Europsko prometno pravo [= European transport law] (authors: N.Radionov, et al.) (Zagreb, 2011.) : [book review]

prikaz knjigeThe book represents the first Croatian publication dealing with European transport law in a synthetic, clear and systematic manner. It deals with a large body of acquis communautaire and EU policy in relation to transport, covering their development from the early days of the European integration until today. This book provides a succinct account of over 300 legislative acts of EU transport law, more than 100 decisions of the European Court of Justice and the national courts of the EU Member States, and around 70 EU strategy papers. As such, it is a rare example in the existing literature. The book is a result of several years of research by seven authors in the field of EU transport law and policy, but also in the field of competition law, the protection of environment and consumer protection in relation to particular modes of transport. Over the past few years, the EU has initiated a creation of the so-called Transport Community with the aim of fostering the system of transport which has an important role in the development of a single European market. The Transport Community would include Croatia and the other states of the southeastern Europe (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania). Concurrently, negotiations are taking place with the other neighbouring and Mediterranean countries with the aim of expanding the main Transeuropean axes. The creation of the Transport Community would effectively mean an expansion of the internal EU market to the territory of the southeastern European states, and the direct application of the entire body of EU transport law in those states, prior to and regardless of their membership in the EU. Considering that Croatia is in the fi nal stage of joining the EU and that the potential creation of the Transport Community is approaching, it is fair to state that this book has been published at the time when it is most topical, not only for the Croatian public, but also for the public of other countries in the region. The mentioned processes of the European integration inevitably require the knowledge of, the compliance with and the implementation of a large body of EU transport law. Fast adaptation to the new competitive environment shall be crucial for the survival of the domestic transport industries of respective countries, including Croatia in particular. In that respect, this book is actually an excellent literature for every reader who needs to get rather quickly acquainted to and substantially informed of a particular question or area of EU transport law. However, it is important to keep in mind that the intention of this book is not to provide for a complete analysis of the entire positive EU transport law at any moment in time. In fact, it would be an impossible mission, considering the extent and the dynamics of this area of EU law. This book provides an explanation of the context in which EU transport law has evolved, of the phases of such development, of the problems that arose during such development and of the reasons for its present contents and role. Therefore, this book may be a useful manual for understanding this complicated and demanding area of EU law, also providing substantial guidelines for finding answers to concrete questions about the positive EU legal order in the field of transport. It is important to note that, since it is intended to target the public of all the countries in the region, the book is limited to the analysis of EU transport law without any reference to Croatian transport law and to the problems of its harmonization with the acquis communautaire in the field of transport. This book is divided into two main parts – general and special. The general part consists of one heading dealing with the development, role and nature of EU transport law and policy in the context of the EU treaties. The special part consists of six headings providing a review of the existing EU transport law relating to different fields of transport. The following are the titles and authors of the respective headings: I. Transport law and policy in the European Union (Prof. Tamara Ćapeta, Ph.D.) II. Railway transport (Prof. Nikoleta Radionov, Ph.D.) III. Road transport (Ana Kumpan, Ph.D.) IV. Inland waterways transport (Prof. Jasenko Marin, Ph.D.) V. Horizontal rules of the law of the European Union in the mainland transport (Nikola Popović, LL.M.) VI. Marine transport (Božena Bulum, Ph.D.) VII. Air transport (Iva Savić, LL.M.) Considering that EU transport law takes about 10% of the entire acquis communautaire, consisting of a large amount of legislation, documents and case law that has developed over the past 60 years, it may safely be stated that the authors have successfully completed a very ambitious task of explaining this complicated and demanding area of law. Some of the topics that have been systematically covered for the first time in the Croatian literature are: special nature of the transport rules contained in the EU treaties, the slow and complicated development of the common European transport policy over the decades, modern legal order relating to all fields of transport, the liberalisation of market, competition, state aids, the protection of environment, consumer protection, and other. The book shall be interesting and useful to any participant in the dynamic and complicated market of transport services, as well as to students, scientists, researchers, professionals and government experts engaged in the fi eld of EU law and policy and transport law