The European Union and the Procedure for Concluding International Agreements after the Lisbon Treat (L’Unione europea e la procedura di conclusione degli accordi internazionali dopo il Trattato di Lisbona)

Abstract

Article 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) sets the general procedure the European Union (EU) has to follow when concluding international agreements with third countries and international organizations. It comprises all the institutions involved in the legislative decision-making of the Union, the Court of Justice, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR). With few exceptions -i.e. Article 207 TFEU for agreements on common commercial policy, and Article 219 TFEU for agreements concerning monetary or foreign exchange regime matters- Article 218 TFEU is thus to be applied to all the EU policies, while still maintaining an intergovernmental approach for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), reserving to the High Representative and the Council of the Union all the powers regarding the negotiation and conclusion of CFSP agreements.

Article 218 TFEU concerns all the various phases of the life of an international agreement –i.e. negotiations, signature, conclusion, some aspects of implementation, together with the suspension of the treaty obligations undertaken by Europe. EU primary law, as deeply revised by the Lisbon Treaty, mirrors the always more relevant and widespread activity of the EU as treaty-maker. In particular, Article 218 TFEU makes an effort to promote and support a more transparent and democratic conduct of EU international relations, contemplating now significant powers for the European Parliament in the definition of the treaty instruments agreed on by Europe. It seems, therefore, necessary to undertake an analysis of Article 218 TFEU, in order to assess the impact of this new provision on the unified representation of the European Union in international relations and the inter-institutional dynamics of the EU decision-making triangle, with particular reference to the role of the European Parliament.

Keywords: conclusion of international agreements, international negotiations, international representation of the European Union, inter-institutional conflict, European Parliament, provisional application of treaties, soft law

JEL Classification: K33