Content

This optional course offers an introduction into EU external relations law. The course explains the legal intricacies of having a composite legal order entering into relations with third countries and international organizations. Among the topics to be covered are the international legal personality of the Union, the division of competences between the Member States and the Union and between the different institutions of the Union in the field of external relations, and the coherence and efficiency of EU external action. The course also examines the decision-making procedures (including for the conclusion of international agreements) in the ordinary external relations of the EU (formerly Community external relations) and in the common foreign and security policy. Finally, the course explores the role of democracy and the rule of law in EU external relations.

Course material

• Textbook: P.J. Kuijper, J. Wouters, F. Hoffmeister, G. De Baere, T. Ramopoulos, The Law of EU External Relations. Cases, Materials, and Commentary on the EU as an International Legal Actor, Oxford University Press, 2013;
• Optional textbook: G. De Baere, Constitutional Principles of EU External Relations, Oxford University Press, 2008;
• Consolidated EU and FEU Treaties; Consolidated EC and EU Treaties pre-Lisbon (Nice consolidates versions);
• Reader with cases and materials.

Format: more information

Supervised self-study on the basis of selected case-law, legal writing and EU legal instruments, followed by in-depth analysis and synthesis of the underlying legal problems during ex cathedra class room sessions, offering sufficient opportunities for discussion and interaction.

Is also included in other courses

• C09B3C : The Law of the External Relations of the EU