This book explores how foreign policy fits within the complex constitutional structure of the EU, providing both an analysis of the constitutional reality of EU foreign policy and a theoretical analysis suggesting possibilities for reform.

A collection of essays that surveys the development and structure of the European Union's constitutional regime for foreign affairs.

This edited collection appraises the role, self-perception, reasoning and impact of the European Court of Justice on the development of European Union (EU) external relations law. Against the background of the recent recasting of the EU Treaties by the Treaty of Lisbon and at a time when questions arise over the character of the Court's judicial reasoning and the effect of international legal obligations in its case law, it discusses the contribution of the Court to the formation of the EU as an international actor and the development of EU external relations law, and the constitutional challenges the Court faces in this context. To what extent does the position of the Court contribute to a specific conception of the EU? How does the EU's constitutional order, as interpreted by the Court, shape its external relations? The Court still has only limited jurisdiction over the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy: why has this decision been taken, and what are its implications? And what is the Court's own view of the relationship between court(s) and foreign policy, and of its own relationship with other international courts? The contributions to this volume show that the Court's influence over EU external relations derives first from its ability to shape and define the external competence of the EU and resulting constraints on the Member States, and second from its insistence on the autonomy of the EU legal order and its role as 'gatekeeper' to the entry and effect of international law into the EU system. It has not - in the external domain - overtly exerted influence through shaping substantive policy, as it has, for example, in relation to the internal market. Nevertheless the rather 'legalised' nature of EU external relations and the significance of the EU's international legal commitments mean that the role of the Court of Justice is more central than that of a national court with respect to the foreign policy of a nation state. And of course its decisions can nonetheless be highly political.

The present book invites the reader to rethink some questions raised in EU external relations law in the light of recent developments in the case law of the Court of Justice, from the perspective of the constitutional foundations of the Union. The various chapters invite the reader to take a look at the balance between the specific legal regime for EU external action and the constitutional fundamentals of the EU legal order such as: the principles of conferral, loyalty, and institutional balance, as well as the rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights protection. The accommodation between specificity and fundamental principles is, thus, a transversal constitutional issue.

This volume examines the legal and constitutional foundations of the EU's external relations. It focuses on the EU's external powers and objectives, on the instruments, principles and actors of external policies, and on the legal effects of international agreements and international law.

The first edition of this seminal textbook made a significant impact on the teaching of EU external relations law. This new edition retains the hallmarks of that success, while providing a fully revised and updated account of this burgeoning field. It offers a dual perspective, looking at questions from both the EU constitutional law perspective (the principles underpinning EU external action, the EU's powers, and the role of the Court of Justice of the EU); and the international law perspective (the effect of international law in the EU legal order and the position of the EU in international organisations such as the WTO). A number of key substantive policy areas are explored, including trade, security and defence, police and judicial cooperation, the environment, human rights, and development cooperation. Taking a 'text, cases and materials' approach, it allows students to gain a thorough understanding of milestones in the evolution of EU law in this area, their judicial interpretation and scholarly appraisal. Linking these pieces together through the authors' commentary and analysis ensures that students are given the necessary guidance to properly position and digest these materials. Lastly, each chapter concludes with a section entitled 'The Big Picture of EU External Relations Law', which weaves together the diverse and complex materials into a coherent whole and stimulates critical discussion of the topics covered.

The EU has established itself as a significant international legal actor. This volume brings together the key primary legal materials relating to the foreign relations powers of the EU and its practices, with editorial commentary. It is an ideal resource for students, scholars, and practitioners in the field.

Despite the Lisbon Treaty reforming the EU Treaty provisions on external relations, it was argued at the time of the Treaty’s entry into force that ‘mixity was here to stay’. While this has indeed proven to be the case, the Court of Justice’s jurisprudence has nonetheless redrawn the contours within which mixity can thrive and for the first time has confirmed the existence of ‘facultative mixity’. In light of these significant post-Lisbon developments the volume aims to clarify the law and policy of facultative mixed agreements in the EU’s treaty practice and this not only from the perspective of EU (constitutional) law itself but also from the perspective of the EU Member States’ legal systems, that of the EU’s third country treaty partners and that of public international law itself.

This book reappraises the constitutional fundamentals of EU foreign relations law. The essays in the book examine and reassess the basic principles of EU foreign relations law that have emerged over 50 years of incremental Treaty-based and judicial development and explore the particular character of the EU's "external constitution". They have been written against a background of change and debate: the deliberation over the character of the appropriate constitutional framework which has surrounded the drafting of the Constitutional and Reform Treaties, the increasingly cross-pillar nature of much EU external action, and renewed interest in the accountability of foreign relations policy and practice to democratic and judicial review within and without the EU. This collection will be of interest not only to EU foreign relations law specialists but also to those concerned with broader constitutional issues within EU law. In exploring the legal context in which the EU seeks to develop an international identity, and to structure and execute policies at the international level, the collection will also interest those working in international relations.

The law of the external relations of the European Union is a subject of great importance. The EU institutions have developed an extensive practice in this area, by concluding international agreements, by participating in the work of international organizations, and by legislating and regulating on matters of external relations. It is a practice giving rise to many legal problems and questions, as evidenced by the substantial and growing body of case-law in the area of external relations by the European Court of Justice and Court of First Instance. These problems and questions are often of constitutional significance, and the external relations law of the EU therefore occupies an important position in the overall development of the EU, and in the process of its constitution-building. This volume examines the legal and constitutional foundations of the EU's external relations. It focuses on the EU's external powers and objectives, on the instruments, principles, and actors ofexternal policies, and on the legal effects of international agreements and international law. It brings together the legal foundations of the EU's external economic policies, centred around its trade policy, and the fledgling Common Foreign and Security Policy. It concludes by addressing the basic questions of constitutionalism raised by EU external relations, i.e. the division of competences, the protection of fundamental rights, issues of democracy and legitimacy, and judicial review.