The CJEU and the Potential and Limitations of Systemic Integration

This chapter enquires into the CJEU’s increasing reliance on the international law principle of systemic integration in the context of interpreting international agreements concluded with third parties. The main argument advanced here is that, despite the principle’s potential as a tool for achieving the harmonious co-existence between EU and international law, the CJEU’s application of the principle in practice is problematic. The chapter argues that as long as the Court is unwilling to use international law rules as these are understood and applied in international judicial practice, systemic integration cannot be convincingly conceived as a mechanism for promoting the international rule of law within the EU legal order.