EU External Relations: Exclusive Competence Revisited

This talk will focus on the question of exclusive competence in the field of EU external relations, especially in the light of recent developments in EU law. The question of whether the European Union can act alone in concluding international agreements, or whether Member States’ participation is allowed or called for, does have significance both in theory and in practice—not only for the relations between the European Union and its Member States, but also for its relations with third states. The latter will normally prefer EU agreements to mixed agreements, wishing to avoid the complexities and uncertainties stemming from mixed agreements—who, on the EU side, is responsible for what? After a brief discussion on the origins and development of exclusive competence, a distinction will be made between common commercial policy, which has traditionally been the most important area of an explicit “a priori” exclusive competence, and what is often called an implicit exclusive competence, which, as it is today based on some general criteria enshrined in TFEU Article 3(2), may be called “supervening” exclusive competence. With regard to both categories, the main focus will be on recent developments, notably the impact of the Treaty of Lisbon, which introduced the TFEU and its Articles 2 and 3, as well as the case law of the European Court of Justice following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Allan Rosas, Dr. Jur., Dr.Jur. h.c., Dr.Pol.Sc. h.c., has been serving as judge at the European Court of Justice since 2002. He is a Senior Fellow of the University of Turku and a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges) and the University of Helsinki. Before joining the Court of Justice, he served as a Professor of Law at the University of Turku (1978-1981) and the Åbo Akademi University (1981-1995), and subsequently as a Principal Legal Adviser and Director (external relations) at the Legal Service of the European Commission (1995-2001) and Deputy Director-General of the Legal Service (2001-2002). His more than 400 publications are mainly in the fields of EU law, public international law, constitutional law and administrative law.

The meeting will be held in Lecture Room XI, Brasenose College