Messianism, Mission or Realpolitik? Some Concluding Observations on the Union's Role in Shaping the International Legal Order

Fabian Amtenbrink 

Erasmus University Rotterdam - Erasmus School of Law; European Center for Financial Integration Studies (ECFIS)

Dimitry Kochenov 

University of Groningen - Faculty of Law
March 5, 2013

Forthcoming, in D. Kochenov and F. Amtenbrink (eds.), 'European Union's Shaping of the International Legal Order' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013) 
Abstract:      
These are the conclusions to an edited volume compiled to test the feasibility of an active paradigm of the study of EU's engagements with the international legal order. The work aims at analysing how the EU shapes its environment and creates rules and practices for the world, reshaping – or at least attempting to reshape – international law. The book does more than simply visiting a range of essential fields of EU’s engagement. It offers an ethical perspective on the Union’s actions, shedding light on some underlying motivations, which are at times more complex than what the official documents would suggest. This collection advocates what we refer to as an ‘active paradigm’ of the study of the EU in the international legal context, approaching the Union as an active co-creator of the international legal order.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 14

Keywords: EU, external relations, law, international relations, international law, values, export of aquis, raison d'etre, legitimacy

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2229731