESDP. Social scientists will be impressed by the layered approach ofconstructivist, realist and sociological institutionalist theories marshalled to explorehis four goals. Meyer uses four key norms to unpack the troublesome area of strategicculture, allowing him to identify historical and contemporary attitudes that havearisen in these four countries on the legitimacy, authorization, application and alli-ances involved in the use of force.

Meyer provides a timely and well researched picture of European strategic cultureand ESDP potential, and is to be commended for his attempts at analysing theinfinitely tougher connection between the two. The data gathered from a comprehen-sive round of interviews of various levels of national and EU political elites and a

thorough assessment of public discourses (via newspapers and public opinionsurveys) suggests that strategic cultures in Europe are indeed becoming more similar.Crisis learning from Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq has triggered broad support amongelites and publics for a more robust European defence policy. This normative con-vergence, however, is visibly uneven across the four national strategic norms. In somecases especially where Britain is concerned this translates into downright incom-patibility over the legitimate role of the EU as a security actor. Divergence is apparentover why and how European defence should be used, suggesting that the space fora European strategic culture is not yet sufficiently populated by broad agreement

across all four key national strategic norms. AMELIA HADFIELDUniversity of Kent

Policy Transfer in European Union Governance: Regulating the Utilities, by S.Bulmer, D. Dolowitz, P. Humphreys and S. Padgett (London: Routledge, 2007, ISBN9780415374880); xvi+221pp., 70 hb.

Policy transfer is increasingly observed in public policy and increasingly deployed asa methodology for analysing policy change. International organizations often feature

in policy transfer but have seldom been the main subject of analysis. This substantialstudy brings to the forefront the role of a key international organization, the EuropeanUnion, in policy transfer. It draws on three sectoral cases, telecommunications, airtransport and electricity, all of which have undergone dramatic change in the past twodecades. Traditionally organized as national monopolies across Europe, they havebeen subject to the single market programme and become liberalized and interna-tionalized with regulatory principles set at EU level. The book provides a thoroughaccount of how the EU has operated as a dynamic institutional environment for policylearning and transfer from policy leaders, such as the UK, the first mover in majorutility reform in Europe, to other Member States.

Cross-sectoral comparative analysis of policy transfer is sustained and systematic.Comparison is undertaken via the conceptual prisms of hierarchical, negotiatedand facilitated policy transfer combined with an institutionalist analysis of the EU.

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The authors observed multifarious forms of transfer and found more evidence ofhierarchical and negotiated transfer than of facilitated transfer (horizontal transferbetween Member States), a consequence of the EUs institutionalization. A recurringtheme is a competitive process of uploading policies from Member States to the EUand then downloading them back to all Member States. A distinct manifestation ofthis, in a process substantially mediated by EU and national institutions, is theuploading and downloading of UK reforms.

Critics of policy transfer have doubted whether it adds value in policy analysis.Although the authors seek to justify its value, their arguments are not entirelycompelling. It is not clear, for example, whether the hierarchical and negotiatedtransfer concepts add significant value over established techniques in Europeanintegration and policy-making in the supranational and intergovernmental traditions.

The preoccupation with policy transfer has left little space for critical analysis and

explanation of the neo-liberal shift. Despite distancing themselves from determinismand rational institutionalism, the authors underlying assumption appears to be thatpolicy transfer is primarily a rational response to global economic imperatives andtechnological change. However, these exogenous forces are weaker in one of thesectors, electricity, yet all three sectors have experienced a long run shift to liberalizedmarkets (albeit with distinct differences in pace and timing). The authors ascribe theshift in electricity to greater Commission activism, but other factors, such as widerinternational political forces and ideologies, might provide more compelling expla-nations. This is particularly possible given that another strong global imperative the

need to mitigate climate change which impacts substantially on air transport andelectricity, has not led to a policy transformation of comparable magnitude.IAN BARTLE

University of Bath

Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy: History of a Paradigm Change, byI. Garzon (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, ISBN 9780230001848);viii+215pp., 45.00 hb.

