External Relations of the European Union

Volledige vakbeschrijving

The course focuses on the legal and constitutional foundations of the EU’s external relations. For this purpose the course divides into two parts. The first part is devoted to the Treaty foundations for external relations and its external policies, highlighting relevant case law and Treaty provisions. The case law of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) had and has a strong influence on the interpretation of competences, effect (and direct effect) of international law and international treaty law in the past. Important aspects of this case law have been codified and updated with the Lisbon Treaty. The second part of the course will focus on a few selected and important external policies. More specifically we will concentrate on the (i) EU Trade Policy, (ii) EU Development Policy, (iii) EU Common Foreign and Security Policy and (iv) EU Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. While the lectures will introduce into the different topics, the tutorials aim to further the knowledge on the EU external relations principles but also discuss matters such as the external dimension of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, the participation of the Union in international organizations and the role of the European Parliament after Lisbon.

The course builds on knowledge acquired in previous EU law courses, especially EU institutional law. For students who have no prior knowledge on this subject, they are advised to consult general EU law books which cover EU competences, legal remedies, hierarchy of norms and direct effect in general and especially in regard to international agreements.