The Democratisation of EU International Relations Through EU Law

Description

Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, key improvements have occurred in the democratisation of EU international relations through the increased powers of the European Parliament. Nevertheless, a comprehensive legal analysis of the new developments in democratic control of EU external action has not yet been performed. This book aims to improve the understanding of the set of mechanisms through which democratic control is exerted over EU external action, in times of profound transformations of the legal and political architecture of the European integration process. It analyses the role of the Court of Justice in the democratisation of international relations through EU law, and further provides a legal overview of the role of the European Parliament in the conduct of the EU's international relations. In those areas where the powers of the Parliament have greatly increased the book aims to raise questions as to whether this enhanced position has contributed to a more consistent external action. At the same time, the book aims to contribute to the debate on judicial activism in connection with the democratisation of EU external action. It offers the reader a detailed and topical analysis of the recent developments in democratic control of external action which are of relevance in the daily practice of EU external relations lawyers, including the topic of mixed agreements This text will be of key interest to scholars and students working on EU external relations law, EU institutional law, European Union studies/politics, international relations, and more broadly to policy-makers and practitioners, particularly to those with an interest on the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations List of principal abbreviations List of contributors Acknowledgement Foreword The democratic legitimacy of EU international relations: an introduction 1 Are EU international relations democratic? A question worth asking 2 Democracy and legitimacy in the European Union 3 The EU in international relations: more democratic but less efficient? 4 The democratic legitimacy of EU international relations: an overview Notes PART I: The role of the Court of Justice in the interplay between democracy and institutional balance 1. Lost in principles? Institutional balance and democracy in the ECJ case law on EU external action 1 Introduction 2 The autonomy of a vaguely defined legal principle with limited functionality 3 Effectiveness and institutional balance: two requirements difficult to reconcile within the EU’s model of external action 4 The unexplored potential of the relationship between democracy and institutional balance 5 Concluding remarks Acknowledgement Notes 2. The CJEU and the external powers of the Parliament: self-restraint or activism? 1 Introduction 2 Historical background: the evolution of the Parliament’s external powers through Treaty revisions and other arrangements 3 How has the CJEU ruled on the Parliament’s external powers since the 1990s? 4 Self-restraint at the CJEU? 5 Conclusion Notes PART II: The role of the European Parliament in the conclusion of international agreements in the Post-Lisbon period 3. The European Parliament in the conclusion of international agreements post-Lisbon: entrenched between values and prerogatives 1 Introduction 2 The involvement of the EP in the conclusion of international agreements 3 The influence of the EP on the content of international agreements in the post-Lisbon period 4 Conclusions Acknowledgement Notes 4. A tale of two principles: exploring the democracy-consistency nexus in light of the pirate-transfer saga 1 Introduction 2 The pirate transfer saga and the Court’s contribution to more democratic international agreements 3 Through the looking glass and what the Court found: the principle of consistency in interinstitutional disputes 4 Democracy and consistency: odd bedfellows or perfect tandem? 5 Concluding remarks Acknowledgement Notes 5. The democratic puzzle of ‘living’ megaregional agreements: TTIP and TPP 1 Introduction 2 The European Parliament’s approach to foreign trade 3 Conduciveness of TTIP to enhanced regulatory cooperation 4 Rationale for increased parliamentary involvement in transatlantic regulatory cooperation 5 Institutional dynamics of horizontal regulatory cooperation in TTIP 6 Designing EU-US legislative cooperation 7 Comparative insight from the Trans-Pacific Partnership 8 Concluding remarks Notes 6. The role of the European Parliament in the adoption of non-legally binding agreements with third countries 1 Conceptualising the issue 2 The institutional balance in the making of EU external action 3 Concluding remarks Notes PART III: Democratic oversight by the European Parliament: beyond the conclusion of international agreements 7. Legal aspects of parliamentary oversight in EU foreign and security policy 1 Introduction 2 Parliamentary oversight in CFSP on the basis of the Treaties 3 Additional instruments for parliamentary oversight in CFSP 4 Concluding remarks Acknowledgement Notes 8. Oversight trumped by secrets? How access to information and leaks affect European parliamentary oversight in foreign policy 1 Introduction 2 Limitations to parliamentary oversight: deep secrets and originator control 3 Parliamentary access to EU official secrets 4 Oversight triggered through leaks and informal information channels 5 Conclusions Acknowledgement Notes 9. The financial dimension of democratic legitimacy in EU external policies: Linking audit and political accountability 1 Introduction: financial accountability, systemic legitimacy, and democratic legitimacy in the EU 2 The complex financial management of EU external policies: opportunities and challenges for political accountability 3 The European Court of Auditors: the technical dimension of financial accountability 4 The political dimension of financial accountability: EU foreign policies and the discharge Procedure 5 Conclusions Notes PART IV: The role of national democracies in a multilevel system: a needed extra layer of legitimacy? 10. Rebels with a cause? Parliaments and EU trade policy after the Treaty of Lisbon 1 Introduction 2 EU trade policy after the Treaty of Lisbon 3 What role for parliaments in EU trade policy? – actor-specific responses 4 Concluding remarks Notes 11. National parliaments and mixed agreements: exploring the legal bumps in a rocky relationship 1 Introduction 2 Why mixity? 3 Parliamentary involvement in mixed agreements at EU and Member State-level 4 National parliaments and mixed agreements: tricky legal questions and dilemmas 5 Conclusion Notes Index