Euroopa ühenduse ainup devus v lissuhetes

[European Community’s Exclusive Competence in Demarcation of ExternalCompetencies] The need to discuss the European Community’s (EC) exclusive competence in external relations arises because it must be established who has the power to act in the international field and assume obligations before third states, whether the EC or Member States. The main problem in demarcation of external competencies lies in the mere fact that there are no significant expressis verbis provisions in the Treaty establishing the European Community. As a result, the Court of Justice has developed several different competencies. Although there are besides the exclusive competence also shared, concurrent and complementary competencies, the exclusive competence is the only one that forbids Member States to act or take obligations in certain area. But exclusive competence in turn divides into three principles. These principles, found by the Court, are principles of a priori, AETR judgment and opinion 1/76. The principle of a priori means that the exclusivity is reserved to expressis verbis provisions that have the external element. The principle of the AETR judgment arises whenever EC institutions have exercised any power in the area in question. The principle of the opinion 1/76 means that whenever an international agreement is to be concluded in the area where EC has not implemented internal regulations then the EC has the power to conclude an international agreement in question only if effective application of the internal regulations is “inextricably linked” with the international commitments taken. The Courts reasoning in the latest most significant case law, open skies judgments and the Lugano opinion, has lead to uniform and logical framework which enabled the author to draw up a questionnaire that helps the interested party to determine if he has the competence to take international obligations in respective question.