Conclusions

2019 ◽  
pp. 223-238
Author(s):  
Christina Eckes
Keyword(s):  
Added Value ◽  
Member States ◽  
Unilateral Action ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Legal Structures ◽  
States Experience ◽  
Union Action ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Legal Consequences ◽  
Organizing Principles

The Conclusions articulate the findings of the different chapters of this book as a consistent narrative that EU external relations not only have specific legal consequences for the power division between the Union and the Member States but also affect the Union’s constitutional structures at a deeper level. The interpretation of organizing principles changes in the context of external relations. Power shifts between the different EU institutions. Member States experience different and more stringent constraints on their ability to take unilateral action. More often than not, these changes and shifts empower the Union when it acts externally. Furthermore, the Union has established itself as an autonomous legal entity, whose law enjoys a unique effectiveness in practice. These unique features of the EU legal order are subject to particular pressure when the Union takes external actions. Loyalty obligations of the Member States and the institutions should be reconsidered in the light of this pressure, an explicit acknowledgement of the pluralist legitimation of Union action, and the purpose of the Union. Moreover, the Union has established numerous direct links with its citizens that create formal legal structures of bonding. These structures could and should serve as structures of justifiability, in which the Union directly addresses its citizens and explicates its purpose and added value, including in terms of democratic representation in external relations.

Institutional Powers in External Relations

2019 ◽  
pp. 149-184
Author(s):  
Christina Eckes
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
External Action ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Formal Structure ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
External Relations

Chapter 5 identifies the institutional changes that take place when the Union acts under international law and in cooperation with third countries or international institutions, rather than internally. The focus is, in particular, on the role of the European Parliament. The fact that the conclusion of EU international agreements depends on the consent of Parliament gives EU citizens a voice in international relations, which, with all its flaws, draws on a source of democratic legitimation that is independent and separate from the EU Member States. The chapter demonstrates that, in practice, Parliament has also been adept in strengthening its rights to information and its influence at the negotiation stage. Parliament’s powerful position in negotiating and concluding international agreements and its ability to represent EU citizens (and also non-economic interests) in external relations are analysed as an emerging formal structure of bonding. The chapter argues in favour of further explicating the Union’s added value in legitimizing the conclusion of international agreements and thus justifying Union external action, including where it limits the scope of manoeuvre of Member States as international actors. It further shows that facultative mixity (i.e. the conclusion of international agreements as a political choice rather than a legal necessity) deprives Parliament of the ability to represent EU citizens in international relations.

scholarly journals The politics of crisis management by regional and international organizations in fighting against a global pandemic: the member states at a crossroads

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232098451
Author(s):  
Steven Van Hecke ◽  
Harald Fuhr ◽  
Wouter Wolfs
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Added Value ◽  
World Health ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Turbulent Times ◽  
Health Organization

Despite new challenges like climate change and digitalization, global and regional organizations recently went through turbulent times due to a lack of support from several of their member states. Next to this crisis of multilateralism, the COVID-19 pandemic now seems to question the added value of international organizations for addressing global governance issues more specifically. This article analyses this double challenge that several organizations are facing and compares their ways of managing the crisis by looking at their institutional and political context, their governance structure, and their behaviour during the pandemic until June 2020. More specifically, it will explain the different and fragmented responses of the World Health Organization, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund/World Bank. With the aim of understanding the old and new problems that these international organizations are trying to solve, this article argues that the level of autonomy vis-a-vis the member states is crucial for understanding the politics of crisis management. Points for practitioners As intergovernmental bodies, international organizations require authorization by their member states. Since they also need funding for their operations, different degrees of autonomy also matter for reacting to emerging challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential for international organizations is limited, though through proactive and bold initiatives, they can seize the opportunity of the crisis and partly overcome institutional and political constraints.

EU Loyalty

2019 ◽  
pp. 45-80
Author(s):  
Christina Eckes
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
External Relations ◽  
The Common ◽  
Duty Of Loyalty ◽  
International Representation ◽  
The Eu

Chapter 2 discusses the legal consequences and deeper meaning of EU loyalty with particular attention to external relations. It identifies specific active and passive obligations flowing from the principle of sincere cooperation in the context of EU external relations and argues that they are best understood as forming part of a comprehensive duty of loyalty. EU loyalty endows EU membership with a distinctive meaning. It is central to imposing a quasi-federal discipline and making sovereign states ‘Member States of the EU’ by acting as a tool that can at times take specific legal obligations beyond the letter of the law. EU loyalty legally restrains Member States from exercising their rights as independent international actors in a way that finds no parallel beyond the European Union. It may require placing the common Union interest above national interests. The concept of unity of international representation has a particular capacity to deepen and widen the obligations flowing from EU loyalty. It amplifies the effects of EU loyalty on the scope of legal action of the Member States, including in the field of reserved competences. It is also part of the explanation of why loyalty has more stringent consequences externally rather than internally. This in turn means that the duty of loyalty has a particular integrative force in the context of external relations. Chapter 2 also argues that this stringent understanding of EU loyalty is justified by the nature of external relations and that this justification should be (better) explicated by the EU institutions in order to justify EU external actions vis-à-vis EU citizens.

