The Enforcement of EU Agreements: Bolstering the Effectiveness of Treaty law?

Abstract

This article argues that evidence has emerged of a twin-track approach to the enforcement by the Court of Justice of the European Union of international agreements concluded by the European Union (EU Agreements). A restrictive stance has been taken to enforcing them against the EU, while a bold approach has been taken to the enforcement of these Agreements as against the Member States. While this may negatively affect the EU's much stressed commitment to international law, it may nonetheless bolster the effectiveness of treaty law by placing at the disposal of litigants the powerful enforcement tools of EU law to ensure compliance by the EU's Member States with this growing body of international treaties.

Note: “Reprinted from Common Market Law Review, Vol. 47: 1719–1756, 2010, with permission of Kluwer Law International.”

Keywords: treaties; EU Agreements; EU; Court of Justice; enforcement; international law; compliance