Book Review: The European Union and Human Rights
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X9600300108 |
| Author | Urfan Khaliq |
| Published date | 01 March 1996 |
| Date | 01 March 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
IBook Reviews
Nanette A. Neuwahl and Allan Rosas (eds), The European Union and
Human Rights, Martinus Nijhoff, 1995, xii +336 pages, hardback,
£92.50, Dfl. 215, US$ 144.
This
book,
the forty second in the prestigious Martinus Nijhoff 'International Studies
in
Human
Rights' series, is the result of a collaboration between the Law Department
at the University
of
Leicester in England and the Institute for Human Rights
of
Abo
Akademi University in
Turku,
Finland. In sixteen wide ranging papers it aims to exam-
ine in a 'forward-looking perspective' the human rights implications
of
the European
Union.
The
topics covered in the book include: ageneral introduction to human rights
and
the
Treaty on European Union, the relationship between community law and nation-
al law, the human rights
of
aliens, the rights of free movement,
worker's
rights
of
participation, access to information, social rights, cultural protection, electoral rights,
property
rights, freedom of expression for commercial actors and the European
Union's
foreign policy and human rights.
When
first consulting this book I noted several things. My first observation and
one
I
am sure many may share, is the price
of
the book. This is
of
course
of
no relevance to
the academic quality
of
the book but it seems a shame that a publisher is pricing
books
out
of
the reach
of
not only many individuals but also some academic libraries who
would be interested in having such a publication amongst their collections.
My second observation about the publication was not only the size of the topic which
it was attempting to address but also the fact that other books with similar titles have
recently been published. A 1991 survey edited by Antonio Cassesse, Andrew
Clapham
and Joseph Weiler, European Union- The Human Rights Challenge, ran to approximate-
ly three times the length
of
this publication and was still not, in some respects, compre-
hensive. 2In 1995 Butterworths also published a book by Andrew Geddes entitled
Protection
of
Individual Rights Under EC Law. In addition one only has to consult the
relevant academic journals or indeed the select bibliography at the end of the
book
to
realize not only the amount
of
attention the topic has attracted and is still continuing to
attract but also the different areas which need to be addressed.
Certainly the title suggests no limitation on the study of the topic, so the questions
which need to be addressed are, how can the editors of this collection attempt to be
comprehensive in their coverage and take a new approach? To deal with the latter
question first, the book certainly takes a different approach from the aforementioned two
books. The Cassesse, Clapham and Weiler project really does have a different aim, with
volumes dedicated to a critical overview of the law, methods of protection and the
substantive law respectively. Despite its title, the book by Geddes is really aimed at
2. Antunio Cassesse,Andrew
Clapham
and Joseph Weiler (cds.),
European
Union
-The Human Rights
Challenge,
(Baden Badcn. 1991) 3 volumes.
MJ 3 (1996) 97
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