Means of Interaction between EU and International Law: Flipping the Question: The Reception of EU Law in the International Legal Order

Summary:

The question addressed in this article is how EU law is (or could be) received by the international legal order. In other words: to what extent can EU law form a source of international law? In that sense this article aims to contribute to an essential element of the theme of this Special Issue, namely the ‘formative influence’ of the European Union on public international law. This contribution is about the effects on international law. This article aims to assess the way in which international law is ‘Europeanised’ outside the EU as well as the extent to which this is possible.

The article will first of all map the EU’s global ambitions, by highlighting the relevant provisions in the Treaties, as well as in other documents. References to relevant case law will also be included. The following section will then investigate the possible ways in which the EU may influence international law. This will be followed by a short theoretical analysis of possible ways in which EU law could serve as an actual source of international law.

Further information:

This article is part of the Special Issue: EU Law and Public International Law: Co-implication, Embeddedness and Interdependency.