AVENIR FEDERALISTE

Après un long cheminement sur la voie du fédéralisme, j'ai eu l'intention de rédiger un ouvrage qui, tout en s'inspirant de mes travaux antérieurs et de mes enseignements, analyse l'état de l'Union européenne et s'ouvre sur l'avenir de l'Europe. D'où le titre L'Avenir fédéraliste de l'Europe. Publié dans la collection de l'Institut européen de l'Université de Genève par les Presses universitaires de France en 1992, il a été réédité en 1993. À chaque nouvelle traduction, il a connu des mises à jour et des augmentations jusqu'à compter 462 pages dans la version anglaise The Federal Future of Europe publié en 2000. L'ouvrage que je croyais être la somme de mes recherches et expériences est devenu à son tour le début d'une nouvelle série d'études rédigées pour Notre Europe en 2001 et publiées dans six langues.

Ernst B. Haas, Robson Research Professor Emeritus of Government, University of California, Berkeley.

"Dusan Sidjanski's The Federal Future of Europe is remarkable for two reasons. It offers a comprehensive but eminently readable summary and analysis of the institutions of the European Union and of its main policies. This is no mean feat, considering the complexity and sweep of both. But in addition, the discussion is placed in the context of an unwavering commitment to federalism and to a federal future for Europe. Even if we do not agree with the desirability or certainty of that outcome, it is vital that this vision remain on everyone's agenda along with other possible options, and that it be intelligently defended. Sidjanski succeeds brilliantly in so doing."

Paul Taylor, Professor of International Relations,London School of Economics.

"This is an important contribution to the discussion about the future of Europe in the early twenty first century from one of the great men of the subject. But it is also a masterly account of the development of the European Union since its earliest years to the present. It is written from a Federalist perspective, but this is no polemic. Rather the argument is nuanced, and rich in detail and insight, and is a fitting antidote to doctrinaire Euroscepticism. I can strongly recommend it to all those who want to know about the Union, its origins, character and future."

Professor Jean Louis Quermonne, Institut d'études politiques, Paris et Grenoble. Honorary president of the French Association of Political Science.

"Having been one of the first to consider European integration as an object of political science (Dimensions européennes de la science politique, Paris, LGDJ 1963), a short time after the signing of the Maastricht treaty, Dusan Sidjanski published: "L'Avenir fédéraliste de l'Europe" (Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1992) which constitutes the first synthesis of the European political union. The legitimate success of the book including the more recent developments in European construction called for an English translation. But more than an update, "The Federal Future of Europe" is both a major work and an essay, combining the history of the process of European federalization and the institutional and political diagnostic, as well as an evaluation of the present state of the euro-building. This study is enriched by an analysis of the impact on the economic and social forces, which make up civil society. Under the heading "Toward a New European Federal Model" (p.411), the author has the merit of underling the singularity of the process in relation to the Confederation of States and the traditional Federal State. He outlines the formation of a specific model, inspired by the federal method proper to certain member States. This method borrows a certain number of traits from cooperative federalism, but aims above all to operate the synthesis between two sources of legitimacy: those of the member States and those of citizens considered individually, susceptible of forming a united Europe in line with the wishes of Jacques Delors: A federation of nation States. In every respect, the English version of the work has come at the right time and we wish it the same success as the French, not only beyond the Channel, but also beyond the Atlantic!"

Stanley Hoffmann, emeritus professor and former director of the Center for European Studies, Harvard University.

"The Federal Future of Europe: From the European Community to the European Union. By Dusan Sidjanski. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000, 462 p. $ 65.00. Federalism and European Union: The Building of Europe, 1950-2000. By Michael Burgess. New York: Routledge, 2000, 290 pp. $ 90.00 (paper, $ 29.99).
The European Union's disappointing summit last December underlined how much European integration is caught in conflicting drives and aspirations. The EU's functional scope is broader than ever, thanks to monetary union and the new move toward a rapid reaction force. Its planned enlargement will extend its reach to the whole continent. But its system of governance is too Byzantine to function well, too obscure to be understood by its citizens, and too paralyzed by antagonisms. Neither the potential new members nor the United Kingdom seem willing to move toward a more federal structure. The tensions between the smaller and the larger states are acute, and the Franco-German "axis" is cracked.
In these two works, Sidjanski and Burgess focus on the debate between "federalists" and "intergovernmentalists" that has raged for decades. Burgess concerns himself with theories of European integration, trying to measure how far federalism has been achieved. But his conclusion - that the EU has both confederal and federal elements, and these two schemes actually share many common features - is a somewhat disappointing cop-out. (These elements in fact tend to lead in different directions, as the United States found out in its early years.) Sidjanski, in contrast, provides an eminently clear account of the EU's origins and development, arguing that federalism is both Europe's future and the best way to contain excessive nationalism. He devotes much space to the Balkan tragedies, which Burgess barely mentions, but his focus leads him into a different kind of trap. He analyzes the EU's evolution as a troubled yet necessary march toward federalism but fails to ask what it would take to build a European public space - and whether there can be a European federation without a European "people". He seems torn between his faith and his awareness of the obstacles to federation."

