L'Union européenne et la gouvernance

The European Union (EU) is one of the most important sites of governance. For fifty years the EC/EU has been embarked on a major project of regional economic and political integration. Its specific characteristics distinguish it from nation-states, international organisations and other sites of governance. An important aspect of the EU divided-power system is the distribution of competencies and powers between the EU/EC and the Member States. So far, however, this distribution has not been very clearly defined, at least in legal terms. Substantial questions remain about the extent to which the EU/EC is competent to act and what powers it may use. These questions concern the internal market and other aspects of intra-EU/EC policy as well as external relations.

These crucial issues about governance and regulation, powers and competence and relations between the EU and its partners form the subject of this book. The first part of the book concerns governance and regulation. It examines recent developments in European company law, the social aspects of public procurement law as part of the European economic constitution, harmonisation of direct taxes, the effectiveness of EC legislation on combating trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children, the retroactivity of Community law in the new Member States, and the regulation of the Internet. The second part of the book concerns the issues of powers and competence. It discusses the principle of horizontal coherence with regard to EU external relations, the EC's competence in relation to the proposed Hague Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters and the concept of sovereignty as applied to the European Community and its Member States. The third part of the book focuses on relations between the EU and its partners in the world political and economic system. It concerns reforms of the CFSP, the Community's new policy of economic, financial and technical cooperation, the development of a common European regime for asylum and the EU human rights system in its international context.

This bilingual volume comprises the revised versions of papers first presented at the First International Workshop for Young Scholars (Wish) / Première Rencontre Internationale des Jeunes Chercheurs (RIJC). The first Wish/RIJC was held in Aix-en-Provence on 20 and 21 September 2002 on the theme 'European Legal Studies in the 21st Century' / 'Etudes juridiques européennes au 21 ème siècle'. It was organised by the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales et Communautaires (CERIC - CNRS-UMR 6108) of the Faculté de Droit et de Science Politique of the Université d'Aix-Marseille III together with the European Law Journal. One of the first of its kind in Europe, the Workshop brought together the most promising young scholars in the field of European Union law from universities of the EU Member States, countries that are currently candidates for EU membership, and other countries such as China or United States. Its objective was to identify and discuss themes which are likely to be the most significant topics of research in the field of European Union law in the first half of the 21 st century. This book thus is one of the fruits of the first Wish/RIJC.

The Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales et Communautaires (CERIC), based at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the University of Aix-Marseille III, is a multidisciplinary research centre composed of lawyers, economists and specialists in international relations. The CERIC is associated with the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS - UMR 6108).