a politico-economic clarification of the European Union

REVIEW a politico-economic clarification of the european union alireza salehi nejad Faculty of World Studies, Department of British Studies, University of Tehran, The Northern Campus, Northern Kargar Ave., Tehran, 1439814411, Iran E-mail: [email protected] advance online publication, 22 April 2016; doi: 10.1057/eps.2016.22 Book reviewed: The European Union Illuminated: Its Nature, Importance and Future Ali M. El-Agraa (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), xviii+328 pp., ISBN: 978-1137533647 C onsidering the current critical circumstances of the European Union (EU), Ali M. El-Agraa in The European Union Illuminated: Its Nature, Importance and Future appraises the politico-economic dimensions of the EU, the concerns by both policymakers and the general public, and evaluates whether those apprehensions are justified. The author draws on an extensive analysis of the past, present and future of the EU chiefly focusing on economic integration across eight chapters. After the first introductory chapter on the EU and the imperative issues it is facing, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis, which led to deep recessions in the Eurozone, the first chapter discusses the EU within an international context and global economic integration. The author then addresses the International Economic Integration (IEI) in different regions and on different continents and evaluates the potential gains from the IEI (31–32). The second chapter provides a short history of European unity and a chronology of European integration. The author traces the original concept of unity in Europe from the fourteenth-century notion of a united Christendom (36) to the first concrete move for regional integration in 1947 with the institution of the Economic Commission for Europe (38). The chapter then addresses the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community (EEC) as the basis of the European Community (49) in addition to the Single European Market, the Treaty on European Union, the Amsterdam Treaty, the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon. Chapter 3 argues that the EU has a unique institutional structure that is european political science: 2016 (1 – 3) & 2016 European Consortium for Political Research. 1680-4333/16 www.palgrave-journals.com/eps 1 ‘neither a federal state nor a purely intergovernmental cooperative venture’ (69) and illustrates how the EU makes decisions. The chapter elaborates on the Merger Treaty of 1965 that combined the European Coal and Steel Community, the EEC and Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community) (80), and expands on the key EU actors of the ‘institutional triangle’ (69): the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council. In Chapter 4, the author addresses the EU’s adopted policies generally classified into fundamental Single European Market policies, including competition, taxation, energy, transport and environmental policies; the structural policies of the EU, including the agricultural sector and the fishing industry; and, finally, the external relations policies, including the Common Commercial Policy. The fifth chapter evaluates how the EU finances its policies through an analysis of the EU’s general budget which is of crucial ‘political salience’ (150). El-Agraa begins with the economic theory of the state and then provides an insight into the fiscal federalism and its application to the EU. The author addresses the traditional theory of fiscal federalism that assumes that ‘each level of government cares exclusively about the welfare of its constituents’ (153). This is followed by a consideration of the EU budgetary system and its five basic principles derived from the treaties – Annuality, Balance, Unity, Universality and Specification – under which the EU budget operates (156–7). The Economic and Monetary Union, including its existing and planned developments and operation, are evaluated in Chapter 6. In addition, the author addresses the UK’s non-participation in the European Monetary System because of the British propensity for the inflation propensity of the operation of the EMS and a concomitant decline in the UK competitiveness, especially vis-à-vis Germany (205). 2 european political science: 2016 Chapter 7 discusses the significance of the EU as the most prominent example of IEI and its attributes as a single voice in international trade negotiations, including the Single European Market, its influential fiscal policy, and the Stability and Growth Pact (231). Most importantly, the EU Member States have been at peace with one another ever since WWII (232) as, apart from the perceived US and NATO hegemony that propelled Europe towards peace, the European integration seems to have managed to eliminate the factors that lead to a war (233). In addition, the EU promotes democracy and protects human rights (233–4). The author concludes that the EU, along the similar lines with ‘increasingly assertive China and Russia’, plays a vital role in global affairs on behalf of the Member States and the entire European bloc (241). The final chapter discusses the future of the EU and addresses the visions from the founding fathers, who had aimed to end the continent’s ‘history of conflict and bloodshed’ (243). The final chapter is followed by a brief analysis of the 2008 financial crisis in an appendix (260–6). The European Union Illuminated provides an authoritative text on the politicoeconomic aspects of the EU. Moreover, the author pays particular attention to the dilemma of the UK’s membership of the EU (239–41). Nevertheless, since the book was written before the 2015 General Election, naturally it could not address the electoral triumph of the Tories and the rise of the Scottish National Party, the latter of which has important implications for the negotiations between the British government and the EU and the upcoming 2016 Brexit referendum. As the author indicates, the EU can survive without the United Kingdom, but Brexit would threaten the very foundations of the EU (4–5). In addition, El-Agraa touches upon Spain’s grounds to refuse the unilateral 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, which could set a precedent that a politico-economic clarification of the EU triggers the independence of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia and the Basque Country. He then compares the Spain–Kosovo stalemate with the question of independence for Scotland. Whereas those conclusions about Spain appear to be accurate and also applicable to Cyprus that does not justify the comparison nor clarifies the British recognition of Kosovo’s independence, since not only is Scotland’s devolution dissimilar to an autonomous community, but also because, in that case, the British have far more to lose. The independence of Scotland would threaten the very foundations of the United Kingdom, and it has numerous economic and political consequences for the United Kingdom (e.g., devaluing the British Pound, losing oil revenue, the UK’s national debt, alteration of the calculus for the redistribution of the Westminster seats in the rest of the United Kingdom, particularly for the Labour Party, and destabilizing Northern Ireland). On top of that, it would encourage independence movements across Europe. It is also worth noting that the book neglects many other dimensions of the EU, including the way the EU deals with refugees as well as the significance of national identity and nationalist movements towards Euroscepticism. In conclusion, The European Union Illuminated is recommended to those who seek to understand the EU’s history, significance and challenges, particularly from a politico-economic perspective. About the Author Alireza Salehi Nejad is a social scientist and political analyst currently affiliated with Faculty of World Studies at University of Tehran. He is also the founder and executive director of Titan Incorporated. alireza salehi nejad european political science: 2016 3