Accession to International Instruments as an EU Legality Constraint

2021 ◽  
pp. 100-122
Author(s):  
Bruno De Witte
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Commitments ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
Legal Space ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
The Eu

When the EU becomes a party to an international legal instrument, whether bilateral or multilateral, that international agreement is incorporated automatically in the EU legal order and becomes a legality constraint within that legal order, due to the recognition, by EU law itself, of the precedence of those international commitments over secondary EU law. In the multilevel European legal space, agreements concluded by the EU also become a legality constraint for the Member States of the EU, even if they are not parties to the international instrument themselves. Ensuring compliance with the EU’s international obligations sets in motion the adoption of internal legislation to implement those international obligations or to repeal existing EU law measures that are inconsistent with them; and the Court of Justice of the European Union can review the compliance of EU secondary law (and Member State law) with the EU’s international agreements. However, the Court has self-limited this review power through the development of a doctrine on the limited direct effect of international agreements.

Mixed Agreements: The EU Law Fundamentals

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joni Heliskoski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Case Law ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
Mixed Agreements ◽  
The Eu

Whatever terminology one might wish to employ to describe the form of integration constituted by the European Union and its Member States, one fundamental attribute of that arrangement has always been the division, as between the Union and its Member States, of competence to conclude international agreements with other subjects of international law. Today, the fact that treaty-making competence—as an external facet of the more general division of legal authority—is divided and, to some extent, shared between the Union and its Member States is reflected by some of the opening provisions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Notwithstanding the changes to the scope and nature of the powers conferred upon the Union, resulting from both changes to primary law and the evolution of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the basic characteristics of the conferment as an attribution of a limited kind has always been the same; there has always existed a polity endowed with a treaty-making authority divided between and, indeed, shared by, the Union and its Member States. In the early 1960s mixed agreements—that is, agreements to which the European Union

From Washington with Love—Investor–State Arbitration and the Jurisdictional Monopoly of the Court of Justice of the European Union

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 425-453
Author(s):  
Philip Strik
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Forum Shopping ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Dispute ◽  
The Eu

AbstractWhile investor–State arbitration is to a large extent detached from the EU legal order, EU law has recently started to be invoked in investor-State arbitration proceedings. In the context of intra-EU bilateral investment treaties, the Commission has expressed the view that investor-State arbitration gives rise to a number of ‘arbitration risks’ for the EU legal order. Not only can it solicit investors to engage in forum-shopping, but it can also result in questions of EU law not being litigated in Member State or Union courts. This chapter explores the extent to which the compatibility of investor–State arbitration with the EU legal order is in issue. It examines the main features of investor-State arbitration as concerns its interplay with the EU legal order, as well as the Court of Justice’s case law on issues of compatibility between systems of international dispute settlement and the EU legal order. The chapter highlights that the way in which investor–State arbitral tribunals handle issues of EU law, as well as the involvement of interested parties, may foster the synergy between investor–State arbitration and the EU legal order.

scholarly journals EU Foreign Relations Law as a Field of Scholarship

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 321-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joris Larik
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
The Eu

EU external relations law is a doubly peculiar field of scholarship that has attracted significant scholarly attention over the last several decades. It is both part of EU law—considered a “new legal order” distinct from international law—and it is concerned with the European Union as a global actor, a “strange animal” in that the EU is neither a state nor a classical international organization.

From Washington with Love—Investor–State Arbitration and the Jurisdictional Monopoly of the Court of Justice of the European Union

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 425-453
Author(s):  
Philip Strik
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Forum Shopping ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Dispute ◽  
The Eu

Abstract While investor–State arbitration is to a large extent detached from the EU legal order, EU law has recently started to be invoked in investor-State arbitration proceedings. In the context of intra-EU bilateral investment treaties, the Commission has expressed the view that investor-State arbitration gives rise to a number of ‘arbitration risks’ for the EU legal order. Not only can it solicit investors to engage in forum-shopping, but it can also result in questions of EU law not being litigated in Member State or Union courts. This chapter explores the extent to which the compatibility of investor–State arbitration with the EU legal order is in issue. It examines the main features of investor-State arbitration as concerns its interplay with the EU legal order, as well as the Court of Justice’s case law on issues of compatibility between systems of international dispute settlement and the EU legal order. The chapter highlights that the way in which investor–State arbitral tribunals handle issues of EU law, as well as the involvement of interested parties, may foster the synergy between investor–State arbitration and the EU legal order.

