L'Union européenne comme acteur international

This volume of the third edition of the Commentary J. Mégret is, by the chances of the calendar, the second of the great subject "External relations". It addresses several key issues in all areas of the European Union's external relations and, as such, constitutes the necessary complement to the other volumes of this major subject. These questions merit consideration in the light of the particularities of the European Union, as international law continues to have some difficulty adapting to the unusual phenomenon of the European Union. They are dealt with here in depth by eminent scholars, academics and practitioners who have appealed to their knowledge, experience and memory. The book opens with a chapter on the international legal personality of the Union, namely its capacity to be subject to international rights and obligations.^ This contribution highlights some little-known aspects of external relations law, in particular the responsibility of the Union as a result of its participation in an international organization, illustrated by the MaclaineWatson case. Chapter II, which details the Union's international rights and obligations, makes it possible to take stock of the complexity of the relationship between European Union law and international law, for example as regards the way in which the active or passive international responsibility of the European Union, or "mixed" agreements, the fate of agreements concluded by member states, the effect of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and the Charter the United Nations or the European Union in the face of peremptory norms of international law.^ An analysis of the role of the Union as an international actor and member of international organizations, in particular the difficulties encountered by the Union in finding an adequate place in the United Nations system, follows in Chapter III. Chapter IV deals with the implementation of international agreements in EU law, with particularly interesting findings, such as the one that the implementation of GATT obligations in EU law forbearance by the Union and the Member States from any contrary action ". Finally, Chapter V examines the effects of international agreements on European Union law. The analysis of several recent cases, such as the Air Transportation of America case concerning the effect of the Kyoto Protocol in the Union's legal order and the Kadi I judgment , which affirms the primacy of fundamental rights of the legal order of the Union on a resolution of the Security Council of the United Nations, demonstrates, if need be, how this theme remains of great relevance.^ The book brings together, around Jacques Bourgeois, a lawyer and professor at the College of Europe, coordinator of the major subject "External relations" and of this volume, an international and interdisciplinary team of eminent specialists: Jean-Victor Louis, Professor Emeritus at the Free University of Brussels, Stanilas Adam, Member of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Nanette Neuwahl, Professor at the University of Montreal, Erwan Lannon, Professor at the College of Europe and the University of Ghent , Eric White, legal adviser in the Legal Department of the European Commission, and Saïd Hammamoun, postdoctoral fellow at the Public Law Research Center of the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal.--Translation of page 4 of cover by Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles.