CURRENT AFFAIRS:THIS VOLUME is a response to two events: the 50th anniversary of the coming into force of the European Community Treaty, otherwise known as the Rome Treaty, and the forthcoming referendum on the Reform Treaty, popularly known as the Lisbon Treaty, writes Brigid Laffan.
The book, divided into three parts, seeks to address three oft-quoted claims about the European Union, namely, that the EU is akin to a "superstate", that the EU suffers from a "democratic deficit" and that the EU embodies either a neo-liberal bias or the alternative that it favours socialist (over-) regulation.
All of these issues are not just of academic interest but are of direct relevance to the referendum debate. The book is an exercise in exploring and exploding "myths". From the beginning, the author acknowledges that the nature of the EU as a form of political order is difficult to categorise, as it is neither state nor international organisation but something that lies between, built on the constitutional and political foundations of its 27 member states.
The author offers deep insight into the character of the EU, and draws on the vast literature on European law, European politics, the case law of the European Court of Justice and articles and editorials by journalists and opinion writers from The Irish Times.
He offers a robust critique of what passes for public debate on European issues. This is not an exercise in reifying the European Union but a rigorous analysis of the myths that surround it.
The author debunks the "superstate" myth in a very convincing manner. In this he is supported by mainstream academic writing on the EU. The relationship between statehood and integration and federalism and integration is dissected. Membership of the EU has significant effects on the exercise of sovereignty, both internal and external.
The development of the EU has transformed classical notions of indivisible state sovereignty. To become a member state is to voluntarily "pool" or "share" sovereignty with other states within treaty-based rules. However, the EU does not have what is known in the legal literature as "kompetenz-kompetenz": the authority to decide on its own powers.
The Lisbon Treaty is very clear on this issue, stating that EU competence is based on the principle of conferral. Pech concludes that the EU "is and will remain the creature of the Member States who retain ultimate political authority".
Academic and popular discourse about the EU is replete with references to a "democratic deficit". Ever since the 1992 Danish "no" to the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht), concern about the EU's democratic fabric has become commonplace.
The author carefully, and with the aid of a diverse literature, assesses the claim that the EU suffers from a democratic deficit. He rightly points out that those who argue that this is the case seldom proffer a definition of what they mean by democracy in this context.
Democratic theory evolved in the context of nation states and is challenged by a non-state compound polity such as the EU.
The author concludes that the EU has democratic shortcomings but is in its essence a democratic entity. There has been a gradual process of democratisation within European institutions and practices and European integration has fostered democratisation beyond the level of the nation state. The Lisbon Treaty adds further to the democratic fabric of the system with an enhanced role for national parliaments and the European Parliament.
The chapters on the economic character of the EU juxtapose two very different narratives on the EU. The first is that the EU has promoted a "neo-liberal" economic agenda.
The term neo-liberal is usually taken to embrace economic liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation. It has become a slogan that is usually applied in a pejorative manner and is bandied about with little critical reflection.
The author addresses the accusation of a neo-liberal bias in the EU with a careful analysis of the character of the social market economy in Europe, market integration, the social dimension of the EU and competition policy. He tackles issues such as public services and the services directive.
His conclusion is robust, namely that "the legal provisions upon which the EU is founded do not embody any neo-liberal bias". The claim that the Charter on Fundamental Rights is a socialist Trojan horse is also dismissed.
Why is there such a gap between the tone and tenor of public debate on the EU and what emerges from rigorous scholarly analysis of its character? Why is it that political debates on the European Union are characterised by exaggerated and frequently false claims about its role and power?
The author suggests that there is a cultural unease with the non-state, non-nation polity that is the EU. The vast majority of Europe's politicians regard the EU as central to government and prosperity in the contemporary world.
Likewise, the majority of Europe's citizen's, regardless of their political views on the EU, regard it as an integral part of Europe's political landscape.
However, European affairs are differentiated from national politics, consigned to reports of European Council meetings, European elections and occasional referendums.
In the case of referendums, the electorate engages in a cramming exercise, not unlike cramming for exams, as it grapples with issues that it is ill-prepared to tackle in terms of knowledge.
This volume should be read by those seeking an understanding of the EU that goes beyond slogan and caricature. Europe's politicians and the electorates need to domesticate the EU, to "bring it all back home".
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Brigid Laffan, is principal of the UCD College of Human Sciences and Jean Monnet Professor of European Politics. Her co-authored book on Ireland and the European Union will be published by Palgrave in the autumn. She is a member of the Alliance for Europe.
The European Union and its Constitution: From Rome to Lisbon By Laurent Pech Clarus Press, 266pp. €45