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151. Current Legal Issues in the External Relations of the European Union

Author:
Michel Petit
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Research Papers Archive
Abstract:
This paper is based on a lecture delivered during the Academy of European Law Summer School 2006. It provides an examination from a legal perspective of three current themes in the external relations of the European Union. First, the legal implications of the pillar structure for external relations, including recent case law and practical issues arising from the application of Article 47 TEU, the borderline between Community external policies and the Union's common foreign and security policy, and practical interpillar cooperation. It concludes that it is easier to combine the pillars by means of pragmatic solutions, whereas it is much more difficult in the case of a strictly legal construction which takes into account the requirements of Union coherence and the separate character of each pillar. Second, the paper turns to the balance between Member States and the European Union/Community in external policy and in particular the application of the “AETR test” in recent case law including the “Open Skies” cases, the Lugano Convention Opinion and the “Mox Plant” case. It concludes that a proper application of the AETR remains a practical challenge that transcends the narrow issue of pure legal deduction as to whether Community competence is “affected” or not. And third, the paper considers the position of the EU within, and participation in the work of, international organisations such as the United Nations, the WHO and the WTO. The paper concludes by emphasising the need for collaboration between the institutions and for pragmatic solutions to the problems that are inevitable while the Union retains its current complex structure.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe

152. Some Comments Concerning the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: The Performance of the European Union

Author:
Camela Pérez Bernárdez
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies
Abstract:
On December 8th, 2003, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to submit the question concerning the legality of Israel's construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion. The Court accepted, and thus entered into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - one of the most far reaching, difficult, and delicate disputes that the international community has faced. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it analyzes the most relevant issues in the Wall case related to jurisdiction and merits. Second, it considers the position of the European Union in terms of the Middle East conflict, and specifically, concerning this advisory opinion.
Topic:
International Relations and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and United Nations

153. Global Best Practices: Judicial Councils: Lessons Learned from Europe and Latin America

Author:
Sandra Elena and Violaine Autheman
Publication Date:
04-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
International and regional human rights treaties recognize the right to a fair trial by an independent tribunal in the determination of rights and obligations in civil, commercial and administrative matters and in the determination of criminal charges. The right to a fair trial and its core components, including the “reasonable time” requirement and the principle of judicial independence, is now universally accepted. Building upon the declarations of principle of legally binding conventions, international and regional expert guidelines and principles have aimed at fleshing out the specific elements of judicial independence. In addition, international and regional human rights courts and commissions have interpreted the provisions of human rights treaties and shed some light on the minimum standards and components of the right to a fair trial and judicial independence.
Topic:
International Relations, Human Rights, and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe and Latin America

154. What Constitutions Can Do (But Courts Sometimes Don't):Property, Speech, and The Influence of Constitutional Norms on Private Law

Author:
Oliver Gerstenberg
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
Against the background of the ECtHR's recent decision in Appleby v UK (a European “counterpart” to the well-known US Supreme Court decision in Marsh v Alabama) the paper addresses, first, the issue of the influence, often perceived as dilemmatic, of human rights norms and constitutional norms on private law. In a second step, then, the paper discusses the promise—and a possible dilemma—of “comparative constitutionalism” as an engine of a more denationalized “constitutional patriotism”: the dilemma that we trade the “closure” of domestic exceptionalism against the new, systemic “closure” of “too much” judicial comity and professionalism, the closure of a new Juristenrecht.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Law
Political Geography:
United States, United Kingdom, and Europe

155. A New Form of Governance? Comparing the Open Method of Coordination to Multilateral Surveillance by the IMF and the OECD

Author:
Armin Schäfer
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Abstract:
The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) has received much attention in the recent EU-literature. The predominant view claims that the OMC is not only a new but also an effective policy-making instrument. This paper raises doubts about both claims by offering a comparison of soft law policy coordination in three international organizations. More specifically, this paper compares the European Employment Strategy – which was the first use of the OMC – to the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines of the EU, the OECD Economic Surveys, and the IMF Article IV Consultations. Based on expert interviews, it seeks to demonstrate that these procedures are forms of multilateral surveillance that do not differ in kind. Such a comparative analysis of the OMC refutes claims to its novelty. Having compared the four procedures, a more general model of multilateral surveillance consisting of six elements is generated that facilitates further comparisons. This paper concludes that governments select voluntarist procedures mainly to secure their own competencies rather than to realize common goals. Effective problem-solving is therefore not necessarily the dominant objective of soft law.
Topic:
Economics, International Law, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe

156. Towards a Proactive Immigration Policy for the EU?

Author:
Sergio Carrera and Joanna Apap
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This report involves an assessment of the legislative progress achieved towards a proactive immigration policy regarding those described as 'third country nationals' (TCNs) entering into and residing legally in the European Union (EU). We also evaluate the extent to which the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the US had a real impact on the legislative developments and policy agenda in relation to this area.
Topic:
International Law and Migration
Political Geography:
Europe

157. Progress and Obstacles in the Area of Justice Home Affairs in an Enlarging Europe

Author:
Sergio Carrera and Joanna Apap
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This paper assesses the legislative achievements made so far in the objectives set by the Amsterdam Treaty and the Tampere European Council. It explores why a number of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) policy areas have experienced a greater degree of development or convergence than others. This is a most sensitive field of study that has been guarded as either an area of national sovereignty, or where sovereignty issues could be at stake. The existence of frictions and strains between member states can be considered as the main cause of differences in development. The way in which these frictions have affected the implementation of policy and how these may be further exacerbated by the forthcoming enlargement are equally analysed.
Topic:
Human Welfare and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe

158. Perejil/Leila and the Euro-Med Partnership

Author:
Roberto Aliboni
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
During the Spanish-Moroccan crisis over the Perejil/Leila islet both the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) have squarely supported Spanish sovereignty. They have completely ignored the special co-operation promoted with the Mediterranean countries from the mid-1990s onwards. This is particularly true with respect to the EU-initiated Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, whose ambitious agenda contemplates an articulated political and security agenda of collective cooperation with the Southern Mediterranean countries, including Morocco. For a number of reasons, the partners have failed to turn their aims into a practical reality. Nonetheless, co-operation is still on the agenda and the parties to the scheme are still apparently committed to it. It is true that one witnessed the same kind of response from the Arab side. The Arab League supported Moroccan claims just as unambiguously as the Western or European side did Spain. How can one explain that precisely at the time when the spirit of Euro-Med co-operation was most necessary it vanished?
Topic:
Security and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe, North Atlantic, Spain, North Africa, and Morocco

159. Italian Legal Framework

Author:
Federico Casolari
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
On 1 April 2001 the first conventions between European Community and third Countries on the single currency entered into force. The agreements in question, as already mentioned, are the Monetary Agreement between the Italian Republic (I.R.), on behalf of the European Community, and the Republic of San Marino (29 November 2000), and the Monetary Agreement between I.R., on behalf of the European Community, and the Vatican City (29 December 2000).
Topic:
International Law and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

160. Fire And Broken Glass: The Rise of Antisemitism in Europe

Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
On July 12, the online wire of the Associated Press included a story out of the Welsh city of Swansea, where a synagogue had been vandalized the night before. According to the story, which was not picked up by any major American newspaper, a group of youths broke into the synagogue, destroyed one of the temple's Torah scrolls, drew a swastika on the wall, and attempted to burn the building down before fleeing.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, International Law, and Religion
Political Geography:
Europe