The EU as an Actor and Postnational Sovereign: Between Doctrine, Theory, and Practice

The EU is legally obliged to act as a good global governance actor in its own treaties, a normative and legal criterion, which suggests much coherence in its practices.  The acquisition of ‘legal personality,’ an important legal formality for authority to act, has not meant that the EU fully participates as a State in the global legal order.  It faces the reality that International organisations admission rules and international agreements cannot be easily renegotiated.  And while the EU is referred to as a ‘global actor’, this view is not always shared across disciplines. Even if neither coherent nor optimal, the EU and its Member States continue to co-exist and function together, globally. Nevertheless, the EU regularly makes arguments before the US Supreme Court against the death penalty in the US so as to promote its values, even prior to its acquisition of legal personality.  And the EU Member States often allow the EU to act as lead negotiator in certain organisations, even where the Member States themselves have competence.  

The paper considers how the ‘actorship’ qualities of the EU are understood across disciplines, in doctrine and theory. The paper considers how the EU practices norm promotion externally, i.e. globally, especially directly, since the Treaty of Lisbon. The paper briefly contrasts these practices with the EU promotion of external norms in both its internal and external rule-making. It examines how the EU actually practices its postnational sovereignty and the extent to which practices of pragmatism impact upon our understanding thereof.