The European Union's Competence in International Trade After the Treaty of Lisbon (original) (raw)
Related papers
The European Union in the World
Brill | Nijhoff eBooks, 2014
xiv selected publications of marc maresceau (1978-may 2013) M. Maresceau, "De toepasbaarheid van Europees gemeenschapsrecht voor de nationale rechterlijke instanties", in:
2015
The contemporary Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) functions as a uniquely authoritative transnational court. The doctrines established in its case law ensure the effective enforcement of European legislation when compared to standard international organisations. It is undoubtedly the European legal order that has led to the most prevalent definition of the European Union (EU) as a ‘sui generis’ polity in European studies. The Court has provided a voice for a wide variety of national and transnational actors in the integration process through the development of an extensive system of legal recourse. The Court has also engaged in an on-going dialogue with national courts firstly to differentiate and distinguish the European legal order from national legal orders, and secondly to ensure the adaptation of national legal orders to European principles and doctrines. The position of the ECJ in the EU has become so entrenched and central that its supporters—and some sympathetic academic observers—claim that it is a European Supreme Court and that it has built a constitutional, proto-federal legal order. Despite this prominence, historians have tended to underplay the legal and judicial dimensions of European integration. Leaving law for jurists and social scientists, historians have been merely content to explore the political and social-economic facets of the integration process. As a result, the EU’s legal history remains unexplored. Although existing integration historiography offers a rich collection of empirical narratives with important insights into the complex history of post-war Europe, ignoring the legal dimension of the story seriously weakens our understanding of the overall European phenomenon. Important historical actors such as the first president of the European Commission, Walter Hallstein, who was also a prominent professor of law, perceived the integration process as fundamentally legal in nature. Certainly, European law is finely woven into almost all aspects of integration whether those are questions of a broad institutional nature or specific public policies. Moreover, the development of the European legal system seemingly constitutes one of the most important and clearest examples of institutional self-empowerment and the promotion of the federalist ideology by the European institutions in the overall integration process.
Some Reflections on the European Society of International Law Research Forum 2005
German Law Journal, 2005
The recent European Society of International Law Research Forum – only the Society's second conference following the inaugural event in Florence last year – took place from the 24-26th May 2005 in stunning surroundings on the shores of Lac Lemain in the buildings of the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. Quite apart from the obvious importance of a high-level international conference under the auspices of one of the most important international law societies in the world, and the attendant quality of the speakers and other participants, the event was of real significance in that it allowed for an insight into how the new Society itself is developing, and the manner in which it will go about the task of fulfilling the objectives that it has set itself.
New Diplomatic Activities of the European Union and the Limits of International Law: invited speech
2014
Introduction The strengthening of the global ambitions of the EU, 2 the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) as "the first structure of a common European diplomacy" 3 with 'embassy-like' delegations all over the globe, the development of the EU as an actor in international security on the basis of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), 4 or the more outspoken wish to play a role in international institutions, be it as a full member (as in the case of the WTO) or simply as a visible and audible representative (as in the UN General Assembly) all seem to point to the EU taking up 'state-functions' in more areas than before. International law, on the other hand, is still quite traditional. Created as 'inter-state' law it continues to struggle with the presence of non-state actors in the international order. 5 Yet, international organisations obviously found their place as international legal actors, and other fora and networks are also increasingly recognised as legally relevant. 6 It is a truism that the European Union is not a regular international organisation. From the outset, Member States have been willing (or were forced…) to transfer competences to the Community and later the Union. The Lisbon Treaty, however, seems to herald a new phase in which not only EU law itself, but also international law may be faced with new challenges. This contribution will not primarily take the perspective of EU external relations law, but will rather attempt to view the developments from the angle of public international law. Taking an 'outside-in' perspective allegedly highlights the possible limits of competence-transfer within the EU as well as possible necessary changes in international law. I will do so by focussing on a few key areas in which the EU comes within the scope of what traditionally would be regarded as state functions and competences: the international legal status of the EU (section 2), international representation (section 3), and the EU as a diplomatic actor (section 4). The leading question can be found in the title of this contribution. Given the dynamic nature of the development of the 'international actorness' of the Union, this contribution will produce a research agenda, rather than final conclusions. * Credits are due to Dr. Bart Van Vooren for his willingness to share some ideas that were developed in papers written jointly with him.
