Foreign Policy Objectives in European Constitutional Law

by Joris Larik

Overview

Presenting the first comprehensive account of foreign policy objectives as a growing part of European constitutional law, Joris Larik confronts the growing trend of enshrining international ambitions in the highest laws of states and the European Union. Closely examining the provisions of foreign policy objectives, Larik differentiates their legal force and functions, situating them into the overall legal order of the state, the EU, and the composite 'European constitutional space'. He argues that the codification of foreign policy objectives suggests a progression in the evolution of the role of the constitution: from limiting public authority to guiding it towards certain goals, both at home and in the wider world.

Advancing a comparative constitutional perspective for the study of EU external relations, this volume contributes a constitutional dimension to the 'normative power' debate in the study of EU foreign policy. Drawing on established national doctrines on constitutional objectives from Germany, France, and India, the book provides a common vocabulary for coming to terms with foreign policy objectives as legal norms across different jurisdictions. In the pluralist context and closely intertwined legal orders of the EU and its Member States, it shows how objectives help to channel the individual ambitions of the Member States through the Union framework towards a more coherent external action. Furthermore, the book connects its legal findings with the debate on the EU as an actor in international relations, exploring the role of these norms in inter-institutional struggles and processes of identity-shaping, legitimation, and socialization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198736394
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/10/2016
Series:	Oxford Studies in European Law
Pages:	358
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Joris Larik, Assistant Professor of Comparative, European, and International Law at Leiden University; Senior Researcher, The Hague Institute for Global Justice

Dr. Joris Larik is Assistant Professor of Comparative, European, and International Law at Leiden University and Senior Researcher at The Hague Institute for Global Justice. His work focuses on the law and policy aspects of regional organizations as actors in world politics, comparative and multilevel constitutional law, and global governance reform. Dr. Larik's work has been acknowledged with several awards, including the NATO Manfred Worner Essay Award (2008), the Outstanding Paper Award from the Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University (2012), and the Mauro Cappelletti Prize for the Best Thesis in Comparative Law (2014) from the European University Institute (EUI). In 2014-15, Dr. Larik served on the core project team for the Report of the Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance, co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister Ibrahim Gambari.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Europe's International Ambitions as a Topic of Constitutional Law1. Understanding a Constitutional Foreign Policy Objectives: Insights from Comparative Constitutional Law2. The Substance of Constitutional Foreign Policy Objectives3. Foreign Policy Objectives as Norms of EU Constitutional Law4. E Pluribus Cohaerente: Foreign Policy Objectives in the European Constitutional Space5. 'Normative Power' and the Power(lessness) of Norms: Constitutional Foreign Policy Objectives and the Theories of International RelationsConclusion: European Constitutional Law between 'Worldy Ambition' and Spes Saeculi

Editorial Reviews

"Larik's work represents the most comprehensive and legally reasoned argument on the nature, legal force and value of EU's foreign policy objectives to date. By providing academics and practitioners alike with a legal framework in which to understand foreign policy objectives, it has the potential to shape the 'bounds of possibility' of the debate on EU's external action for years to come." — Teresa Cabrita, European Constitutional Law Review

"To begin with, the book is a remarkable study in comparative law, dedicated to the phenomenon that "constitutions today increasingly exhibit a considerable amount of global ambitions" ... Foreign Policy Objectives in European Constitutional Law is also an excellent book about the distinctiveness of foreign affairs. ... Larik's book deserves to be considered as an authoritative voice in the field of European external relations law, as its multi-disciplinary analysis is rigorous, insightful and thought-provoking." — Luigi Lonardo, European Law Review

"This is an intensely thought-provoking book, and the analysis of a wide range of theories and literature is rigorous and impressive. ... The extensive groundwork contained in this comparative research may pave the way for rigorous testing of the relevance of the shared foreign policy objectives to the actions - both successful and unsuccessful - which the Union has undertaken under the constitutional powers it now has to conduct a common foreign policy." — Eileen Denza, International & Comparative Law Quarterly

"This timely analysis of the topic which has not been extensively explored thus far makes the book essential reading for everyone - students, scholars, policy analysts and decision-makers - interested in the EU's international relations, policies, actions and commitments." — Davor Petric, Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy, University of Zagreb - Faculty of Law

"With the Lisbon Treaty in force for over seven years and the challenges that await the EU and its Member States' foreign policy, this book will shape academic thinking on the constitutional value of these objectives. Whether one is interested in a comparative analysis between the EU, States' and international organizations' constitutional approaches to foreign policy, the constitutional constraints and possibilities these objectives pose on the EU and its Member States, or a more theoretical discussion on the constitutional meaning of foreign policy objectives, this book will be a reference for years to come." — Laurens Ankersmit, Common Market Law Review

From the Publisher