7. Framework for enforcement

2020 ◽  
pp. 183-190
Author(s):  
Marios Costa ◽  
Steve Peers
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Effective Protection ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
System P ◽  
National Legal System ◽  
The Eu

This chapter outlines the framework for enforcement of European Union (EU) law, and describes the various actions that may be brought before the Court of Justice (CJ). In interpreting the relevant provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the CJ has played a key role in the enforcement of EU law especially with its insistence on the effective protection of individuals’ Union rights. The chapter also explains the significance of judicial review in the EU legal order by focusing on the jurisdiction of the CJ in the appeal cases originating from the General Court (GC). Finally, the chapter outlines how questions of infringement of EU law can also be raised in the national legal system.

The Jurisprudence of Integration

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Pavlos Eleftheriadis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Member States ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
Political Interpretation ◽  
The Eu

This chapter introduces the central legal and political interpretations of the European Union (EU). The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) suggests a federalist legal account when it speaks of EU law as a ‘new legal order’ and as ‘autonomous’ from international law and the law of the member states. This doctrine has met with resistance by the courts of the member states, which have refused to apply EU law without reference to their domestic constitution. The courts’ views can be seen as either a ‘constitutional’ approach, which we find in Neil MacCormick’s ‘pluralism’ under international law, or in the ‘pluralism’ defended by Mattias Kumm, Neil Walker, and others. But the general legal architecture of the EU is not only a theoretical but also a political problem. These legal interpretations correspond to rival political approaches, namely ‘federalism’, ‘statism’, and a new view proposed in this book ‘internationalism’. The most challenging political view of the EU, articulated for example by the historian Noel Malcolm, believes that it is actually a serious risk to self-government and democracy. Any legal and political interpretation of the treaties supporting the legitimacy of the EU requires that we have an effective response to this democratic challenge. Can the EU be democratically legitimate?

scholarly journals ASPECTS OF MUTUAL INFLUENCE OF EXTENSION PROCESSES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION LEGAL SPACE AND THE REFORMING OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF UKRAINE

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Space Extension ◽  
National Legal System ◽  
Legal Space ◽  
The Eu

The article defines the main aspects of mutual influence of the legal system of Ukraine reforming processes and the extension of the legal space of the European Union (EU) from the general theoretical viewpoint. The article defines the category «legal space» as an acknowledged and regulated by law life sphere of people, organizations, states and international institutions in order to achieve the agreed and common goals. The main features of the legal space as a phenomenon of legal reality are outlined: multilevel legal regulation with the application of national and international legal acts, unification of law enforcement rules, mandatory agreement on a consensual basis of actors operating within the legal space. The factors of the EU legal space extension are emphasized. It is noted that the reforming of the legal system of Ukraine and the EU legal space extension are interconnected and complementary processes. At the core of such a relationship lies the political will of Ukraine to recognize and legitimize the norms and principles of EU law on the one hand and the desire of the EU to expand the geographical and spatial boundaries of political, legal and economic influence on the other. Based on the analysis of provisions of the bilateral cooperation acts of Ukraine and the EU, as well as using the achievements of national scientists who studied the impact of EU law on the national legal system, four main aspects of the mutual influence of transformation processes of the national legal system and the scope of the extension of the regulatory capacity of the European Union law are highlighted. In particular, it is the creation of a legal basis for the development integrated ties between Ukraine and the EU, recognition of the universal values ​​of the EU in Ukraine, and the involvement of Ukraine in European politics. It is pointed to the issue of Ukraine's full participation in the realization of common policies with the EU. It is emphasized, that the main result of active interaction between the national legal system and the EU legal space is the change of methodological approaches to the analysis of the correlation of political borders of the European Union and factual territorial scope of the European legal space, especially legal borders. That is why the modern scientific community faces a new perspective task - to ground the patterns of formation of the optimal model of Ukraine's borrowing of positive legal practices from the EU legal space, provided that the national identity is preserved in the conditions of the national legal system reforming.