International law is a European tradition. Nevertheless, like many other European traditions, it imagines itself as universal. Throughout its history, it has been associated with projects such as Christianity, secular statehood, enlightenment, 'civilization', free trade and human rights. International law's association with particular ideas or preferences does not, however, even slightly undermine it. There are no authentic universals that one could know independently of their particular manifestations. The key question is a political one: Are there good reasons for extending the scope of such ideas or preferences? Answering this question may not have been assisted by the turning of some of them into kitsch. But is that the condition of their universality?
At the Cradle of Legal Scholarship on the European Union: The Life and Early Work of Eric Stein
American Journal of Comparative Law, 2014
Law School professor who is often acknowledged as the father of English legal scholarship on the European Union. Few-if any-experts on European law can indeed claim to have had a career as long, prolific, and influential as Eric Stein's. From 1955 to the very end of his life, the Czech-born American scholar produced numerous books and dozens of papers on European legal integration, including his 1981 classic Lawyers, Judges, and the Making of a Transnational Constitution. The present Article focuses on his life and career until 1983 and is structured in three chronological periods. It traces his personal and professional journey from his native Bohemia to his appointment at the University of Michigan Law School, then contextualizes and analyzes some of his most influential academic writings on Community law. It argues that Stein's success resulted from his correlated abilities and efforts to produce (alone and in collaboration) pathbreaking academic research on the development of European Community (EC) law and institutions, to establish the University of Michigan Law School as a renowned center of excellence in European legal studies, and finally to develop an extensive network with European scholars and communities officials. This Article is based on Eric Stein's personal papers and interviews as well as on several key private archives.
German Law Journal
The enlargement of the European Union, the attempt to put together a constitution we can all live with, the divisions rendered raw by passionately opposed positions on the prosecution of the so-called “War on Terror” are just some of the issues which make identifying oneself as European so damn confusing of late. The inaugural conference of the European Society of International Law, held at New York University's Villa La Pietra in Florence on 13 – 15 May 2004, saw the question of what precisely Europe is fall to the international lawyers to answer. The process of drafting a European constitution had already provided the constitutionalists with the opportunity to ponder what it is that defines us and, more specifically, distinguishes us from our American cousins; in Florence, the international lawyers had their turn to mull over such questions.
New Diplomatic Activities of the European Union and the Limits of International Law
2013
Introduction The strengthening of the global ambitions of the EU, 2 the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) as "the first structure of a common European diplomacy" 3 with 'embassy-like' delegations all over the globe, the development of the EU as an actor in international security on the basis of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), 4 or the more outspoken wish to play a role in international institutions, be it as a full member (as in the case of the WTO) or simply as a visible and audible representative (as in the UN General Assembly) all seem to point to the EU taking up 'state-functions' in more areas than before. International law, on the other hand, is still quite traditional. Created as 'inter-state' law it continues to struggle with the presence of non-state actors in the international order. 5 Yet, international organisations obviously found their place as international legal actors, and other fora and networks are also increasingly recognised as legally relevant. 6 It is a truism that the European Union is not a regular international organisation. From the outset, Member States have been willing (or were forced…) to transfer competences to the Community and later the Union. The Lisbon Treaty, however, seems to herald a new phase in which not only EU law itself, but also international law may be faced with new challenges. This contribution will not primarily take the perspective of EU external relations law, but will rather attempt to view the developments from the angle of public international law. Taking an 'outside-in' perspective allegedly highlights the possible limits of competence-transfer within the EU as well as possible necessary changes in international law. I will do so by focussing on a few key areas in which the EU comes within the scope of what traditionally would be regarded as state functions and competences: the international legal status of the EU (section 2), international representation (section 3), and the EU as a diplomatic actor (section 4). The leading question can be found in the title of this contribution. Given the dynamic nature of the development of the 'international actorness' of the Union, this contribution will produce a research agenda, rather than final conclusions. * Credits are due to Dr. Bart Van Vooren for his willingness to share some ideas that were developed in papers written jointly with him.