The EU and International Diplomatic Law: New Horizons?
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Summary
The European Union has a unique sui generis status on the international plane, which is reflected in its capability to enter into diplomatic relations with third states and international organizations. Over nearly six decades, the European Union (EU) has gradually built its own worldwide bilateral and multilateral diplomatic network, which is made subject — through specific agreements with the host country — to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The ‘Union delegations’ are now operating as the diplomatic missions of the EU as a whole, in contrast to the former Commission delegations. This article examines the relationship between the EU and international diplomatic law. How does the EU establish and conduct diplomatic relations? What legal instruments are being used? How do the Vienna Convention and customary diplomatic law come into play? What is the exact legal status of EU ambassadors and diplomatic staff? By critically analysing these issues, this article assesses the specific contribution the EU makes to the further development of international diplomatic law.
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8)
Alain Plantey, Principes de Diplomatie (Paris: Editions A. Pédone, 2000), p. 18. According to Plantey (on p. 20), sovereignty is also a necessary condition for diplomacy. The international diplomatic regime has a strong state-oriented nature; see Ben Rosamond, ‘Conceptualizing the EU Model of Governance in World Politics’, European Foreign Affairs Review, vol. 10, no. 4, 2005, pp. 463-476 at p. 465.
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10)
Eileen Denza, Diplomatic Law: A Commentary on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 31; and Plantey, Principes de Diplomatie, p. 204.
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21)
Teija Tiilikainen, ‘To Be Or Not To Be?: An Analysis of the Legal and Political Elements of Statehood in the EU’s External Identity’, European Foreign Affairs Review, vol. 6, no. 2, 2001, pp. 223-241 at p. 228.
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22)
Magdalena Ličková, ‘European Exceptionalism in International Law’, European Journal of International Law, vol. 19, no. 3, 2008, pp. 463-490 at p. 464.
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26)
Michael Smith, ‘The European Union and International Order: European and Global Dimensions’, European Foreign Affairs Review, vol. 12, no. 4, 2007, pp. 437-456 at p. 452.
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27)
Rohit Ambast and Vinay Tyagi, ‘Ambassadors of Europe: An Insight into the Evolution of the European Union and International Diplomatic Law’, Studia Diplomatica, vol. LXI, 2008, p. 16, available online at http://www.ies.be/files/repo/conference2008/EUinIA_VIII_1_AmbastTyagi.pdf.
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28)
See, among others, Simon Duke, ‘Providing for European-Level Diplomacy after Lisbon: The Case of the European External Action Service’, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, vol. 4, no. 2, 2009, pp. 211-233; Michael Emerson et al., Upgrading the EU’s Role as Global Actor (Brussels: CEPS, 2011); Jan Wouters, Dominic Coppens and Bart De Meester, ‘The European Union’s External Relations after the Lisbon Treaty’, in Stefan Griller and Jacques Ziller (eds), The Lisbon Treaty: EU Constitutionalism Without a Constitutional Treaty? (Vienna: Springer, 2008), pp. 143-203; and the introductory article of this special issue of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy.
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36)
Roberts, Satow’s Diplomatic Practice, p. 407. The member states are represented by the Commission in multilateral forums for the areas where the European Community has competence; this role has expanded extensively within and across competence sectors; see R.P. Barston, Modern Diplomacy (Essex: Pearson Education, 2006, 3rd edition), p. 85.
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42)
European Parliament, ‘Definitive Adoption of the European Union’s General Budget for the Financial Year 2011’, OJ 2011, L 68, 15 March 2011, I/512, available online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do? uri=OJ:L:2011:068:0001:0550:EN:PDF (consulted in April 2011).
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45)
Presidency Report of the EEAS 2009, § 22.
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49)
Biswanath Sen, A Diplomat’s Handbook of International Law and Practice (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1988), p. 22.
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55)
Sen, A Diplomat’s Handbook of International Law and Practice, p. 34.
