EU moves beyond the Law
The Treaty of Nice presently governs the legal activities of the European Union.
As reported in my posting below, the EU has reportedly reached agreement to send a contingent of between 1800 and 2000 police and lawyers to aid in the secession of Kosov (a/o) from Serbia.
Details are sparse, probably deliberately so!
But where in the Treaty of Nice can such an action be justified?
I am sending a copy of this posting to an expert on EU law who has published much material on the EU Reform Treaty as if the body being now created will ever be bound by inconvenient legalities.
When and if I receive a reply I will post it on this blog.
Labels: EU Law, EU Reform Treaty, Kosovo, Treaty of Nice
posted by Martin at 10:56 AM
1 Comments:
Mr Cole, here is the answer I e-mailed to you and posted as a reply to your comment on my blog. I hope that it can contribute in some small way to an understanding of the questions you raised:
Dear Mr Cole,
Thank you for your kind words concerning my blog, which tries to present the new treaties of the European Union Article by Article and offer some (hopefully helpful) comments on the provisions.
I am afraid that I have followed the question of independence for Kosovo only as normal consumer of news.
If you want an expert opinion on the tangled questions of independence or secession, you would be better advised to look for someone with a firm grasp of (public) international law.
If I have understood the international situation correctly, there seems to be a stalemate at the United Nations Security Council, with protracted negotiations leading nowhere.
The USA and a majority of NATO/EU members have apparently reached the conclusion to cut the Gordian knot in support of Kosovo's quest for independence.
As far as I understand, there are opposing views and contradictory arguments on the legality of the independence move.
It is hard to believe that all or some member states of the EU would take action they themselves deemed or admitted to be contrary to international law.
Leaving that question to be answered by others, I will only make the observation that the European Council defines the principles and general guidelines for the common foreign and security policy (CFSP), and that the Council adopts joint actions, such as international operations, according to Articles 13 and 14 of the Treaty on European Union.
In other words, the instruments for international operations exist.
CFSP operations by the European Union are firmly based on intergovernmental cooperation, and I presume that you would have to look at the responsibilities of the individual participating governments as much as at the role of the EU collectively.
My preliminary answer to the questions of redress you mentioned is that they would be settled in accordance with the implementing decisions for the joint action in question (mainly assumed by the participating states).
Sincerely yours,
Ralf Grahn
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