Books

An important study of the advantages and pitfalls of the EU’s move to greater harmonization.Distribution of resources and opportunity has always been an important factor in European integration. As new and economically weaker join the EU in the future, this will become even more crucial. The reduction of inequalities occupies a prominent place on the European political agenda.This volume examines the cohesion impact of all of the main EU policies. Areas covered include the single market, external trade policy, competition and enterprise policies, research and technological development, the common agricultural policy, transport policy, telecommunications policy, social and employment policy, and structural policies. Two common themes emerge from the investigations. The first is the great complexity in the cause and effect relationships that exist between EU policy interventions and their final impact on the ground in different countries and regions, as well as on social groups. The second is the classical conflict that often exists between competitiveness and cohesion, or between efficiency and equity. This is the first comprehensive and thorough assessment of the cohesion impact of EU policies. It will be invaluable for policy advisers, academics and advanced students.

The book presents the minutes of the Conference on “Globalization and Regionalism: A Double Challenge for Greece” organised by the Hellenic Observatory of the European Institute at the London School of Economics in cooperation with ELIAMEP in March 2001. The aim of the conference was that it would contribute to a better understanding of globalisation and regionalism as they affect all European Union countries and Greece in particular.

The New European Economy Revisited examines the political economy of the European Union and the process of economic integration in Western Europe. It identifies the distinguishing features of this new European economy and the main challenges for the future.

The text contains a full discussion of the enlargement of the EU and its recent incorporation of new nations. It examines aspects of this enlargement in a new chapter on regional and structural issues, with a complete explanation of EU regional policy. In addition, the coverage of monetary union issues is fully revised to include events up to the end of 1996, and provides a considered analysis of the probability of monetary union and its likely timescale. Finally, a new section on EU social policy enables students to receive an introduction to an increasingly important aspect of the EU impact on the lives of its citizens.

It will be essential reading for students of European studies, European economics, or European politics, as well as practitioners and anyone interested in the future of Europe.

The College of Europe in Bruges has a long standing tradition in the organization of important conferences on key questions of the development of European integration. The results of the Conference on ‘Europe and Global Economic interdependence’ introduce a new collection called ‘The Bruges Conferences’.The completion of the European internal market, the transition to an economic and monetary union, the conclusion of new EC-EFTA agreements, the search for a new political and economic order in Central and Eastern Europe and the negotiations of the Uruguay Round are the main issues on the political agenda in the early 1990s.The European Community faces major challenges in an environment which is undergoing rapid transformation. This is certainly true in the fields of trade, finance and money in which Europe’s interests and responsibilities as a regional and global economic power will need to be reconciled. This will require some difficult and occasionally painful decisions.

Many changes have occurred in Europe in the last few years, with more developments arising in light of the unification of the European economic market in 1992. This volume scrutinizes the process of economic integration in Western Europe and its gradual emergence as a new regional entity. Tsoukalis identifies some distinguishing features of this economy as well as the outstanding issues as 1992 approaches. Strongly oriented toward policy, the book contributes to the debate about the nature and future of European economic development, without neglecting the wider political ramifications of the issues.

The political tension which has often characterized relations between the United States and the European members of the Atlantic Alliance in recent years has also been accompanied by considerable friction in the economic sphere. The term ‘uncoupling’ quickly passed from the military to the economic vocabulary, while threats of trade wars and retaliatory action have been all too frequently used by both sides.The purpose of this book is to identify the nature and causes of conflict in different areas of economic activity, and assess the conditions upon which improved relations between the United States and Western Europe may rest. In the introduction, Loukas Tsoukalis traces some common threads between different economic issues in Euro-American relations. Robert Crandall and Tim Josling examine steel and agriculture as representative problem-sectors, while Jacques Pelkmans discusses some wider trade issues in the context of a possible reform of GATT. Paul Demaret deals with the extraterritorial dimension of national laws and policies, especially in the area of anti-trust, taxation and the transfer of technology. Niels Thygesen examines the experience with floating exchange rates and their effect on the autonomy of national monetary policies, while Ronald McKinnon puts forward his proposal for international monetary coordination. In the last chapter, Susan Strange discusses the links between politics, trade and money. Each chapter is followed by a short critical comment section written by leading experts from both sides of the Atlantic.This book tackles some of the most important economic issues in Euro-American relations in the context of global economic interdependence. It is addressed to students of international relations and international economics as well as to policy-makers in national governments and international organizations.

The international monetary system has undergone a major transformation since the early 1970s. The suspension, in 1971, of the convertibility of the USA dollar into gold was followed by the abandonment of fixed exchange rates and the consequent growth in the importance of commercial banks in the creation of international liquidity.This book, which arose from a research project conducted at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, comprises ten chapters written by leading European experts from the academic world, and from banking and international institutions, on different aspects of the world monetary system as it has developed in recent years. They offer both a critical analysis of recent experience and a detailed discussion of likely trends for the future.The various chapters cover the economic recession of the 1970s and 1980s, the influence of monetary theory on policy decisions, the effects of floating exchange rates and balance-of-payments adjustments, the emergence of a multiple currency standard, the changing character of international liquidity and deficit financing, and the relationship between the IMF and the third world. In conclusion Loukas Tsoukalis highlights recent developments in the international monetary system and draws general conclusions about the nature and feasibility of world monetary reform.

The book is intended as a contribution to the growing debate on the international monetary system and its likely evolution. It will be of interest to students and practitioners of international relations and finance.

Published to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Journal of Common Market Studies, this book deals with some of the main political and economic aspects of European integration, and the role of the European Community as an international actor.The introduction by Pieter Dankert, President of the European Parliament, discusses the role of the European Community in the 1980s and is followed by articles on the relationship between the nation-state and the Community by Stanley Hoffman, Joseph Weiler and William Wallace; popular participation by Martin Slater, economic integration by Jacques Pelkmans; the role of the EC in the international division of labour by Gilbert Ziebura; the defence dimension by Hedley Bull; Western economic co-operation by Wolfgang Hager and the relation of Europe with Africa and the Middle East by Miles Kahler.Each article is followed by a short critical comment section written by leading experts in the field, and the book ends with a specially written conclusion by Loukas Tsoukalis.