Isabelle Garzon has a background in the European Commission where she has

worked for 12 years. She was an adviser to former Trade Commissioner Lamy for fiveyears. The book draws on her insider knowledge of common agricultural policy(CAP) reform processes, but also draws strongly on the academic literature on theCAP and engages in the academic discussion on the driving forces behind its reform.This anchoring of insider knowledge within the academic literature makes the bookan important contribution to this debate.

In the introduction, Garzon presents the topic of the book which is to explain whyand how the CAP, after more than 30 years of stability, changed three times between1992 and 2003 and to account for how far the changes went. In chapter 2 she outlinesthe theoretical framework which she describes as a multi-level, multi-issue andmulti-lateral bargaining framework, complemented by policy network analysis(p. 2). Chapters 38 describe the institutional context of EU agricultural policy andpolicy development since the late 1950s. The last part of the book (chapters 911) is

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concerned with explaining the way in which the CAP has evolved since the early1990s, applying discourse analysis, policy feedback process analysis and policynetwork analysis.

The history of CAP reform requires more than one theory to be fully understood.Garzon applies a set of theories but omits to combine them into a coherent theoreticalframework. This leaves the reader with unanswered questions on the way in whichnew discourses, change in policy networks and policy feedback processes combinedto bring about CAP reforms. The concluding chapter (chapter 13) attempts to link thetheories but this is done in a loose way and occurs too late in the book.

Chapter 12 is devoted to establishing whether the underlying paradigm of theCAP has changed. Garzon argues that there has been a change from the dependentto the multifunctional agriculture paradigm. This interpretation is questionable.Like the dependent agriculture paradigm, the multifunctional paradigm is based on

the view that agriculture is an exceptional industry because of unique market andproduction conditions and therefore requires special treatment. Thus, rather thanbeing a new paradigm, the multifunctional paradigm can be seen as an attempt todisguise the dependent agriculture paradigm as the true foundation of the CAP.

Nevertheless, the book is very useful for teaching purposes because it accountsvery well for the development of the CAP, and by applying different theories onpolicy change it triggers debate on the driving forces behind CAP reforms.

CARSTEN DAUGBJERGUniversity of Aarhus

Supranational Citizenship, by L. Dobson (Manchester: Manchester University Press,2006, ISBN 9780719065929); vii+194pp., 55 hb.

Although part of the Europe in Change series, the author declaims this work as notbeing an EU-specific text. Rather she posits that it is a theoretical consideration,written with the direct aim of being a normative theory of supranational citizenshiplinked intrinsically to the justification of political authority. While it most certainly is,it is also nonetheless a work which clearly focuses on the EU as a case study for thisenlarged idea of citizenship. This is a positive move because, as Dobson points out,

such a concept can be (and indeed is) efficiently applied to the EU as it has developedas a social and political experiment over the past 50 years.In terms of content the work marries two distinct theoretical areas; the first a focus

on the works involved with the EU and citizenship, and the other a consideration ofthe works of the philosopher Alan Gewirth. Dobson provides a succinct introduction,consideration and development of Gewirths works, employing them to build herargument and support her assertions. More than simply employing them as a lens toconsider the EU, she adds to them, asserting that citizenship is a moral necessityandthus a core addition to those employing Gewirth or similar approaches. The schol-arship employs a clear and open normative approach to the core concept of citizen-ship, enlarging it beyond any national, or even international, borders. It dismisses theneed for distinct organizational structures with which to associate the citizenship inquestion (hence the supra aspect of that citizenship) but nonetheless argues that the

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concept remains a project of political justification. In this Dobsons consideration ofthe EU is quite strong, and she provides an insightful and arguable consideration ofthe development of citizenship as a necessity within the EU.

One aspect of the work that is quite contentious is where Dobson dismisses boththe idea that citizenship and identity are the same, or that the latter is a constituentpart of the former. Her dismissal of existing identities within the EU is not cavalierand she does recognize that her conception of citizenship is not currently widespreadamong the people of the EU. Yet her claim that supranational citizenship need notthreaten and may nurture other identities is stretching her normative credentials tothe maximum in light of both the current and historical tendencies within Europe andthe EU.

Notwithstanding this particular criticism, the work remains a solid addition to theliterature, in both the EU field and political philosophy. Dobson makes her case in a

well written and well argued manner, bringing her arguments together into a coherentand original work.