scholarly journals The effect of the establishment and application of European law in Poland – selected theoretical issues

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (56) ◽  
pp. 171-182
Author(s):  
Jacek Zaleśny
Keyword(s):  
Legal Order ◽  
European Law ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Member States ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
The Law ◽  
Polish Law ◽  
The Eu

The article is focused on the effect of the establishment and application the European Union law in Poland immediately after 2004. By becoming the law binding in Poland (and other member states of the EU), the EU law effected significant changes in the sphere of law creation and application. Traditionally, in the national legal order, the law of the highest force is the constitution, while in accordance with the EU legal order, the regulations of the European law are superior in their application in the territory of the member states, including the regulations of the constitution. The present analysis explains how the dilemma of the simultaneous superiority of the regulations of the constitution and the regulations of the EU law was solved in Poland and what importance is attributed to the concept of favourable interpretation of the national law and the EU law. The present paper poses the hypothesis that the model of reconciling the regulations of the Polish law and the regulations of the European law developed in Poland immediately after 2004 was correctly established. It contributes well to Poland meeting international obligations, at the same time respecting the superior position of the constitution.

scholarly journals Court of Justice of the European Union: historiography of European sources published in the period 1957-1992

2021 ◽  
pp. 292-299
Author(s):  
I. V. Kaminska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Judicial Activism ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
The Eu

Before proceeding to the analysis and characterization of foreign publications, all the sources we found were systematized according to the time criterion, according to which all the publications found, which in one way or another examined the Court of Justice, we divided into three periods, namely: I period (1957–1992); II period (1992–2007); III period (2007-present). The division was based on the periodization of the development of European integration, or rather its main stages. And the period – the creation and functioning of the European Communities (from the Treaties of Rome to the signing of the Maastricht Treaty); II period – the formation of the European Union (signing of the Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice treaties); Period III – the functioning of the European Union in its modern form (after the signing of the Lisbon Treaty and until now). Thanks to this systematization, we were able to demonstrate what topics were relevant among scholars in a particular period of development of integration and functioning of the Court of Justice. The main presentation of the material is devoted to the results of the analysis of foreign scientific publications concerning the principles of organization and functioning of the Court of Justice published in the period 1957–1992. We found that most scientific papers were published by scientists from Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France which account for a significant share of the work of judges and Advocates-General of the Court of Justice. All foreign sources published in this period were analyzed by us on the subject of research and grouped by subject. Thus, we found that in the period 1957–1992.current research topics on the Court of Justice of the EU were: protection of individuals in the EU law and order; methods of interpretation in the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU; judicial control in the EU; the legal nature of the interaction between national judicial institutions and the Court of Justice and their impact on the uniform application of the Community legal order and its organic combination with the national legal order; judicial activism; principles of EU law; the role of EU judges in the development of European integration. Keywords: EU Court, judicial activism, EU legal order, principles of EU law, EU court decision.

Making Treaties and Other International Agreements

2019 ◽  
pp. 238-256
Author(s):  
Marise Cremona
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Executive Discretion ◽  
External Powers ◽  
Mixed Agreements ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the foreign relations law of the European Union concerning the making of treaties and other international agreements. It first outlines the sources of EU law on treaty-making and the legal and constitutional context in which EU treaty-making takes place. It then turns to the law relating to the process of treaty negotiation and to the signature, provisional application, and conclusion of treaties, identifying the ways in which the specific legal characteristics of the European Union as a treaty maker are reflected in its foreign relations law. These include the principle of conferred powers, whereby all treaty-making power must be conferred expressly or impliedly by the EU Treaties, and the institutional balance of powers. For the European Union, treaty-making is not a manifestation of sovereignty and cannot be regarded as simply a matter of executive discretion; the policy balance of a projected treaty and its relation to the European Union’s general objectives may be subject to judicial assessment. The member states remain sovereign subjects of international law and, as a matter of EU law, the European Union’s external powers do not necessarily displace those of the member states. As a result, the European Union and member states will often enter into treaties together, although there are no formal rules in the EU system, apart from the general mutual duties of cooperation, governing the negotiation and conclusion of such “mixed agreements.”

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