Economic-union Books

The Emerging European Union provides an excellent overview of the various branches that make up the Union and how they came into existence. This is the standard textbook for studying the European Union so it covers the basic without going into exhaustive detail. It provides an excellent bibliography at the conclusion of each chapter for further reading. The book takes the reader through the history then into the various branches of government followed by specific topics. These topics range from how the EU responds to environmental concerns, trade negotiations and common foreign policy and security goals. Overall it is well written and an excellent start for anyone who wishes to learn more about the EU.

Emission Trading for Climate Policy is an essential book for any private marketeer or policy analyist looking to the future of the American economy. The context of emissions trading policy will be of growing importance within the United States over he next decade. This book enables the reader to understand the different American and European perspectives in both the historic and contemporary context of the Framework for Climate Change Policy and the Kyoto Protocol. It is important for those involved in energy, technology, and environmental policy to read this book if we are to grow the economy at the same time to seek to mitigate the rapid human damage to the global commons.

Quality of Working Life (QWL) programs are now being instituted in workplaces across the United States and Canada. Increasingly popular with management, these programs promise more meaningful work and pleasanter workplaces in exchange for greater productivity from the workers. But while QWL may be good for the company, is it good for the worker?

This is the question that Don Wells, a comitted trade unionist and writer, addresses in this book. The core of the book is two detailed case studies of QWL programs that were instituted in two very different plants - one in auto, the other in electronics. Wells gives a day-by-day account of the introduction of these programs, taking the reader with him into committee meetings and onto the shop floor. He argues that by getting workers to adjust to their own subordination, QWL undermines worker solidarity and threatens the very basis of trade unionism. Wells concludes with a chapter that discusses how trade unionists can develop strategies that will counteract QWL's potentially destructive impact.
--- from book's back cover

There are a lot of books and journals out there that talk about the EU, but few that provide an overall look at the EU. This book does that. Heavy on the theory and practical workings of the EU while light on the structural jargon, it provides an excellent, in depth look at the EU. Recommended for students just beginning in their studies of the EU or others who would like a compact reference, this book is an excellent find.

We want to make poverty history. Seeing the President of the
European Union (EU) at the recent G8 summit gave perhaps the impression
that he was a new head of State. Perhaps it should have been called G9. It
was precisely against the formation of a new superstate called the EU, that French and Dutch workers and trade unions led the successful campaigns in their countries against the proposed EU Constitution.
Countries in the EU have collaborated to plunder not just Africa,
but others in eastern Europe and the remaining organised and skilled
workers of western Europe. The gap between the rich and poor at home
has never been greater. The EU widens it.
We want peace, yet since the vicious war on Yugoslavia, we have
seen the EU fostering ethnic divisions and supporting invasions, economic
and military of previously sovereign nations.
We want industry and science, yet we have seen the EU wreck
manufacturing based economies.
We want thriving public services, yet in the decline of the wealth
creating base of industry, we have seen the EU run down and privatise
utilities and industries needed by us all.
We want democracy, yet we have seen the highly centralised EU
bureaucracy take power further and further away from the workplace and
neighbourhood.
We want investment in British industries, transport, public
services, technology and agriculture. Yet we pay £3.5 billion a year into
the EU which ends up subsidising and getting lost in widespread fraud and
corruption. Trade Unions would be penalised if their annual accounts were
suspect. The EU auditors have refused to sign off its accounts for the last 10 years so flagrant is the corruption.
We want to elect leaders who we can influence, yet we have been
ruled under the EU by the unelected and unaccountable.
We want socialism, a planned economic system with human beings
at the centre of policy. Yet we have seen the EU promote the hidden hand of the market, its main aim being the free movement of capital and labour.
We want state control and social values and laws aligned to our
aspirations for growth, social solidarity and secular respect. Yet we have seen the EU introduce totalitarian laws under the guise of liberal sentiments.
We want cheaper food, yet the EU arrangements guarantee every family in Britain pays massively over the odds for their basic food requirements.
We want decent pensions and long retirements. The EU's hostility
to our pensions system and its directions to end final salary schemes have caused the biggest pensions crisis in our history.
We clearly as a trade union movement have not wanted the euro,
nor the EU Constitution, yet we have remained tolerant or ignorant of
everything else the Euro federalists have thrown at us.
The Tory Prime Minister Ted Heath lied to the nation when he
took us into the European Economic Community. Harold Wilson lied
to keep us in it at the time of the referendum thirty years ago. Margaret
Thatcher lied to get Parliament to sign the Single European Act which
drastically reduced the power of an elected British government. John Major
lied to sign us up to the Amsterdam Treaty. Tony Blair lied to us to sign the European Constitution, Gordon Brown lied to us when he ratified the Lisbon Treaty/EU Constitution behind our backs.
We have written this book to expose the lies and assert what we
as a trade union movement want. Practically every motion passed at the
TUC each year would lead us in campaign against the EU if we were really
serious about implementing them. We try to show how the EU root and
branch, tooth and claw is not in our interests. We seek to provide the facts that lead inescapably to the conclusion that the EU is bad for workers, and therefore bad for Britain. It is time to leave this employers' institution and there are more opportunities for growth and development and trade union advance outside than inside the EU.
With the recent French, Dutch and now Irish NO votes to the Constitution
the tide is turning against the employers' vision of Europe which has been
the EU. We believe that British workers have an important role to play
in accelerating the process of reclaiming our nation. This is an important
internationalist role in an increasingly dangerous world. The EU represents heavily armed globalisation on our doorstep. It represents low growth and high unemployment. It offers no model for British workers.

