The European Union's Foreign and Security Policy:A Legal Institutional Perspective (Legal Aspects of International Organization)

The common foreign & security policy (CFSP) of the European Union & its member states reflects an unprecedented form of international cooperation on the borderline between international law & European Community law. While traditionally being viewed as a form of 'intergovernmental cooperation' alongside the more 'supranational' European Community, CFSP in this book is presented as a form of legal cooperation that is far from informal. The former diplomatic European Political Cooperation has developed into a policy in which the states still play an important role, but where their competences are shared with the international organisation called the European Union. Conclusions on the interpretation of the 'CFSP legal order' & on the legal status of the European Union are based on a thorough analysis of the purposes & scope of CFSP, the decision-making procedures, the nature of the CFSP decisions, the existing supervisory mechanisms & the competences of the European Union. The book addresses the key issues of international institutional law in an original & clarifying manner. This makes the book not only a valuable source for academics working in European Union law & international institutional law in general, but also for practitioners involved in national & European foreign policy making. The book contains an extensive bibliography as well as a list of adopted CFSP decisions.Ramses Wessel is the author of 'The European Union's Foreign and Security Policy:A Legal Institutional Perspective (Legal Aspects of International Organization)', published 1999 under ISBN 9789041112651 and ISBN 9041112650.