Member States as Trustees of the Union Interest: Participating in International Agreements on Behalf of the European Union

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Union Interest

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

The European Parliament

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Legal Capacity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
Access To Documents

The European Parliament is the first of the Union institutions listed in Article 13(1) TEU. As an ‘institution’, it enjoys a certain number of rights, prerogatives, and privileges, and is subject to a certain number of obligations. Thus, for example, in its decision-making, Parliament must ‘promote the Union’s values, advance its objectives, serve its interests and those of its citizens and … Member States’; it must also ‘ensure constant respect for the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality’, ‘act within the limits of the powers conferred on it in the Treaties’, and comply with any international agreements concluded by the Union. It must maintain a dialogue with civil society, conduct its work as openly as possible, grant citizens a right of access to documents it holds, and protect the personal data of individuals in its procession. Parliament may participate as of right in most types of proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and enjoys legal capacity in the Member States in respect of matters concerning its own functioning. It is also subject to the auditing authority of the Court of Auditors and the jurisdiction of the European Ombudsman as regards allegations or investigations of maladministration. More

MAIN DIRECTIONS OF ADAPTATION OF UKRAINIAN LEGISLATION TO EU LAW

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daryna Kosinova ◽  
◽  
Daryna Tkach ◽  
Vladyslav Melnychenko ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Status ◽  
Annual Reporting ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
Energy Community

The article is devoted to defining the essence and main directions of adaptation of the legislation of Ukraine to the law of the European Union. The meaning of the term "adaptation" and the peculiarities of its legislative consolidation are established. In addition, the peculiarities of the process of adaptation of the legislation of Ukraine to the acquis communautaire (acquis) are determined. The article analyzes the history of the idea of adapting the legislation of Ukraine to the law of the European Union through the prism of concluded international agreements, according to which Ukraine has undertaken to reform its own legislation. The essence and significance of the most important of them are clarified: Partnership and Cooperation Agreements between Ukraine and the European Communities and their Member States (PCA) of June 14, 1994, which became one of the main elements of creating an institutional mechanism for adaptation and regulatory framework. for the consistent and effective implementation of this important vector of legal reform; Association Agreements between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the other, which has become the largest international legal instrument in the history of Ukraine and the largest international treaty with a third country ever concluded by the European Union. The article analyzes the main legal acts of national legislation on the implementation of the provisions of international agreements to bring the legislation of Ukraine in line with the EU acquis. The annual reporting is detailed, which details the activities of public authorities in each of the areas of adaptation. Based on this reporting, the article analyzes the fulfillment of Ukraine’s commitments and the status of their fulfillment in percentage terms. In addition, an assessment is made of the effectiveness of the activities of public authorities in taking measures to implement Ukraine’s commitments and identifies the main areas for improving their activities.

Various Forms of Differentiation and Majority Voting as an Alternative

2021 ◽  
pp. 12-42
Author(s):  
Caroline Heber
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Majority Voting ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The People ◽  
Qualified Majority ◽  
Law Making

This chapter sets out the different forms of differentiation and asks whether qualified majority voting in the field of taxation would be a practical and suitable alternative to differentiated law-making. The first sections show that enhanced cooperation is not the only flexibility mechanism within the European Union. Member States can also establish differentiation through primary EU law, secondary EU law, or by using partial international agreements. Partial international agreements may be a real alternative to enhanced cooperation law-making as they grant Member States the possibility to introduce rules which are only binding between some Member States. However, these sections reveal the clear differences between enhanced cooperation laws and partial international agreements which allow a protection of enhanced cooperation laws within the EU’s legal framework. Based on constitutional legal theory, in particular consociational democracy, the second part of this chapter argues that qualified majority voting should not be pursued in the field of taxation because it may lead to a European Union plagued by internal frustration and conflicts. The people of Europe are too heterogeneous, and unlike many other subject areas, taxation is a vehicle to pursue sensitive national policy objectives. Taxation is not only a revenue raiser, it is also a nuanced tool to steer taxpayers’ behaviour, achieve justice and equal opportunities through redistribution, and address economic needs.

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.”

The Politics of International Oversight: Strategic Monitoring and Legal Compliance in the European Union

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSHUA C. FJELSTUL ◽  
CLIFFORD J. CARRUBBA
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Compliance ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Strategic Monitoring ◽  
The Eu

States often violate international agreements, both accidentally and intentionally. To process complaints efficiently, states can create formal, pretrial procedures in which governments can negotiate with litigants before a case ever goes to court. If disputes are resolved during pretrial negotiations, it can be very difficult to tell what has happened. Are governments coming into compliance? If so, are they only doing so when they have accidentally committed a violation or even when they are intentionally resisting? Or are challenges simply being dropped? This paper presents a formal model to address these questions. We develop our theory in the context of the European Union (EU). To test our model, we collect a new dataset of over 13,000 Commission infringement cases against EU member states (2003–2013). Our results suggest that accidental and intentional noncompliance both occur, but that intentional noncompliance is more common in the EU. We find that the Commission is an effective, if imperfect, monitor and enforcer of international law. The Commission can correct intentional noncompliance, but not always. It strategically drops cases that it believes it is unlikely to win.

International Law as a Tool for the European Union

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno de Witte
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Internal Development

International law in constitutional change of EU – Rigidity of amendment – EU amending and accession treaties not reviewable – International law in internal development of Union law – Conventions/treaties by member states jointly – Acts of the representatives of the governments – International law in the agreements with third states – Exportation of legal rules – Conditionality policies – Legislating through international agreements

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