Ton Heukels – författare

''Will the European Union meet the challenges of the 21st Century?'' This was the question considered by participants in a conference held on 6 and 7 November 1997 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Europa Institute of Leiden University. The congress resulted in a remarkable array of contributions, collected in this book. Together they not only reflect the significance; the positive outcome, the deceptions and the unfulfilled expectations; of the Treaty of Amsterdam, but they also constitute a stocktaking of the European Union as a whole.

The contributions of the seventeen authors in this volume differ in their approach to the current State of the Union. Some contributions are highly political, as one might expect from a former President of the European Parliament (P. Dankert) or from a former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Lord Howe). Some are more descriptive in nature, some focus on the legal context of the negotiated texts, and several articles analyze central concepts of the European Union of the 21st Century.

The publication of this volume demonstrates the intricate legal significance of the process of European integration, and it is hoped it will contribute to the better understanding and further development of the European Union.

Since its establishment, the Community legal order has dealt effectively with the need to make compensation to individuals who suffer wrongful acts. The relevant provisions have been gradually elaborated and refined over the years, particularly in the case law of the Court of Justice.

The present book contains papers by some of the most distinguished academics, practitioners and members of the judiciary, who deal with the various aspects of this legal remedy. It provides a comprehensive collection of essays, with topics ranging from the substantive conditions under which non-contractual liability of the Community arises for different kinds of legal acts, to questions of interest in damages and the Community''s contractual liability.

Several of the contributions examine important recent developments in Member States'' liability for breach of Community law, both before the Court of Justice and in national courts.

Practitioners will appreciate the extensive treatment of the Court''s case law, in the context of the broader themes and relationships between Community law, national law and international law.