The International Responsibility of the European Union: A Basic Interpretive Pattern

Abstract

The legal personality of the European Community (EC) and of the European Union (EU) has been the subject of debate for a long time. Although before Lisbon there was quite a uniform consensus as to the legal personality of the European Community within the framework of the three-pillared structure of the Union, with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty the EU has definitely been granted legal personality (Art. 47 of the Treaty on the European Union [TEU]), and thus enjoys unitary status in international law. This status is not equivalent to that of states but, technically speaking and despite the specific structure of the Union, is the same as that of international organizations. In other words, the EU is the holder of international obligations that it can negotiate and might breach by way of unilateral or multilateral acts and omissions.