MURRAY STEWART LEITHUniversity of Paisley

Comparative Federalism: The European Union and the United States in Compara-

tive Perspective, edited by A. Menon and M. Schain (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 2006, ISBN 9780199291106); x+373pp., 50 hb.

Anand Menon and Martin Schains edited volume, Comparative Federalism is a

welcome addition to the growing literature on comparative federalism, linking Euro-pean integration with broader studies of political institutions and comparative poli-tics. Starting from the premise that federalism is a system of shared sovereignty andnot merely a system of delegated authority, the various chapters focus on the impli-cations in terms of policy, politics and outcomes.

The first four essays in the volume cover some broad conceptual comparisonsdrawn from comparative politics and international relations, discussing the politicaland historical considerations that have led them to reappraise European developmentsin light of the American experience. This is then followed by six essays addressing

how these changes in institutions and processes have played out in both polities. Thefinal section of the volume is a series of case studies examining the role of federalismin shaping fiscal, monetary, immigration and biotechnology policy. Several chaptersdraw attention to the constitutional process, institutional design and governancedilemmas faced in consolidating diverse sets of territorial interests, plural identities,and vested interests. The authors divide over the lessons that can be drawn from theAmerican experience with some authors focusing on the developments in the forma-tive periods of American politics to provide a reminder of how significant constitu-tional design has been, and how different the European constitutional experience hasbeen, whereas others point to the similarities and constraints that both polities face intackling the vertical and horizontal allocation of competences, decentralized imple-mentation, and managing the market against its dysfunctional tendencies (Jabko).Shapiro provides an excellent analysis of commonalities in patterns of judicial

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review, balancing standards and delegated implementation to lower courts throughsimilar reference procedures. The chapters on comparing constitutional change, byMagnette and Nicolaidis respectively, are extremely good at providing both norma-tive and historical benchmarks for comparison.

In common with other edited volumes, the chapters contain many original con-tributions about the nature of federalism, as well as some familiar arguments drawnfrom prior work. The volume essentially revolves around two themes. The first one isthat many institutional arrangements have enduring but unintended consequences,and that both polities have faced transformations of state structures as a result. Theemphasis by Lowi and Sbragia in particular, highlights that the political process is notsimply about comparing the functional differentiation and competences among dif-ferent levels of government, but to recognize the contest over the form of the state.The second theme is the issue of representation and rights. This is manifest in efforts

in the US and EU to manage both functional and territorial politics by way ofdelegation, control and oversight mechanisms, the territorial dispersion of powerbetween central governments and subunits, and the differentiation in political andsocial rights that have evolved.

Two issues deserve further attention in the volume. One is the different models offederalism that have evolved across different policy areas, which speaks not only tothe different policy challenges in dealing with policy externalities or public goods,but also to the fact that different models have evolved as a result of both exogenousand endogenous pressures, and perhaps unintended consequences. Secondly, given

the focus on institutions in this volume, it would also be useful to consider theemergent patterns of citizen behaviour and organization, given that crucial transfor-mations in the American polity came about as a result of political mobilization,expanding participation, ethnic voting and social movements. The politics of massparties and the patronage state (Lowi) are clearly important in understanding how thestate transformation process unfolded and shifted towards the modern regulatory statein the US. Such work on civic engagement in the American context might be fruitfulto discuss in light of discussions about democracy in the European polity (Nicolai-dis). This book has a great deal to offer empirically, as well as theoretically, to thedebates on comparative federalism.

MICHELLE EGAN American University

Enlarging the Euro Area: External Empowerment and Domestic Transformation in

East Central Europe, edited by K. Dyson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006,ISBN 0199277672); xix+376pp., 50 hb.

