Contenu du sommaire : L'administration et la construction européenne

EEC Law and the French Government. The extension of EEC authority and norms confronts the French Government with a new situation. It is becoming increasingly involved in shaping the new norms, and having to revamp its administrative procedures for maximum impact upstream in the EEC decision-making processes. More French experts are spending more time in Brussels. Domestic application of EEC law présupposés substantial commitments to publication and transposition into domestic legal terms - France is ail too frequently faulted for applying EEC law incompletely or not at ail. The French Government should learn to adopt an EEC frame of mind when formulating national policy in future.

Member Governments and the EEC. This article covers the committees and teams of government experts that interface at ail levels of the EEC and member governments to assist the Council and Commission. It also describes the civil servant exchange program between the Commission and member governments that was started in 1977.

Application of EEC Directives by Member Governments. This article describes a systematic comparative study of how EEC legislation has been applied by member governments, and shows that the considerable inconsistencies of application resuit from the same obstacles and bureaucratie resistance facing national legislation. The study begins by mapping government administrative areas of responsibility and stresses the need for adequate administrative resources to implement EEC law. It then distinguishes between pragmatic and legislative government administrations, and between private interest groups whose relationships with governments are based on either conflict or consensus.

Local Authorities and the EEC. Local authorities have become fully subject to EEC law. This article explains their new obligations, including tendering procedure, hiring policy and economie intervention, as well as new legal and Financial rights. It further examines the complexity of EEC/local authority relations, since EEC law ambivalently provides for interventionist means to attain non-interventionist ends, and covers the resulting conflicts arising in certain member countries between national govemment and local authorities over respective areas of responsibility : to date ail have been settled in favor of central government. It also shows how local authorities have become a key issue in shaping the European Community since both the EEC and member governments seem reluctant to facing up to powerful, independent authorities by 1993.

National Public Administrations and Article 48 (4) EEC Treaty. Nationals of one Community member State have access to ail jobs in every other, except those in the “public administration” : Article 48 (4) EEC Treaty. Community case-law defines this exception narrowly : it only covers jobs involving exercise of public authority and protection of essential national interests. The Commission of the European Communities therefore considers that among the public sector jobs open to ail Community nationals are : teaching in State schools, most jobs in public hospitals and jobs in public commercial organisations. The article examines the case-law, explains the Commission's view and deals with some unjustified fears which have been aroused in the Member States.

EEC Law and Civil Servant Training. Almost no EEC law is taught in French civil service initial training at présent. Indeed, there are very few legal experts in EEC affairs. The Single European Act will lead to increased demand in this field, requiring more training in EEC law, basic and advanced. This article examines how a spécial school of EEC law might meet such demand. It also makes recommendations for the legal affairs departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SGCI, the French coordinating body for EEC affairs.

1988 : Government Contracting Year. The EEC Commission declared government contracting a priority issue for 1988. Its motives were the alarming cost of ‘Non-Europe' cited in one survey, and the symbolic value of government procurement as an indicator of the common will to make a success of 1992. This article covers the three types of directives being drafted. The former Capital Schemes and General Supplies Directive involves a straightfor-ward rewrite of the General Supplies text and a true overhaul for ‘Special Capital Schemes'. The second type of directives cover new domaines (water, energy, public transport and telecommunications) with vast economie interests at stake. Under-standably, the Commission is busy building Europe with one eye on the USA and the other on Japan. Lastly, the Recourse Directive opens a Pandora's box due do the sensitivity of member governments about national sovereignty and to fundamental differences in existing national legal Systems.

Regulated Professions and the 1992 Challenge. A proper understanding of the legal and economie framework for the Single European Market should dissipate any fears of over-aggressive competition. In fact, the Single Market will mostly affect those professions already having international operations. However, the service sector will expand considerably to the detriment of any nation caught unprepared. Furthermore, the French professions suffer from certain serious and specifie handicaps. This article argues that the Single Market offers unique opportunities given the momentum for greater mobility in the service sector that results from the Single European Act. Member States and national professional bodies should take the lead without awaiting some hypothetical consensus to materialize.

Member Chambers of Commerce and The Single European Act. Through ‘Eurochamber', chambers of commerce throughout EEC Member States were among the earliest supporters of the Single European Market. This article reviews the major training programs and information campaigns involved. It describes the leading role played by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 1987 in founding the Mission Europe 1992 think tank, an information and advisory service, and the large-scale information campaign launched nationwide by the CCI Permanent Assembly. It also describes the recently established europewide business information service.