In EU Peacebuilding in Kosovo and Afghanistan: Legality and Accountability Martina Spernbauer offers a comprehensive account of the EU's peacebuilding toolbox in light of the EU's constitutional ...architecture under the Treaty of Lisbon.
This article looks upon the most recent developments in the European Union's accession strategies, as from the start of accession negotiations. It first seeks to demonstrate that the pre-accession ...conditionality rationale of stabilising present and protecting future integration objectives underpins the so-called 'specific safeguard clauses' of the 2003 and 2005 Acts of Accession and the latter's cooperation and verification mechanism, accordingly referred to as post-accession conditionality tools. It then argues that this rationale, emphasised also in the imperative of maintaining the momentum of European integration of the Union's 'integration capacity', above all necessitates effective compliance with EU law, and thus full administrative and judicial capacity of (prospective) Member States. Indeed, the lynchpin of these new conditionality devices evokes putting them in the wider context of compliance mechanisms in the enlarged European Union. It thereby becomes apparent how conditionality has lead to a considerable empowerment of the European Commission which, when reaching into the post-accession phase, entails a problematic differentiation between the Member States. Conditionality methodology furthermore, and this is equally shown, has had an impact on the Commission's role as 'guardian of the treaty' within the overall system of ensuring compliance with EU law.
While the European Union (EU) has been finding itself increasingly involved in providing security in its “near abroad,” the proposal of a “Stabilisation and Association Process for Countries of ...South-Eastern Europe” has marked the commencement of a nearly all-encompassing commitment to progress in the countries of the Western Balkans. In this context, Kosovo—for which the European perspective of the Western Balkans has been declared open—provides a text book example covering all aspects of external assistance as well as security and defense policies. Among the latter, the European Union Rule of Law Mission in the territory of Kosovo (EULEX Kosovo) is indeed characterized by a number of extraordinary factors and circumstances. It is not only EULEX Kosovo's unparalleled European and local staff size or its partly executive mandate that set this EU mission apart from other civilian missions of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) which have thus far been deployed to the Western Balkans. Unsurprisingly, the complexity of the mission has generated difficulty in comprehending its deployment, mandate and implementation. Yet, against the backdrop of the 2003 Security Strategy which makes the credibility of the EU's foreign policy dependent on its achievements in the Balkans, a clear understanding of EULEX Kosovo appears paramount.
This article assesses the status, denomination & terms of participation of the European Union (EU) in the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Commission within the wider context of the EU at the UN, ...especially at the General Assembly & the Security Council. Although EU-UN cooperation at an institutional & operational level is considered by both organizations as mutually beneficial, neither the procedural rules of the UN which are only open to state membership nor the complex constitutional architecture of the EU are conducive for "Europe" to always acquire a satisfactory status in UN bodies & agencies. Therefore this contribution first reconsiders the relevant legal parameters for status determination and participation at both the UN and EU level -- regarding the latter with parallel analysis of the amendments brought about by the Treaty of Lisbon. It then examines the negotiating history that led to the eventual compromise of a "de facto common delegation" for EC/EU representation within this new "intergovernmental advisory body." it is contended for reasons that are linked, inter alia, to the peculiar set-up of the Peacebuilding Commission that the EU's participation therein resembles & to a certain extent goes beyond the "enhanced observer" or "full participant" status that the European Community enjoys in other international organizations and conferences. Adapted from the source document.
This article looks upon the most recent developments in the European Union’s accession strategies, as from the start of accession negotiations. It first seeks to demonstrate that the pre-accession ...conditionality rationale of stabilising present and protecting future integration objectives underpins the so-called ‘specific safeguard clauses’ of the 2003 and 2005 Acts of Accession and the latter’s cooperation and verification mechanism, accordingly referred to as post-accession conditionality tools. It then argues that this rationale, emphasised also in the imperative of maintaining the momentum of European integration of the Union’s ‘integration capacity’, above all necessitates effective compliance with EU law, and thus full administrative and judicial capacity of (prospective) Member States. Indeed, the lynchpin of these new conditionality devices evokes putting them in the wider context of compliance mechanisms in the enlarged European Union. It thereby becomes apparent how conditionality has lead to a considerable empowerment of the European Commission which, when reaching into the post-accession phase, entails a problematic differentiation between the Member States. Conditionality methodology furthermore, and this is equally shown, has had an impact on the Commission’s role as ‘guardian of the treaty’ within the overall system of ensuring compliance with EU law.
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