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) membership, while not linked to a specificdate, was made obligatory in the accession treaties. Enlargement of the EuropeanUnion (EU) to central and eastern Europe (CEE) has been extensively coveredincluding the transformation in CEE countries, the response by the EU, as well as theway we can understand these processes theoretically. Missing, however, was ananalysis of the implications of future EMU membership for CEE countries. This book

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fills this gap. The strength of the volume lies in the comprehensiveness of its analysis.Part I covers the location of EMU within the wider developments of the globaleconomy. Part II deals with many of the new EU members including the Baltic States,Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Only the exclusion ofSlovenia, the first country to join EMU in January 2007, is surprising. The book isthen completed with an investigation of several patterns of sectoral governanceincluding financial markets, fiscal policy and welfare state adjustment.

Nevertheless, while highly important, this book also demonstrates a core weak-ness characteristic of so much current scholarship on European integration. Neo-liberal restructuring, which has driven the integration process since the mid-1980saround the Internal Market and EMU, is taken for granted. Since the early 1990s,inequality has increased in CEE, unemployment levels remain high and employmentrates are lower than in the EU-15. Nevertheless, a critical dimension, analysing who

in CEE loses out in neo-liberal restructuring, is missing in this volume. The neo-liberal purpose of EMU is clearly recognized. Jim Rollo in Chapter 2, for example,outlines how the EU and EMU have become part and parcel of the neo-liberal,so-called Washington Consensus in the 1990s and how EU membership pushed CEEcountries along this road (p. 48). With the exception of the chapter on Hungary byBla Greskovits, however, there is hardly any engagement with domestic conflictsover monetary politics. Instead, the focus is on elites and how they negotiate the fitbetween external pressures and domestic constraints. Those countries which movequickest towards EMU membership are described as pacesetters, those who are

behind are called laggards. Speedy compliance with neo-liberal restructuring is, thus,understood as a positive step, reluctance as backwards.The lack of critical engagement with neo-liberalism is even more surprising when

considering recent challenges of restructuring within the EU. The no to the EUconstitution in the Dutch and French referendums in 2005 was also due to theConstitutional Treatys neo-liberal contents. Moreover, around the European SocialForums, the meetings of anti-neo-liberal globalization groups in Europe since 2002,alliances have formed with the objective of resisting further neo-liberal restructuring.It would be important to investigate how these struggles over the future EU model ofcapitalism are played out in CEE in view of pending EMU membership. A lookbeyond governing elites is, therefore, highly important. By not engaging with theseissues, this book constitutes neo-liberal statecraft thereby normalizing restructuringas common sense.

ANDREAS BIELERUniversity of Nottingham

The European Unions Roles in International Politics: Concepts and Analysis, by O.Elgstrm and M. Smith (London: Routledge, 2006, ISBN 0415390931); xix+261pp.,65 hb.

The puzzle of the European Union in international politics is once more underscrutiny in this volume, as the contributors seek to explain how the EU interactswith the other actors (mainly sovereign states, with a sprinkling of international

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organizations) in the international system. Well-known for its self-declared intent toexport EU values, and even more widely recognized as a global economic power, thequestion of how far the European Union can exercise influence, change behaviour andshape outcomes remains tantalizingly unanswered. It is more difficult to provideanswers about the EUs capacity in international politics, the impact of Europeanpolicies on global actors and international regulatory systems, or the effectiveness ofhuman rights and democracy promotion across the globe than it is to judge the impactof internal integration, or indeed external economic integration. In a well-edited andlargely coherent set of contributions, this volume attempts to provide an analyticalframework to study the roles of the European Union, ranging across the followingdimensions: role conception (self-image and others image); origins of roles (strategydesign, choice, contingency or incrementalism); role institutionalization; role perfor-mance (how a role is played); role impact (desired effects, effectiveness, efficiency

and legitimacy). Taking account of the extent to which context and agency determineroles, the assumption is that obligations and commitments go beyond considerationsof maximizing material interests, while foreign policy is purposeful and shaped byinstitutions and structures.

