The topic of this book is the external action of the EU within international economic law, with a special focus on investment law. The aim of the volume is to provide the reader with an appraisal of the most recent trends and developments that have characterised a field that has been rapidly evolving and in which the EU has imposed itself as a leading actor. The book is aimed at academics, practitioners and graduate students as well as at EU officials and judges, all of whom should find the subject matter discussed useful for keeping updated on a scholarly discussion of relevance to case law. Mads Andenas is Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo in Norway. Luca Pantaleo is Doctor of Law and Senior Lecturer in International and European Law at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands. Matthew Happold is Professor of Law at the Université du Luxembourg in Luxembourg. Cristina Contartese is Lecturer in Law at the European Law and Governance School in Athens, Greece.

This timely book explores the complexities of the EU’s international economic relations in the context of its commitment to the rule of law both within the Union and internationally. Bringing together diverse perspectives from both EU and international law scholars and practitioners, the book investigates some of the most controversial and lively issues in the field of EU external relations and the relationship between EU law and international law.

The EU has established itself as a significant international legal actor. This volume brings together the key primary legal materials relating to the foreign relations powers of the EU and its practices, with editorial commentary. It is an ideal resource for students, scholars, and practitioners in the field.

This timely book gives an overview of the main legal issues the EU faces in negotiating, concluding and implementing so-called ‘New Generation’ free trade agreements. Featuring contributions by international specialists on EU external action, this book demonstrates why these FTAs have become challenging for the EU, as well as analysing how the EU has dealt with its institutional constraints, and addresses contemporary debates and future challenges for EU institutions and Member States.

This book offers a conceptualisation of unintended consequences and addresses a set of common research questions, highlighting the nature (what), the causes (why), and the modes of management (how) of unintended consequences of the European Union’s (EU) external action. The chapters in the book engage with conceptual and empirical dimensions of the topic, as well as scholarly and policy implications thereof. They do so by looking at EU external action across various policy domains (including trade, migration, development, state-building, democracy promotion, and rule of law reform) and geographic areas (including the USA, Russia, the Western Balkans, the southern and eastern European neighbourhood, and Africa). The book contributes to the study of the EU as an international actor by broadening the notion of its impact abroad to include the unintended consequences of its (in)actions and by shedding new light on the conceptual paradigms that explain EU external action. This book fills the gap in IR and EU scholarship concerning unintended consequences in an international context and will be of interest to anyone studying this important phenomenon. It was originally published as a special issue of The International Spectator (Italian Journal of International Affairs). Chapters 1, 3, 7, 8 and 9 are available Open Access at https://www.routledge.com/products/9780367346492.

This volume examines the legal and constitutional foundations of the EU's external relations. It focuses on the EU's external powers and objectives, on the instruments, principles and actors of external policies, and on the legal effects of international agreements and international law.

For many observers, the European Union is mired in a deep crisis. Between sluggish growth; political turmoil following a decade of austerity politics; Brexit; and the rise of Asian influence, the EU is seen as a declining power on the world stage. Columbia Law professor Anu Bradford argues the opposite in her important new book The Brussels Effect: the EU remains an influential superpower that shapes the world in its image. By promulgating regulations that shape the international business environment, elevating standards worldwide, and leading to a notable Europeanization of many important aspects of global commerce, the EU has managed to shape policy in areas such as data privacy, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, antitrust, and online hate speech. And in contrast to how superpowers wield their global influence, the Brussels Effect - a phrase first coined by Bradford in 2012- absolves the EU from playing a direct role in imposing standards, as market forces alone are often sufficient as multinational companies voluntarily extend the EU rule to govern their global operations. The Brussels Effect shows how the EU has acquired such power, why multinational companies use EU standards as global standards, and why the EU's role as the world's regulator is likely to outlive its gradual economic decline, extending the EU's influence long into the future.