This unique book explores what subregions are in a European context and what roles they fulfil in relation to the European integration process, exploring how subregional cooperation and integration in Europe largely take place in the shadow of the European integration process.

The first edition of this seminal textbook made a significant impact on the teaching of EU external relations law. This new edition retains the hallmarks of that success, while providing a fully revised and updated account of this burgeoning field. It offers a dual perspective, looking at questions from both the EU constitutional law perspective (the principles underpinning EU external action, the EU's powers, and the role of the Court of Justice of the EU); and the international law perspective (the effect of international law in the EU legal order and the position of the EU in international organisations such as the WTO). A number of key substantive policy areas are explored, including trade, security and defence, police and judicial cooperation, the environment, human rights, and development cooperation. Taking a 'text, cases and materials' approach, it allows students to gain a thorough understanding of milestones in the evolution of EU law in this area, their judicial interpretation and scholarly appraisal. Linking these pieces together through the authors' commentary and analysis ensures that students are given the necessary guidance to properly position and digest these materials. Lastly, each chapter concludes with a section entitled 'The Big Picture of EU External Relations Law', which weaves together the diverse and complex materials into a coherent whole and stimulates critical discussion of the topics covered.

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.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the influential ERTA doctrine, this book analyses and contextualises the entire breadth of the jurisprudence of EU external relations law through a systematic, case-by-case account of the field. The entire framework of EU external relations law has been built from the ground up by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union. At the beginning of the field's emergence, the legal questions to be answered concerned the division of powers and competence between, firstly, the Member States and that of the Union; and secondly, the division of powers and competence between the different institutions of the Union. Questions on such matters continue to be asked, but more contemporarily, new legal questions have arisen that have been in need of adjudication, including questions concerning the autonomy of Union law; the relationship between the Union and other international organisations; the relationship between Union law and international law; the scope and breadth of international agreements; amongst others. The book features established academic scholars, judges, agents of institutions and Member States, and legal practitioners in the field of EU external relations law, analysing over 90 cases in which the Court has legally shaped the theory and practice of the external dimension of legal Europe.

Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, key improvements have occurred in the democratisation of EU international relations through the increased powers of the European Parliament. Nevertheless, a comprehensive legal analysis of the new developments in democratic control of EU external action has not yet been performed. This book aims to improve the understanding of the set of mechanisms through which democratic control is exerted over EU external action, in times of profound transformations of the legal and political architecture of the European integration process. It analyses the role of the Court of Justice in the democratisation of international relations through EU law, and further provides a legal overview of the role of the European Parliament in the conduct of the EU's international relations. In those areas where the powers of the Parliament have greatly increased the book aims to raise questions as to whether this enhanced position has contributed to a more consistent external action. At the same time, the book aims to contribute to the debate on judicial activism in connection with the democratisation of EU external action. It offers the reader a detailed and topical analysis of the recent developments in democratic control of external action which are of relevance in the daily practice of EU external relations lawyers, including the topic of mixed agreements This text will be of key interest to scholars and students working on EU external relations law, EU institutional law, European Union studies/politics, international relations, and more broadly to policy-makers and practitioners, particularly to those with an interest on the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the European Union.