Though the contributions largely follow the editorial frame of reference, there issome variety in the individual approaches and a degree of scepticism towards theimpact and effectiveness of the EU role in certain issue areas. Jrgensen argues thatthe EU has long pursued a differentiated multilateralism, a conclusion that is sup-ported, if somewhat indirectly, by the other chapters. Kerremans examines the Euro-

pean Commissions risk-minimizing strategy to manage the Doha DevelopmentAgenda by getting the WTO members to accept the principle of a linkage betweenagriculture and other issues (the aim being to eventually negotiate a deal to compen-sate the EU losers); Young suggests that how the EU role in trade policy wasoriginally conceived had a direct impact upon the subsequent role performance androle impact Member States accepted the EU role in the WTO, and there was a highdegree of delegation to the European Commission, while Member States tended notto challenge each others trade policy preferences unless there were countervailinginterests. In the area of human rights and democracy promotion (Sedelmeier), theexport of values to the Mediterranean (Panebianco), or policies towards Burma, Cubaand Zimbabwe, the impact and effectiveness of the EU role is less noteworthy, and thedeliberate attempt to create consensus about values and behaviour among diversecommunities is dogged by the lack of conviction both at home and abroad. A lack ofcoherence between self-image and behaviour can go part of the way to explain whythe expansion of values is not an EU crusade (Lucarelli), though Manners urges agreater focus upon the symbolic manifestation of the EUs international identity.Sjursen develops the case for communicative rationality in the selection and promo-tion of norms, and offers two alternatives to the civilian/normative role: EU foreignpolicy as value-based or rights-based, reflecting a more communitarian and a liberal

conception.The volume is an informative and thought-provoking contribution to the acade-mic literature, and provides much scope for debate across the relevant policy

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communities, though, as the editors themselves acknowledge in the conclusion, thereremain many unanswered questions concerning the impact of the EUs role oninternational activities and indeed uncertainties about the relationship between theinternal generation of role conceptions and their pursuit in institutional and politicalarenas.

MARY FARRELLSchool of Advanced Study, University of London

The Changing Politics of European Security: Europe Alone?, edited by S. Gnzle andA.G. Sens (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2007, ISBN 1403995117); xv+242pp., 50.00 hb.

Reactions to the question of who should provide for the security of Europe tradition-ally diverge between Atlanticist and Europeanist responses. Revitalizing this half-century old debate, the editors of this volume argue that European states willincreasingly act independently of the United States on matters of European security.The authors illustrate this phenomenon through examinations of the EUs institu-tional development as a security actor, its rising influence in EUNATO collabora-tion, and its disagreements with the US over security policy. In demonstratingEuropes empowered role in the post-Cold War security architecture, the editors drawfrom a spectrum of perspectives to colour what is habitually a black and white debate.

The authors fully explore the divisions and linkages that constitute the complexrelationship between NATO and the EUs ESDP. Drawing on constructivist perspec-tives, the first three chapters explore contrasting security perceptions and shared

views of new threats, such as terrorism, whereas the last three chapters discusschanges and challenges to the dynamic relationship. In the middle section, the authorshighlight some of the features of European security that are too often left in the dark.For example, Gnzles chapter argues for increased attention to the European Neigh-bourhood Policy as a testing ground for security initiatives such as conflict preventionand management, whereas Danilov looks farther east, arguing that Russia and theESDP should bolster their latent partnership.

The editors of the volume cautiously depict the Iraq debacle as driving Europetoward independence in security and defence by pointing to the transatlantic rift over

the decision to go to war and scholars ominous predictions of severed EUUS ties.Although they cite the counterargument that the Iraq war evidenced the lack of acommon security policy amongst EU Member States, the editors shy away frompursuing it further. Shepherd and others, for example, cautioned that the intra-EUdiscord could herald the demise of the ESDP.

Aside from Andersons chapter on internal and external security, the volumeremains within the comfort zone of traditional state-centred notions of securitydespite a prevailing consensus that a broader interpretation is required. Although theauthors reference soft security, this notion offers little value as an analytical toolsince it encompasses all non-military security issues. A more useful paradigm foranalysing the European security environment might be human security, whichfocuses on the individual rather than the state and which enjoys growing transatlanticsupport from academics and civil society, as well as UN backing.

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This volume ultimately succeeds in unpacking the prevalent political transforma-tions in contemporary European security by expanding beyond studies of the ESDPNATO dichotomy. It sets an example for future scholars by rising above the flurryover Kagans provocative portrayal of the US and Europe as Mars and Venus.

