Expanding European Union activity on the international scene has led to development of the legal concepts, principles and rules that govern it. External relations law and practice have also been affected by events within the EU. This volume takes stock of the recent developments in the external relations law and practice of the EC/EU and investigates the increasing interaction between these different fields of Union competence. The first part of this book addresses issues that are broadly constitutional or institutional in character. The second part deals with various aspects of substantive external relations considered in a geographical or geopolitical perspective. The third part selects two specific substantive law areas - intellectual property law and environment law - as examples that illustrate the specific relationship between domestic policy and external relations.

Table of Contents:
Part I. Constitutional and Institutional Questions: 1. Direct effect and interpretation of international agreements in the recent case law of the European Court of Justice Francis Jacobs; 2. Defining competence in EU external relations: lessons from the Constitutional Treaty Marise Cremona; 3. Article 47 TEU and the relationship between first and second pillar competences Alan Dashwood; 4. EC Law and UN Security Council resolutions - in search of the right fit Piet Eeckhout; 5. Fundamental rights and the interface between second and third pillar Eleanor Spaventa; 6. The EU as a party to international agreements: shared competences? Mixed responsibilities? Ramses Wessel; 7. Will the common commercial policy be impeded by non-ratification of the Constitutional Treaty? Peter-Christian Müller-Graff; 8. The extent to which the EC legislature takes account of WTO obligations: jousting lessons from the European Parliament Jacques Bourgeois and Orla Lynskey; Part II. Bilateral and Regional Approaches: 9. The relations between the EU and Switzerland Christine Kaddous; 10. The relations between the EU and Andorra, San Marino and Monaco Marc Maresceau; 11. The EU's Neighbourhood Policy towards Eastern Europe Christophe Hillion; 12. The four common spaces: new impetus to the EU-Russia strategic partnership? Peter Van Elsuwege; 13. The EU's Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East: a new geopolitical dimension of the EU's proximity strategies Erwan Lannon; 14. The EU's transatlantic relationship Günter Burghardt; Part III. Selected Substantive Areas: 15. With eyes wide shut: the EC strategy to enforce intellectual property rights abroad Inge Govaere; 16. EU environmental law and its green footprints in the world Kirstyn Inglis.