My understanding about the European Economic Community (the precursor to today's European Union) was immeasurably increased with my reading of this book. A valuable tool for understanding what is the European community.

Any seeking a short history of the European monetary system and how it's being integrated today must have Madeleine O. Hosli's The Euro: A Concise Introduction To European Monetary Integration in their collection: it analyzes the history and origins of the Euro system, how it works, and key issues surrounding debates and implications of its enactment. From exchange rates to fiscal stability, it covers all related topics.

For some time now there has been a sea of confusion vis-a-vis the U.S. and European nations as to what is meant by cultural diversity. Discussions with trainers, a reading of the literature, and listening to different perspectives have amply demonstrated that the term cultural diversity has different meanings and different applications in the U.S. and also betwixt and between the variety of European nations. Our views of each other's definitions and treatments reflect a keen lack of accurate knowledge and understanding about one and other. And, while it is true that there have been a great number of books of varying degrees of quality written about diversity in the United States, little to nothing has appeared about European diversity.

Now, George Simons and his authors have brought a great deal of sense to the dilemmas of diversity and have made a successful attempt to clarify the air, explain the differences, and to provide positive comparative insights. This book is a first step but it is a very important step in awakening us to some of the fundamental issues of EuroDiversity . Additionally, he and the other authors place diversity in a broader scope.

In the Prologue Simons says:

Diversity is about globalization, organizational learning, and the
growing importance of knowledge management just as much as it is
about recruitment, equal opportunity, workforce demographics, and
social integration. It concerns the information technology that is almost

daily revolutionizing communication. It affects interactive networking and
transport. It is perhaps the critical issue in many mergers and acquisitions
- and often the least attended to. It is at the root of how organizations
transform themselves.

With this broad, and I believe perceptive, vision of diversity, Simons and his other authors have provided us with ten chapters that introduce some of the fundamentals of the diversity picture in Europe. Simons in the first chapter aptly entitled Patchwork: The Diversities of Europeans and Their Business Impact paints a picture of how diversity and diversity management in Europe focuses on their own objectives, philosophy, tools, and methodologies and how these may differ from the U.S. and other models.

