EU - UN Relations
The EU and the development of international law
Module by Jan Wouters, University of Leuven
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According to Article 3(5) of the Treaty on European Union, the Union shall contribute “to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter”. In this module we will take a closer look at how the EU turns this commitment into practice by analysing the EU’s contribution to: (1) treaty law, (2) customary international law, (3) the international law of jurisdiction, (4) the settlement of international disputes, and (5) international organizations. We will see that the EU plays an important role in all of these areas – be it as a prolific treaty-maker, as an active party in international trade and investment disputes, or as a member and observer in a large variety of international organizations, ranging from formal intergovernmental organizations such as the WTO and the United Nations, to informal global governance clubs, such as the G7 and the G20.
Keywords: treaty law – customary international law – jurisdiction – dispute settlement – international organizations
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Keywords: treaty law – customary international law – jurisdiction – dispute settlement – international organizations
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Video lecture by Jan Wouters
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Jan Wouters (*1964) is Jean Monnet Chair ad personam EU and Global Governance, Full Professor of International Law and International Organizations, and founding Director of the Institute for International Law and of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, an interdisciplinary centre of excellence, at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). The Centre was recognized in 2016 as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. In Leuven, he teaches public international law, law of international organizations, the law of the World Trade Organization, space law and international humanitarian law. As Visiting Professor at Sciences Po (Paris), Luiss University (Rome) and the College of Europe (Bruges) he teaches EU external relations law. As Adjunct Professor at Columbia University he teaches comparative EU-US perspectives on international human rights law. He is a Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts, is President of the United Nations Association Flanders Belgium, and practises law as Of Counsel at Linklaters, Brussels. He is Editor of the International Encyclopedia of Intergovernmental Organizations, Deputy Director of the Revue belge de droit international, and an editorial board member in ten other international journals. He has published widely on international and EU law, international organizations and global governance. His recent books include The European Union and Multilateral Governance (2012), International Prosecutors (2012), Informal International Lawmaking (2012), Private Standards and Global Governance (2012), China, the European Union and Global Governance (2012), The EU’s Role in Global Governance (2013), National Human Rights Institutions in Europe (2013), The Law of EU External Relations (2nd ed. 2015), China, the EU and the Developing World (2015), Global Governance of Labour Rights (2015), Global Governance Through Trade: EU Policies and Approaches (2015), The Contribution of International and Supranational Courts to the Rule of Law (2015), Global Governance and Democracy: A Multidisciplinary Analysis (2015) and Armed Conflicts and the Law (2016). Apart from his participation in international scientific panels and networks, he advises various international organizations and governments, trains international officials and is often asked to comment international events in the media. He is coordinator of a large-scale FP7 Programme FRAME, (Fostering Human Rights Among European (External and Internal) Policies), and of the Baillet Latour EU China Chair at KU Leuven.
More info: https://ghum.kuleuven.be/ggs/people/00010135
More info: https://ghum.kuleuven.be/ggs/people/00010135
10 Easy questions
10 Advanced questions
10 Advanced questions
Further readings
- Sonja Boelaert, ‘Minding the Gap: Reflections on the Relationship between EU law and Public International Law in the Light of the Judgment in Case C-364/10 Hungary v Slovakia’, in Jenő Czuczai and Frederik Naert (eds.), The EU as a Global Actor: Bridging Legal Theory and Practice (Brill Nijhoff 2017) 217-240.
- Enzo Cannizzaro, ‘The Neo-Monism of the European Legal Order’, in Enzo Cannizzaro, Paolo Palchetti and Ramses A. Wessel (eds.), International Law as Law of the European Union (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2012) 35-58.
- Gráinne De Búrca, ‘The European Court of Justice and the International Legal Order after Kadi’ (2011) 51(1) Harvard International Law Journal 1-49.
- Alessandra Gianelli,‘Customary Law in the European Union’, in Enzo Cannizzaro, Paolo Palchetti and Ramses A. Wessel (eds.), International Law as Law of the European Union (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2012) 93-110.
- Pieter Jan Kuijper, Jan Wouters, Frank Hoffmeister, Geert de Baere and Thomas Ramopoulos, ‘The Status of International Law in the EU’, in Pieter Jan Kuijper, Jan Wouters, Frank Hoffmeister, Geert de Baere and Thomas Ramopoulos (eds.), The Law of EU External Relations: Cases, Materials, and Commentary on the EU as an International Legal Actor (2nd ed., Oxford University Press 2015) 695-796.
- Jan Wouters, ‘The Tormented Relationship between International Law and EU Law’, in Pieter H.F. Bekker, Rudolf Dolzer and Michael Waibel (eds.), Making Transnational Law Work in the Global Economy: Essays in Honour of Detlev Vagts (Cambridge University Press 2010) 198-221.
- Jan Wouters and Marta Hermez, ‘The EU’s Contribution to “the Strict Observance and the Development of International Law”at the UNGA Sixth Committee', in Spyros Blavoukos and Dimitrios Bourantonis (eds.), The EU in UN Politics. Actors, Processes and Performance (Palgrave 2017) 147-163.
- Jan Wouters, Jed Odermatt and Thomas Ramopoulos, ‘Worlds Apart? Comparing the Approaches of the European Court of Justice and the EU Legislature to International Law’, in Marise Cremona and Anne Thies (eds.), The European Court of Justice and External Relations Law – Constitutional Challenges (Hart Publishing 2014) 249-279.