Abstract: Setting the general procedure to be followed for the conclusion of international agreements, art. 218 TFEU allocates the powers of the different institutions involved and – compared to the pre-Lisbon legal framework – strengthens the role of the European Parliament. It is therefore with respect to this provision that the status and...

Abstract: The adoption of the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism raises several questions of compatibility with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Although the European Commission is presenting this measure as a “purely environmental” measure, it is, in reality, a trade defense measure that aims to protect the competitiveness of European...

Abstract: To properly understand the various factors that have been conducive to diplomatic tensions between Spain and Morocco, following the mass arrival of migrants crossing the border of the Ceuta enclave in May 2021, we need to move the debate beyond the recurrent reference to “blackmail”. The instrumentalization of migration for political and...

Abstract: The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is the most recent and assertive component of EU external climate policy. Whilst the CBAM has the potential to accelerate global climate governance, by demonstrating that Parties to the Paris Agreement can combat carbon leakage by means of border measures, it could simultaneously foster...

Abstract: The migration crisis at the EU-Belorussian border is escalating and the potential for grave human rights violations against third country-nationals stuck between the two “titans” is more and more likely to materialize. This Insight aims to provide an overview of the emergency measures that have been adopted at the national and EU...

Abstract: The CJEU’s approach to international law in the context of territorial disputes has generally attracted substantial criticism, both for its engagement therewith – i.e., its tendency to cherry-pick the applicable rules – and reliance thereon – i.e., its tendency to apply international rules in a dissimilar fashion to their...

Abstract: This Insight examines how the UK has shaped its sanctions policy from the start of the transition period until the first three months following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The objective of the Insight is to assess whether the UK has aligned with the EU restrictive measures based on art. 215 TFEU or has made political...

Keywords: EU policies – Common Commercial Policy – EU Trade Policy Review – Trade and Sustainable Development – external relations – Free Trade Agreements.
 

On 18 February 2021, the European Commission published its Trade Policy Review, entitled “An Open, Sustainable and Assertive Trade Policy”....

Abstract: In Bank Refah Kargaran (case C-134/19 P Bank Refah Kargaran v Council ECLI:EU:C:2020:793), the Court of Justice decided that it has jurisdiction to award damages for non-contractual liability incurred by the EU for harm caused by certain restrictive measures in Common foreign and security policy (CFSP) decisions. In so...

Abstract: In the Bank Refah Kargaran judgment (case C-134/19 P, judgment of 6 October 2020) the Court of Justice adds the action for damages against CFSP decisions to the list of legal remedies available to individuals targeted by EU restrictive measures. After a brief overview of the case, this Insight examines the reasoning of...