Enlargement Policy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ott
Keyword(s):  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
New Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Yugoslav Republic ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
Ongoing Project

The EU enlargement policy was labelled in 2003—shortly before the ‘big bang’ enlargement of 2004—the most successful EU external relations policy. Due to that success, the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) has, since 2003, copied certain characteristics of the policy and instruments. However, after the 2004 accession of twelve new Member States and the subsequent accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and finally of Croatia in 2013, a general enlargement fatigue can be diagnosed among the existing EU Member States. EU Member States have become wary of further accession in times of recurring crises of the European Union project and in light of the challenge of post-accession integration of new Member States, especially of Bulgaria and Romania, as an ongoing project. At the same time they are not willing to abandon such an effective tool for influencing and aligning third countries’ policies to EU law and for stimulating reforms in national administrative and legal orders of neighbouring countries in anticipation of accession. Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey have started accession negotiations, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia secured a recognized candidate status, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are being viewed as potential candidates. While the enlargement policy is still in

Labour Immigration Policy in the European Union: How to Overcome the Tension between Further Europeanisation and the Protection of National Interests?

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-223
Author(s):  
Jean-Baptiste Farcy
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Added Value ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Labour Immigration ◽  
Eu Directives ◽  
The Eu

Abstract This article critically assesses EU harmonisation in the field of labour immigration. It argues that EU directives are limited both in scope and intensity which explains their relatively low effectiveness and added value. Given the current political and institutional context, the article claims that a truly common labour immigration policy is unrealistic. Labour immigration remains a predominantly national prerogative and EU rules have done little to overcome normative competition between EU Member States. Looking forward, the EU should adopt complementary measures to Member States’ policies. The role of the EU in this sensitive policy area should be better defined and justified, in particular in relation to the principle of subsidiarity.

Multi-faceted Single Legal Personality and a Hidden Horizontal Pillar: EU External Relations Post-Lisbon

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 87-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge Govaere
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Important Case ◽  
External Representation ◽  
Member States ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
Legal Questions ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Pillar Structure ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe Lisbon Treaty has fundamentally revised the external relations of the EU in pursuit of more visibility, coherence and consistency. The EU is, for instance, given a single legal personality, the pillar structure is (formally) abolished, new functions are created to reinforce its external representation and external policies appear to be streamlined. But is there more to it than meets the eye? A critical legal assessment is given of the major Treaty modifications relating to the EU external relations whilst addressing two underlying issues. First it is questioned whether the Member States have really given up their traditional reluctance to share fully the international scene with the EU. It is argued that the Lisbon Treaty in fact means to redress the balance in favour of intergovernmentalism under CFSP. A second crucial and related issue links to the silent dialogue with the CJEU to be discerned in the Lisbon Treaty. It wavers between the codification of important case law, such as Kadi, and attempts at containing or even reversing case law which was more prejudicial to the Member States’ interests, such as the Ecowas judgment. In so doing the Lisbon Treaty again raises interesting yet complex legal questions which will most likely necessitate further clarification through case law.

Liability to Third Parties of Member States of International Organizations: Practice, Principle and Judicial Precedent

1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. F. Amerasinghe
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
International Level ◽  
Member States ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
Municipal Law ◽  
Legal Consequences

One of the principal issues of interest to international lawyers in the International Tin Council cases decided by the English courts was whether member states of the International Tin Council (ITC) were secondarily or concurrently liable to third parties for the debts of the organization. This issue may arise when two or more states form an organization with legal personality that can perform functions with legal consequences. In the course of performing these functions, such an organization may incur liabilities to third parties. These third parties may be states, other organizations, individuals or legal persons. The states may be member states of the organization itself or other states, and the individuals and legal persons may be nationals of member states or not. The liabilities may emanate from transactions, such as international agreements between states and the organization, that take place at the international level and may be governed by international law; or they may stem from transactions governed by municipal law, whether between the organization and states, individuals or legal persons. Such liabilities may be contractual, quasi-contractual or delictual.

scholarly journals A Note On The Adoption Of The Euro Compared To The Adoption Of Federal Money In The United States

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
George E. Nogler ◽  
John A. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Member State ◽  
Central Bank ◽  
European Community ◽  
American Revolution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Member States ◽  
Monetary Unit ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
States Experience

This paper compares and contrasts the experience of the European Community in creating a single monetary unit (the Euro) from the currencies of a dozen participating member states to the experience of the United States in creating a single monetary unit (the dollar) across the former colonies after the American Revolution.  The European Community was able to merge the member state currencies in a period of 23 years, while the United States experience lasted over 75 years.  By extensively reviewing the experience of the United States through contemporaneous textbooks, two factors are identified which may account for this difference.  First, the existence of a central bank, and second, the universal adoption of decimal currencies, which began with the United States experience.

Regional Organizations’ Relations with International Institutions

2019 ◽  
pp. 446-464
Author(s):  
Joris Larik
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Legal Person ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Member States ◽  
Asean Member ◽  
External Relations

This chapter compares the law and practice of regional organizations regarding their engagement with international institutions. This includes treaty-making, joining and participating in international organizations, and the question to which extent member states are being replaced by their regional organizations. The chapter uses the European Union and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as case studies given that they represent two radically different forms of regional integration. While the former is a case of deep, supranational sovereignty-pooling, the latter is an example of distinctly sovereignty-friendly intergovernmental cooperation. Both ASEAN and the European Union have codified sets of internal norms for conducting their external relations. Both are avid treaty-makers and interact systematically with international institutions. However, this chapter explains how the difference in the organizations’ internal modes of operation translates into different approaches in their external relations. The European Union’s highly formalized approach leads to taking on a state-like position in many situations, but without always replacing its member states. By contrast, ASEAN’s sensitivity toward national sovereignty results in its member states and the Association never appearing together. It is always either one or the other that engages internationally. ASEAN member states interact with other powers, whereas ASEAN as a legal person interacts with other international organizations, with the one exception—the European Union.

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