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.
Legal Constraints to the European Union’s Accession to the International Maritime Organization
The paper focuses on the relations between the European Union and the International Maritime Organization. First, it briefly describes the framework as well as the impressive development of European law in the field of maritime safety after the “Erika” (1999) and “Prestige” (2002) oil tanker spill disasters. Second, the EU’s current status in the IMO and incentives for EU’s accession to the IMO are discussed. Third, potential legal constraints to the EU’s ambition of being a member of the IMO are analyzed. It argues that the EU will meet both internal (from EU Member States) and external (from other IMO Members) constraints, which can result in an almost impossible mission for the EU to join the IMO in the foreseeable future. It concludes that the EU may reinforce internal coordination process instead of joining the IMO to influence international decision making process within the IMO more effectively.
The European Union and the International Legal Order - Discord or Harmony?
The European Union and International Law.- Legal Personality of the European Union - International and Institutional Aspects.- Suspension of Rights by International Organisations: The European Union, The European Communities and Other International Organisations.- The European union and International Human Rights Instruments.- The Relationship Between The European Convention on Human Rights and The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.- The European Communities and the International Legal Order.- Thirty Years of Case-Law by the European Court of Justice on International Law: A Pragmatic Approach Towards Its Integration.- Decisions of Bodies Established by International Agreements and the Community Legal Order.- Individual Third Countries, Member States, the European Community and the World at Large: How Do They Fit Together?.- How Safe Is Safe? The EU, The USA and the WTO Codex Alimentarius Debate on Food Safety Issues.- Regulating Scientific Expertise with Regard to Risks Deriving from Genetically Modified Organisms: Procedural Rules on Risk Assessment Committees under European Community and International Law.- The International Government Procurement Agreement and the EC Legal Order.- The European Community, the WTO - Trips Agreement and the WIPO Conventions.- EC Liability for Non-Implementation of Adopted WTO Panel and Appellate Body Reports.- Extraterritoriality and International Cooperation: The State of Play in EC-USA Relations in Competition Matters.- International and Community Obligations of the Member States in the Field of Social Security Schemes: Which Impact for Migrant Workers?.- A Hurdled Admission: The Integration of the Candidate Countries Into the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.- Common Foreign and Security Policy and the International Legal Order.- The Conclusion of International Agreements Under Article 24 of the Treaty on European Union.- Common Foreign and Security Policy: International Law Aspects of The Association of Third States with the Common Positions of The Council of the European Union.- The European Union as an Actor within the United Nations General Assembly.- The EU as a Black Widow: Devouring the WEU to Give Birth to a European Security and Defence Policy.- Inter-Pillar Approaches to the European Security and Defence Policy: The Economic Aspects of Security.- European Union Practice in the Field of International Humanitarian Law: An Overview.- Justice and Home Affairs, Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters and the International Legal Order.- The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime and the European Union.- A Treaty Labyrinth of Legal Co-Operation in Criminal Matters: Can Europe Find Ariadne's Thread?.- International Conventions and EU Law on the Illegal Trafficking of Cultural Goods: Complementarity and Conflicts.- Legal and Technical Aspects of Co-Operation Between Europol, Third States, and Interpol.