Books in the Euroclio series

This book examines the innovative and supportive role that the Council of European Municipalities and Regions has played in the process of European integration, focusing on the idea of a federal state centred on municipalities, the basis of Western democracy. The author's analysis considers the twinning of cities within Europe to be a political action that will lead to a Europe for its citizens. He argues that the global financial crisis could lead to the break-up of the European unification process and that the way to deal with this challenge is to give local authorities greater involvement in decision-making processes. The book is the result of research in little known and rarely consulted archives and brings significant new information into the academic sphere. This focus on the local level is increasingly relevant, offering new perspectives on current issues within European integration and explaining the dynamics of a process still under way.

The Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) is usually overlooked in the literature on the Cold War and presented as the seal of détente. The Final Act came to be considered as the mere official recognition of the European balance for the sake of a fictitious dialogue and vague statements on the freer circulation of ideas, people and information. The emerging human rights movements in Eastern Europe then came as the unintentional consequence of a complete diplomatic and political failure. It is the opinion of the author that the West neither limited its action to a passive acceptance of a long-sponsored Soviet proposal nor sold out half a continent. The author carefully traces back the roots of the CSCE and argues that the Helsinki conference was also the result of the development in Western positions and a thoroughly conceived action, especially as far as the EC member states were concerned. She analyses the internal dynamics of the Western caucus and reveals the divergences on ideas, attitudes and goals that emerged between the United States and the European allies. In such a connection the author argues that the Hague Summit and the creation of the European Political Cooperation gave a boost to an active role of the EC states and the starting of serious pan-European talks. The author offers not only a thorough analysis of the Western experience at Helsinki, but also new seminal interpretations in the fields of Cold War history, transatlantic relations and the history of the European integration. By examining and reconciling all these aspects in a common context, this book contributes to more complete understanding of both détente and the CSCE.

Internationalism is a key element for the Christian Democrat identity and movement of thought and action. It is based on a particular framework of ideas and beliefs that leads the party to interpret the relationship between men and nations from an international point of view, ensuring the human being a central place in every social policy.

Peace is generally defined as a state of non-belligerency between states. This volume proposes to substantiate concepts, projects, movements, speeches, images and representations, and to deepen the knowledge of the key personalities who thought about peace between 1849 and 1939.

An interdisciplinary reflection on identity and on the European spaces that establish a relation with the rest of the world at the European and at a global level: Enlargement and Information Policies as tools of external relations, ultraperipheric regions, relations with the Caspian sea's region and Latin America are among the main issues analysed.

Internationalism is a key element for the Christian Democrat identity and movement of thought and action. It is based on a particular framework of ideas and beliefs that leads the party to interpret the relationship between men and nations from an international point of view, ensuring the human being a central place in every social policy.

A serious and plural reflection about Human Rights, democracy and economy in the European Union, under the scenario of the deepest economic and social crisis of the last decades, precarious labour market and deregulation, and a growing distance between citizens and political elites. With the participation of known scholars from the EU and Brazil.

The negotiation of new treaties, containing important institutional innovations and reforms, has been a constant challenge for the EU ever since the 1950s. When compared with the classic intergovernmental conferences, the Convention on the Future of Europe stands as a Copernican revolution that radically altered the method of treaty change. For the first time, Member States agreed to share their constituent power with representatives from the European institutions, as well as from the national parliaments. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach merging history, political science and negotiation analysis, this book examines the origins of this new method, taking into account previous experiments of a constitutional nature such as the EPC, the Spinelli Draft Treaty and the convention that drafted the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It also analyses how this new method might have influenced the negotiating behaviour of government representatives. Using a case study approach in two specific policy areas that were negotiated at the European Convention - firstly, the reform of the EU's institutional architecture and secondly, the adoption of a legal personality and the simplification of the legal instruments - the author explores how the characteristics of the issues under negotiation influenced the dynamics in the Assembly and, specifically, the behaviour of representatives of the Member States.

This book analyses in detail the electoral manifestos and programmes presented by twenty-two parties during the European Parliamentary elections in 2009. The research indicates that radical right-wing parties usually have Europhobic impulses, however, radical left-wing parties are, in theory, favourable to European integration, but dispute the direction currently imposed by the EU authorities.

This volume looks at European cross-border cooperation from a multiplicity of perspectives, examining its motivations, its actors, its inclusion in the context of international relations, its organizational models, its outcomes and its impact on labour markets, economic development, neighbourhood policies and the creation of new identities.

