Introduction

The European Union (EU) has long been a busy international actor. Early on in the development of EC law, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed that the European Economic Community (EEC) could conclude ‘international agreements in most if not all its spheres of activity’. The EEC, later European Community (EC), has made very active use of that international legal capacity. As its activities are ever expanding, the number and scope of the international agreements which the EC concludes increases as well. With the conclusion of international agreements have come questions about the legal effects which such agreements produce. The ECJ had to develop its own doctrine on the matter, and this doctrine cannot be neatly encapsulated in a single concept. It is true that scholars, and at times the ECJ itself, have used the ‘direct effect’ catchphrase: most international agreements have such direct effect, but some international agreements do not. A more detailed analysis of the relevant law shows, however, that this catchphrase is no more than just that, and may sometimes even be deceptive.

It is not the object of this paper to return to the legal effects which international agreements, as such, produce. The international legal landscape is fast evolving. International treaties are no longer just about relations between international actors. They often include an institutional framework or set up a full-blown organisation. The founding treaties then become living instruments, on the basis of which myriad different decisions are adopted.