The data in the next three chapters (The Legacy of the Past: How National and Regional Differences Continue to Effect Trade, Cooperation, Politics, and Relationships; Current Cultural Crises, Fears, Fantasies, and Foreseeable Futures; and Managing Diversity to Create Marketable Value Added from Difference ) represents the structure and responses from a questionnaire that was submitted to a select group of managers and professionals throughout Europe. The survey aimed at identifying the principle challenges that diversity faces in Europe, to recognize how these challenges affect business and organizations in Europe, and to help them report the best practices that have been developed in response to these challenges.

As we are learning in the United States, diversity impacts all aspects of corporate activities and in the next chapter, Europe Online: The "New" Economy and Virtual Collaboration from a Cultural Perspective, the impact and influence of technology has significant meaning for diversity concerns. Here the book looks at the future of European diversity in a wired world. It examines the changing nature of commerce, organizational learning, and expatriation and provides insight into some of the leading efforts and technologies.

More often than not diversity issues in the U.S. have focused on avoiding litigation, human resources development, and in more recent years enhancing the bottom line. Chapter six, Corporate Best Practice: What Some European Organizations Are Doing Well to Manage Culture and Diversity, offers us a much more inclusive picture as it presents an overall view of how diversity is thought of, acted upon and managed in some European countries. It also, very importantly, depicts the missing links in the corporate response to being and working in a diverse environment.

Getting to the nitty-gritty in chapter seven, The Cross-Cultural Transfer of Best Practices: Learning from European and American Experiences of Knowledge Management, the author looks at diversity from a different perspective from the historical role(s) it has had in the U.S. Here, we find an examination of knowledge management aspects of three European based global organizations which pays particular attention to how these companies look at the complex cross-cultural challenge of transferring knowledge, experience and values throughout their organizations worldwide. This chapter has particular value for American diversity professionals.

The succeeding chapter Sustainable Entrepreneurship in a Changing Europe: Pedagogy of Ethics for Corporate Organizations in Transformation, brings up the issue of "corporate citizenship" and social responsibility within our globalization efforts. These become essential ingredients of a framework for diversity in Europe, and hopefully elsewhere.

The penultimate chapter, Equal Opportunity for Women and Men in the European Union: The Case of E-Quality in Belgium, deals with gender relations in the European workplace and offers us a valuable case study.

Chapter ten, Who is the European? Prognosis and Recommendations, brings the whole book together. It looks at the difficult question of identity as an agenda for determining the both the social and the economic future of Europe and of the diversity initiatives that the present and future will require.

The book is indexed, has excellent chapter references, an extensive bibliography including Internet resources, and five appendices: Declaration on Cultural Diversity; Commission of the European Communities; Declaration on a European Policy for New Information Technologies; Survey of Diversity Challenges in the E.U. Region; and Benchmarking Initiative.

The book offers the American reader (and I dare say, many European readers) keen insights into the complexity of diversity issues in the E.U. It also offers all diversity professionals some major considerations in regard to the wired world and knowledge management in facing diversity issues. This is a first rate thought provoking work! It is a basic primer and should be required reading in national and international and global organizations!

This is a very well researched book that relies on complex theoretical framework to explain the breakup of Yugoslavia. Lucarelli's argument is persuasive. The only weakness of her work is over-reliance on the theory since a historical narrative could have provided equally valid explanation. However, this is a valuable scholarly work.

The European social support system of unemployment, medical care, retirement benefits and more seems to be something that it growing in interest in the United States. As such this book is quite interesting as it looks at where the 'European System' seems to be going in the future.

Prime Minister Tony Blair made a speech in June 2005 where he praised the 'European social model' for what it has done, yet he then asked rhetorically, 'What kind of social model is it that leaves almost 20 million people in the EU unemployed.'

From this base the author discusses reforming the social model in Europe especially in view of the rapid changes that are taking place in terms of globalization, rapidly increasing cultural diversity and changing demography.

In some cases he compares the European model with the American model where he finds the Americans with much lower unemployment, having higher satisfaction with life while not having the social safety net of the Europeans.

If you add fundamental changes to the social structure of the world to the changes coming from running out of oil and global warming, along with what looks permanent and growing friction between the Muslim and Christian worlds, it looks like an interesting future.