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Notes on Recent Books, March/April 2001, p. 178 and 179.

Michel Theis, Agence Europe, Bibliothèque Européenne 30^th April and May 1^st 2001, N^o 7955/457

Dusan Sidjanski: The Federal Future of Europe, From the European Community to the European Union. The University of Michigan Press

(Internet: http://www.press.umich.edu), 2000, 462p. ISBN 0-472-11075-6

"This incontestable literary classic, dedicated to European integration, and, more particularly, to contemporary federalist reflection was published in French in 1992. It has taken over eight years publication of the English version. May English readers know that they will not be disappointed. Firstly, because the analysis of Dusan Sidjanski, founder in 1969 of the political science department at the University of Geneva, where he is presently professor Emeritus, remains of a rare academic quality and will allow the Anglo-Saxon reader to establish the bridges between federalism and the neo-functionalist approach, with which, as Jacques Delors pointed out, he is fully familiar. It is thus that this translation fills a void, though it is true that, in the past, Anglo-Saxon readers had the tendency of largely ignoring the federalist concept. Secondly, because the author, a Swiss citizen, born in Yugoslavia is not only a scrupulous academic, but also, a critical militant but passionate federalist, whose latest work has been enriched with three new chapters covering the end of the last century."

Comment by José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of PSD, Portugal (Main opposition party). Former Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"The Federal Future of Europe is a major study that provides a profound analysis of the European Union and its evolution. This English version comes at a particular moment, when Europe is preparing for enlargement and at the aftermath of the Nice Summit, where member states are engaging in a formal and authoritative debate about the future of Europe. Presently, there is a wide agreement that the present institutions can not work in an E.U. of 27 states, but opinions diverge on the model that best suits the European Union.
Dusan Sidjanski, a leading European scholar, has argued for a long time in a consistent way that federalism is the future of Europe. Today this vision is gaining consistency and valid support. Recently Mr. Schroeder expressed some of the SPD views regarding the future shape of European institutions, which are largely supported by the German Christian Democrats. They argue for a Federal European Union inspired in the German model. Others, like in the United Kingdom, do not share the same perspective and tend to prefer a more‚ loose‚ idea of Europe based in an enlarged Common Market focused on free trade.
In the European‚at the People Party, the biggest political family represented in the European Parliament (to which my party, PSD belongs to), we are seriously engaged in shaping a better and stronger Europe for all its citizens, putting people at the centre of the Union. My party believes in the future of Europe and we are proud of the contribuition we gave in the Portuguese government from 1985 to 1995, to the European project.
Europe is a new form of political organisation
It won‚to be a federation in the conventional sense, but it might be a new form of federal system, of which economic and monetary union is the precursor. This unique form of political organisation may follow the objectives of federalism and the community method.
The debate, about the future of Europe, will dominate European politics for the following years. In my opinion, this new debate should engage, not only, a small group of so called experts, but also all representatives of our societies, including all European citizens that wish to participate. For this reason the content of this book provides a stimulating exercise. I congratulate Prof. Sidjanski for his great contribution.Europe can only be built with the participation of men and women that point out the core issues and pave the way for future debates before they can be solved at a political level."

Prof. Marc Maresceau, President ECSA.

"Prof. Sidjanski's The Federal Future of Europe: From the European Community to the European Union comes at a very timely moment. The EU is lacking a vision for its own future and the best proof of this is the ambiguous results of the Nice Treaty. Seen in this context Prof. Sidjanski's analysis constitutes a major contribution to an in-depth reflection on the EU's future. Indeed, one of the interesting features of the book is that it combines in a very intelligent way the evolution of the institutional structures of the EU and the decision-making process with the federalist approach. For the author the future of the EU goes in parallel with the future of federalism. The future of the latter "lies in the microchip, programmed into the proliferation of horizontal networks, transforming the notion and use of power, and reversing the traditional pyramid". No doubt, the greatest danger for the EU is the re-emergence in Europe of nationalism in its various forms and modalities and, for the author, only federalism can provide an adequate answer to these challenges. The ongoing enlargement process can only really be successful if it is seen in this context. Sidjanski's book is clearly compulsory reading for anyone concerned about and committed to tomorrow's Europe."