HEIDI HARDTGraduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva

European Security in the Twenty-First Century: the Challenge of Multipolarity, by A.Hyde-Price (London: Routledge, 2007, ISBN 9780415392179); xvii+241pp.,65.00 hb.

In this book, Hyde-Price revives realism to explain the dynamics of the post-cold warEuropean security system. Faithful to the analytical core of structural realism asdeveloped by Waltz and Mearsheimer, the author challenges the current liberal-idealist hegemony in European security research. In contrast to liberal expectationsof democratic peace, the existence of a European security community and theconflict-mitigating role of multilateral institutions, the book starts from the assump-tion that states are both security and power maximizers. In this perspective, the logicof anarchy, the structural distribution of relative power capabilities and a statesgeopolitical situation are the primary factors influencing the development of theEuropean security order.

Following two brief chapters outlining liberal (chapter 2) and realist (chapter 3)theories of international relations, the main part of the book (chapters 48) assesses

the prospects for peace and security co-operation in Europe. Considerably morepessimistic than other studies in the field, Hyde-Price highlights the re-emergingdynamics of power politics in a European order characterized by balanced multipo-larity. He argues that Europe faces Russia as a potential security competitor andadditionally expects a steady process of continental drift in its transatlantic relations.Moreover, the newly-assertive GrossmachtGermany - the lynchpin of the Europeanbalance of power - will be the decisive factor in shaping the future of the EU. In sharpcontrast to the literature on European integration and governance, the study adds thatsince the EU is essentially a product of bipolarity, its future in todays multipolar

European order is uncertain at best. While the EU has some value as a pragmaticinstrument for its Member States economic and political aims, its strategic impor-tance is marginal and the dream of an ever closer Union over.

The book provides a concise and coherent application of structural realism to thequestion of European security integration. It certainly fulfils its aim of addingdissonant tonesto current debates, and it makes the timely point that issues of power,interests and the use of force have been neglected in research on European security.Yet, since the author consciously limits the theoretical debate to the two traditionalpositions of realism and a straw man-like version of liberalism, the analysis fore-goes a more nuanced assessment of the current state of the European Union andleaves the reader with little more than the conviction that the heyday of Europeanintegration has passed. Moreover, the decision to assess the EUs security roleexclusively in terms of its still marginal military capabilities leads to the omission of

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its potentially stronger impact as a regional security provider through its enlargementand external relations policies. Nevertheless, the book is a welcome addition to theresearch field and it will doubtlessly provoke interesting discussions.

URSULA C. SCHROEDER European University Institute, Florence

Taxes and Exchange Rates in the EU, by J. Lori (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan,2006, ISBN 9780230004727); xix+466, 70.00 hb.

The EU liberalized financial capital markets in July 1990 but this did not integratecapital markets. With Member States retaining discretion over taxation and monetarypolicy, barriers to the movement of capital remained. Wide differences persistedamong EU members on the taxable base and tax rates on income from financialassets. This is familiar, but where John Loris book diverges from the literature ontax harmonization is in his consideration of changes in real exchange rates. Theseexchange rate changes can cause both changes in taxation and uncertainty overincome.

Three issues in particular are considered. First, how the liberalization of capitalmovements affects welfare and its distribution among countries. Second, the way inwhich these effects are influenced by tax differences and real exchange rate changes.Third, an assessment of the impact of EU tax harmonization policies and EMUpolicies.

The majority of the book is devoted to developing a model to test these issues.

After an introductory chapter, the classical comparative static model of internationalcapital flows is developed. Further chapters extend the model to: multi periods andretained earnings; taxes on income from shares; bonds and personal taxes on incomefrom bonds; and the effect of real exchange rates changes. The penultimate chapterapplies the theoretical analysis to the EU and the concluding chapter discusses arange of propositions, assumptions and recommendations.

Important conclusions flow from this analysis, particularly, that the benefits of taxharmonization are limited (0.25 per cent of EU GDP) and the effects of real exchangerate changes are larger (0.83 per cent). However, the results are difficult to unearth

and it is not easy to identify within the complex model employed the effects of theassumptions employed on the results. Overall a book only for the economist with aspecialist interest in this area.

BRIAN ARDYLondon South Bank University

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