The Diplomatic System of the European Union: Evolution, Change and Challenges

© 2016 selection and editorial matter, Michael Smith, Stephan Keukeleire and Sophie Vanhoonacker; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved. Over the past five years, the EU has established a new system of diplomacy centred on the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This new system reflects a process of evolution in a changing context, and has been faced by major challenges since its inception. This book examines the diplomatic system of the EU, locating it within the broader study of diplomacy and the European integration project. The volume is structured around the interrelated themes of institutional change and the evolving practices of EU diplomacy. It tracks the development of the EU's system of diplomacy, with particular reference to the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the establishment of the EEAS and the emerging practices of EU strategic and structural diplomacy. Bringing together contributions from leading experts in the field, this book provides an original approach to the development and operation of the EU's diplomatic system. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of European Union international relations, European Union politics and diplomacy.edition: Abingdon, UKstatus: publishe

Improving the EU’s Status in the UN and the UN System: an Objective Without a Strategy?

The Lisbon Treaty emphasizes the EU’s commitment to multilateralism, stating that it ‘shall seek to develop relations and build partnerships with [...] international, regional or global organisations’ and to ‘promote multilateral solutions to common problems, in particular in the framework of the United Nations’ (Article 21(1), second para., TEU). One of its key goals in external relations is ‘to support and work for effective multilateralism, with the United Nations at its core’. However these global ambitions are often not matched by the level of participation and representation that the EU enjoys in the UN and the UN system. This contribution examines some of the legal and political issues that are at play as the EU attempts to enhance its cooperation with and representation in the UN and the UN system. It examines these issues with regard to UN bodies that have been identified as targets for closer co-operation and others where the EU could potentially pursue upgraded status. It analyses both the EU’s participation in the respective fora and the legal and political potential for improving the Union’s status. The EU not only remains faced with a series of internal and external obstacles as a participant within the UN and the UN system, barring it from taking up its leading role at the global level – it currently also lacks a convincing strategy to overcome them.status: publishe

The European Union: a federation in all but name

The question of unification of laws in federal systems is an inherently complex question. The difficulties in the effort to examine developments within federal entities are only magnified when the EU becomes the entity under investigation. The EU is a constantly evolving political organism with a declared goal to bring together the states and peoples of Europe. We focus on two-levels in the EU’s structure of governance: EU institutions and national governments. The distribution of competences between these two levels is based on the principles of conferral, subsidiarity, proportionality and pre-emption, whereas the principle of primacy of EU law applies in cases of conflict between central and national laws. Central EU authorities enjoy a variety of legal and political instruments with which they steer the process of legal unification and harmonization. This legal construct has proven highly successful and functional primarily due to the integrative role of the Court of Justice. However, the significance of not strictly legal factors in the process of legal harmonization should not be underrated. In particular, as this chapter explains, non-state actors within the EU, dense relations and cooperation among legal practitioners and scholars, and the constantly deepening interaction among Europeans are important elements in this process