This book explores why the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) remains a largely unknown entity as far as the general public are concerned, despite its significant day-to-day activity not only on the diplomatic front, but also via its 16 field operations. While the main achievement of its predecessor, the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), was to bridge the East-West divide in Europe during the Cold War, the CSCE was transformed into the OSCE in 1995 to respond to the various challenges generated by the emergence of a multipolar world. Ever since, the OSCE has been involved in diplomacy, empowered with instruments of persuasion rather than coercion. Is the OSCE a significant regional organization in dealing with international security? Has the OSCE been able to reinvent itself to face the post-Cold War world? What type of security is the OSCE providing to its member states? This book provides a variety of answers based on different theoretical perspectives and invites the reader to reflect on the nature of soft power within international relations.

The recent financial and banking crisis did reveal the discrepancy between internal management rules and the demands for stability within the divisions of corporate and investment banking by universal banks or within pure investment banks. Their mastership of risks did not balance the variety and breadth of operations, at the expense of transparent and well-structured balance sheets. The book intends fuel comparisons between historical national case studies and present evolution of investment banking. It will foster arguments about the management of risks, about the portfolio of skills of investment bankers, about the role of senior bankers. Two chapters of issues and of present assessments help giving sense to history through the mobilisation of concepts crossing decades till the recent years, so as to favour deeper thinking about the very nature and good practices of investment banking.

As of a consequence of the economic crisis, in 2010 there was a marked deterioration in cross-border relations between Italy and Germany. The confusion among economists, split between pro-and anti-Euro positions, could do nothing to counter this growing wave of populist nationalism. This books discusses the theoretical issues implied by recent economic policy debates.

This book examines transatlantic security relations in recent years. The end of the Cold War in the late 1980s brought a change in these relations, but they remain important for Europe¿s security. Despite efforts to develop a European security policy within the European Union, the continent still largely depends on the United States for its security, as demonstrated by the NATO involvement to deal with the civil wars in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. The lessons from those conflicts had the EU move towards an autonomous defence policy from 1999 and the Lisbon Treaty has recently strengthened what is now called the Common European Defence Policy (CEDP). But this policy is still geared towards ¿soft security¿ missions of conflict resolution, peace-making and peace creation. When it comes to more traditional security operations requiring heavy military involvement, European countries depend on US hardware and software, as we saw in Libya during the Arab Spring. Equally, in the fight against terrorism, transatlantic cooperation is also very important. This book considers all these issues and presents a strong analysis of the future of transatlantic security relations from the perspective of the EU.

Tout au long du XX siècle, divers schémas d¿Europe ont été imaginés ou mis en ¿uvre. Ce recueil de 25 contributions de jeunes chercheurs issus de dix pays différents illustre cette diversité. Ils ont été réunis à l¿occasion du premier colloque de l¿association RICHIE (Réseau international de jeunes chercheurs en histoire de l¿intégration européenne) qui s¿est tenu à Paris en 2005. À l¿heure où la Constitution européenne et les frontières de l¿Europe suscitent de profondes interrogations, cet ouvrage collectif contribue à une meilleure compréhension des contradictions de l¿Europe actuelle. C¿est un outil de travail indispensable pour tous ceux qui s¿intéressent à l¿état actuel de la recherche historique sur l¿intégration européenne. Over the course of the 20 century, Europeans devised, and at times even implemented, various visions of Europe. This book, with contributions from 25 young researchers from 10 different countries, illustrates this diversity. They participated in the first RICHIE conference, held in Paris in 2005 (RICHIE: Réseau international de jeunes chercheurs en histoire de l¿intégration européenne or International Network of Young Researchers in European Integration History). At a time when the European constitution and Europe¿s borders are raising many questions, this book will help readers understand the origins of its current contradictions. It is a necessary tool for all those who want to know the present state of historical research on European Integration.

The contributions to this volume address the legal nature and structure of the European Union by focusing on the issue of European constitutionalism. Possibilities and aporias of a transnational democracy relying on elements of a European constitution are considered from a legal, philosophical and historical perspective.

This publication is based on two seminars and international conferences that took place at Porto Law School, Catholic University of Portugal in March 2014 and March 2015, with the support of the European Commission, in order to contribute to a productive debate about the challenges of European Competition law in the next decade.

Il est souvent avance qu'au lendemain de 1914-1918, la diplomatie des " Cabinets " laisse la place a une New Diplomacy, exposee aux opinions publiques. Toutefois, et c'est l'objet de cet ouvrage, ce modele n'est pas immuable et, entre resistances et continuites a ce " nouvel ordre ", par voies informelles ou officielles, la politique etrangere a du, sans cesse, se reinventer.