The Penguin Guide to the European Treaties. From Rome to Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and beyond

Book abstract:

Out of the current Convention on the Future of Europe and the subsequent Intergovernmental Conference may emerge a single European Treaty to replace the multiplicity of existing primary legislation. There seems to be a political will to achieve this in the context of helping European citizens to feel closer to the European Union.

There certainly is a need for this for the current situation is extremely complex. Since the Treaties of Paris and of Rome in the 1950s there have been a succession of further Treaties amending and adding to the provisions of the originals. They key additions have been the Single European Act, the Treaty on European Union (the 'Maastricht' Treaty), and the Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice.

Until a new single Treaty is adopted, there is a clear need for an objective, detailed, and well-written guide to the maze - and this new book by Clive Church and David Phinnemore fulfils this need most successfully. (There was a predecessor title published in 1994 called 'European Union and European Community. A handbook and commentary on the post-Maastricht Treaties', but the new title is more than simply an updated edition).

The aim of this guide is to provide an accessible commentary on the primary legislation (the 'Treaties') of the European Union. It provides a detailed historical overview of the creation and evolution of the major European Treaties from Paris in 1951 to Nice in 2001. The bulk of the book is then taken up with the complete text, with a parallel detailed commentary, of the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Treaty on European Union taking on board the further amendments brought about by the Treaties of Amsterdam and Nice. Further important core texts such as the Single European Act, the Stability and Growth Pact and the Charter of Fundamental Rights are also reproduced, with commentary. Finally, there is further discussion and assessment of issues relating to the Treaties and their future, and a major bibliographic section.

The key benefit of 'The Penguin Guide to the European Treaties' is the readability of the commentary. While it is not a book to read from 'cover to cover' it will prove indispensable when one needs a contextualising assessment, or a straightforward explanation, of any part of the European Treaties.