The State(hood) of the Union: The EU’s Evolving Role in International Law

Abstract

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2024 9(1), 367-376 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. The state(hood) of the Union. – II. The EU as a state in international agreements. – III. The EU as a state under the 1969 Vienna Convention. – IV. The EU as a state in international dispute settlement. – V. Degrees of statehood? | (Abstract) There is one thing that lawyers - from both European Union and international law perspectives – can agree on: the EU is not a state. Yet the EU is now treated as a state-like entity in a variety of legal settings. Through concluding and participating in international treaties, through the CJEU interpreting and applying international agreements; and through dispute settlement bodies accepting the multiple nature of EU law, the Union now presents challenges to international law. This contribution argues that a conception of sovereignty as a functional and relational concept, rather than absolute and indivisible, would allow the Union to be accepted as a state for certain purposes in international law. The term “state” in international agreements could be interpreted to include legal persons, such as the Union, exercising degrees of statehood. If the EU continues to be regarded as a state-like entity, there will be a growing case for legal consequences to flow from this. Rather than speaking of the Union’s indeterminate or dual character in international law, it should be regarded as exercising degrees of statehood.

Keywords

• sovereignty
• statehood
• international law
• law of treaties
• dispute settlement
• court of justice of the european union