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56)
Sen, A Diplomat’s Handbook of International Law and Practice, p. 50; and Zieck, ‘Diplomatiek en Consulair Recht’, p. 281. However, since the essence of the agrément procedure is its informality, the VCDR does not prescribe a form or method to be used; see Denza, Diplomatic Law, p. 49. Members of a diplomatic mission other than the head of mission are not subject to the previous agrément of the receiving state (Art. 7 of the VCDR).
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63)
Jean Salmon, Manuel de Droit Diplomatique (Brussels: Bruylant, 1994), pp. 141-148.
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64)
Dimier and McGeever, ‘Diplomats without a Flag’, p. 496; and Philippe De Schoutheete and Sami Andoura, ‘The Legal Personality of the European Union’, Studia Diplomatica, vol. LX, no. 1, 2007, p. 7, available online at http://aei.pitt.edu/9083/01/Legal.Personality.EU-PDS-SA.pdf.
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68)
Rasmussen, ‘The Messages and Practices of the European Union’s Public Diplomacy’, p. 274.
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70)
Berridge, Diplomacy, p. 119; and Barston, Modern Diplomacy, pp. 134-135.
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71)
Duke, ‘Providing for European-Level Diplomacy after Lisbon’, p. 212.
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87)
Denza, Diplomatic Law, p. 119; Plantey, Principes de Diplomatie, p. 255; and Roberts, Satow’s Diplomatic Practice, p. 197. The most senior ambassador is the doyen of the diplomatic corps.
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101)
ICJ, Haya de la Torre Case of 13 June 1951 (Colombia v. Peru), ICJ Rep. 1951, p. 71. The reach of such an agreement between the state parties involved was the outcome of this case on diplomatic asylum being granted to a Peruvian national by the Colombian Embassy in Lima. The International Court of Justice held that, although Colombia was under no obligation of international law to surrender refugee Victor Raul Haya de la Torre to the Peruvian authorities, the diplomatic asylum had to be terminated (§ 83).
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103)
Denza, Diplomatic Law, p. 1; Holger P. Hestermeyer, ‘Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961)’, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, p. 1, available online at www.mpepil.com (consulted in February 2011).
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106)
See ECJ, Case C-286/90, Anklagemyndigheden v. Peter Michael Poulsen and Diva Navigation Corp., [1992] ECR I-6019, para. 9; Case C-405/92, Etablissements Armand Mondiet SA v. Armement Islais SARL [1993] ECR I 6133, paras 13-15; Case C-162/96, A. Racke GmbH & Co. v. Hauptzollamt Mainz, [1998], ECR I-3655, paras 45-46 and 51; Case C-308/06, Intertanko [2008] ECR I-4057, para. 51; Joined Cases C 402/05 P and C 415/05 P, Kadi and Al Barakaat v. Council and Commission, [2008] ECR I 6351, para. 291. See also European Court of First Instance Case T-115/94, Opel Austria GmbH v. Council, [1997] ECR II-39; Marise Cremona, ‘External Relations and External Competence of the European Union: The Emergence of an Integrated Policy’ in P. Craig and G. de Búrca (eds), The Evolution of EU Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 237; and Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca, EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 204.
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The EU and International Diplomatic Law: New Horizons?
In: The Hague Journal of DiplomacySearch for other papers by Jan Wouters in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Sanderijn Duquet in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Summary
The European Union has a unique sui generis status on the international plane, which is reflected in its capability to enter into diplomatic relations with third states and international organizations. Over nearly six decades, the European Union (EU) has gradually built its own worldwide bilateral and multilateral diplomatic network, which is made subject — through specific agreements with the host country — to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The ‘Union delegations’ are now operating as the diplomatic missions of the EU as a whole, in contrast to the former Commission delegations. This article examines the relationship between the EU and international diplomatic law. How does the EU establish and conduct diplomatic relations? What legal instruments are being used? How do the Vienna Convention and customary diplomatic law come into play? What is the exact legal status of EU ambassadors and diplomatic staff? By critically analysing these issues, this article assesses the specific contribution the EU makes to the further development of international diplomatic law.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 2472 | 318 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 448 | 33 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 606 | 73 | 0 |
