The Current Legal Basis and Governance Structures of the EU’s External Action

By Viktor Szép & Ramses A. Wessel

This Working Paper explores the current legal basis and governance structures of the European Union’s (EU) “external action plus”.

In our understanding, the notion of “external action plus” not only includes the foreign, security and defence policy, trade, sanctions policy, development cooperation or humanitarian aid but also EU sectoral policies with an external dimension.

In line with this definition, this Working Paper presents both the traditional external action areas of common commercial policy, sanctions policy and development cooperation and humanitarian aid, as well as the external dimension of some internal policy areas, including competition, health and environment.

Despite several Treaty amendments, the EU’s external actions are still fragmented and competences are scattered throughout the two Treaties.

The list of common objectives under Article 21(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) or the dual role of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) are clear attempts to overcome the “bipolarity” of EU external actions.

The continued existence of different legal bases that enable the Union to act externally still represents a significant challenge for EU policymakers.