Course 2026-2027 a.y.

— Constitutional foundations of EU external action:

•     Structural principles of EU external action

•     Treaty-making procedure.

•     Foreign policy doctrine and EU strategic agendas

 — The EU as an international actor in the geopolitical landscape:

•     Autonomy of the EU legal order and its implications .

•     Effects of international agreements within the EU legal order.

•     Common Commercial Policy and ‘open strategic autonomy’.

•     The strategic-autonomy regulatory acquis.

•     Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy.

•     Restrictive measures and judicial review.

- The EU as a regional legal actor and the politics of enlargement:

•     EU association arrangements 

•     European Neighbourhood Policy; the ‘Wider Europe’ frame

•     The Treaty framework for accession and withdrawal (Articles 49 and 50 TEU)

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

•     Identify the constitutional foundations and structural principles governing EU external action.

•     Describe EU treaty-making procedure and the regime of mixed agreements.

•     Illustrate the Court of Justice’s autonomy doctrine and its consequences.

•     Compare the legal regimes of the Common Commercial Policy, the Common Foreign and Security Policy, restrictive measures, and the strategic-autonomy regulatory acquis.

•     Situate the EU’s proximity and enlargement policies in the legal and political-science literature on integration, conditionality and the ‘Wider Europe’.

•     Identify the limits and risks of generative AI in advanced legal and policy work, with reference to legal authority and source verification.

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

•     Justify the legal basis, competence category and procedure for a given external-action scenario.

•     Analyse Treaty provisions, secondary law and recent case law at the interface of EU law and international law.

•     Examine the EU’s proximity, enlargement and withdrawal policies through both legal and political-science lenses.

•     Design a coherent legal-policy position on a contested external-relations file.

•     Evaluate AI-generated case summaries, draft memos and policy materials against the original judgments and primary sources.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises
• Individual works / Assignments
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

The course is built around lectures and case-law discussion. The doctrinal narrative runs from the Treaties and the leading judgments of the Court of Justice through to the operational instruments of EU external action, with recent developments — a new judgment, a Council decision, a sanctions package, an accession milestone — woven into the relevant sessions as they arise.

Where helpful, guest speakers from the EU institutions, the diplomatic service or academia are invited to contribute.

Student-led work is also envisaged. This may take the form of short briefings on a leading judgment, the discussion of a recent development brought in by one of the groups, a structured debate on a contested question, or a simulation. The simulation might include a Council negotiation, a mock hearing before the Court, a treaty-making exercise, the drafting of an Advocate General’s opinion.

For attending students, the final grade is composed of a written exam (70%) and a continuous-assessment component (30%) based on the simulation or equivalent in-class exercise selected by the instructor, including the group’s preparation, in-class performance and associated deliverables. The written exam tests the ability to analyse Treaty provisions, secondary law and case law in EU external relations, to apply them to a structured scenario, and to communicate a clear legal argument. The exam is closed book. AI use is prohibited during the written exam.

For not attending students, the written exam is 100% of the mark, aimed at assessing the students' ability to to analyse Treaty provisions, secondary law and case law in EU external relations, to apply them to a structured scenario, and to communicate a clear legal argument.

Teaching materials consist of specialist articles and chapters from books, case law, policy documents etc, as well as the slides used during the lectures. Where possible, and consistently with copyright, teaching materials are uploaded on Bboard; where teaching material cannot be directly uploaded detailed references are given on Bboard.