De Búrca, Gráinne 1966-

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DE BÚRCA, Gráinne 1966-

PERSONAL: Born 1966. Education: Attended University College, Dublin, and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

ADDRESSES: Office—European University Institute, Department of Law, Villa Schifanoia-Via Boccaccio, 121 Florence, Italy. E-mail—grainne.deburca@iue.it.

CAREER: Lawyer and author. Law Reform Commission, research assistant, beginning 1988; Somerville College, Oxford, Oxford, England, lecturer in law, beginning 1989, fellow, beginning 1990; European University Institute, professor of European law; Columbia Law School, visiting professor.

WRITINGS:

(With Paul Craig) EC Law: Text, Cases, and Materials, Clarendon Press (Oxford, England), 1995, 3rd edition published as EU Law: Text, Cases, and Materials, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2002.

(Editor, with Paul Craig) The Evolution of EU Law, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1999.

(Editor, with J. H. H. Weiler) The European Court of Justice, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor, with Joanne Scott) Constitutional Change in the EU: From Uniformity to Flexibility? Hart Publishers (Oxford, England), 2000.

The Constitutional Limits of EU Action (Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law), Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: A lawyer, academic, and writer, Gráinne De Búrca has developed a notable expertise in the field of international law, particularly as it relates to the European Community (EC). With Paul Craig, she published EC Law: Text, Cases, and Materials in 1995, as a textbook for undergraduates in need of a one-volume treatment of this complex subject. European Law Review contributor Sarah Mercer commended it "as an excellent and innovative book. The incorporation of cases and materials with a substantial and argued text has resulted in a work that should enthuse students and teachers of EC law alike and make the reading of so lengthy and substantial a textbook a pleasure." In addition to covering the basics of EC law, the authors explored the tensions between the Court of Justice and the European Commission, and the Court of Justice and national courts. They also explore other relevant factors, such as the economics of competition law and the U.S. position on antitrust regulation. "This is a massive book," wrote Malcolm Jarvis in the Modern Law Review. "Its size, scope and depth combine to ensure that it immediately takes its place amongst the leading one-volume works on European Community law."

De Búrca and Craig followed up a few years later with a second edition, retitled EU Law: Text, Cases, and Materials "partly because the EC is in fact contained within the EU [European Union], but more specifically because . . . it is becoming increasing difficult and unhelpful . . . to assert such a clear distinction between the law of the Community and the law of the Union more generally," in the words of the authors. As such, and because of certain developments since EC Law was published, this is a substantially revised edition, and in fact somewhat smaller than the previous edition. "This has been achieved by a judicious slimming down of the text throughout and has allowed, in particular, sufficient space for a new section on the Treaty of Amsterdam . . . treatment of state liability . . . and for a new chapter on Capital and Economic and Monetary union. Generally, therefore, revision of the text has been successful," wrote Peter Kunzlik in the Cambridge Law Journal. "The authors explore the meaning of EU concepts at a depth few others have attempted, and are always conscious of the different linguistic formulations that can be applied," concluded a New Law Journal reviewer. A third edition was published in 2003.

The contributors in The Evolution of European Union Law, edited by De Búrca and Craig, cover cases and institutions, but move beyond them to explore profound theoretical issues involved in EU law. The book "poses more questions than it has answers for, but the answers it suggests are crucial, seminal and riveting to anyone interested in why a nation or a corporate body has a constitution," wrote Contemporary Review contributor Michael L. Nash. The questions concern the proper mix of national and international sovereignty, the proper weight to give ethnic minorities, and the fundamental legitimacy of the whole system. The book "both provides an invaluable source of detailed information concerning EU law and institutions, while at the same time making a major contribution to current theoretical debates," concluded Lisa Busch in the International and Comparative Law Quarterly.

In Constitutional Change in the EU: From Uniformity to Flexibility? De Búrca and coeditor Joanne Scott bring together a number of essays on the future of the EU, particularly the tension between the current "uniformity" of legal concepts and a rising demand for "flexibility" as it grows to accommodate more disparate nations. "These lawyers demonstrate a sure grasp of the politics and the complex dynamics of European integration, and thus provide a valuable contribution to the long-running debate over the constitutional nature of the strange hybrid that is the EU," concluded International Affairs contributor William Wallace.