Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2004, 12(2):88-100 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.259

Právní subjektivita Evropské unie. Význam, vývoj a právní úprava

Ivana Chlapcová, Zuzana Trávníčková

Ing. Ivana Chlapcová a Ing. Mgr. Zuzana Trávníčková jsou asistentkami Střediska mezinárodních studií Jana Masaryka na VŠE.

The legal personality (or capacity) is an attribute that can belong to the participators in international relations. It divides all the members of international society into two groups. First of them consists of entities, that enjoy the legal personality - we describe them as subjects of international law. In this group belong states, intergovernmental organisations (so called IGOs) and a group of various other units, e.g. The Holy See or the Sovereign Order of Malta. The second group is composed from the entities without legal personality under international law. Here we could find wide group of non-governmental organisations and strong supranational corporations. They may possess significant political power and heavily influence deciding of the states and intergovernmental organisations, they may have legal personality under municipal law but they do not enjoy the legal personality under the international public law.
The legal personality is defined as possessing rights and duties enforceable at law. It means, that the subject under international law can conclude agreements, can enter into diplomatic relations (enjoys so called right of legation), can submit claims and act before international court or judge, has right to enjoy immunities for itself and for its representatives, can become a member of international organisation or become a party of international convention and also has to hold the responsibility for own unlawful actions.
International organisations, as a subject of international law, enjoy the legal personality different from the personality of member states. There is no doubt about the legal personality of European Communities. Every of the three charters founding the European Coal and Steal Community, European Community and Euroatom includes explicit provision, that the founded organisation enjoys legal personality. Looking at the Maastricht and as well at the Amsterdam treaty, we cannot find any similar provision concerning the legal personality of European Union. The issue of whether the Union has legal personality is disputed. The prevailing view is been that it was not the will of the member states to give the Union legal personality. Expert opinion generally maintains that an international organisation such as the European Union doesn't have the legal personality unless its founders confer such personality on it expressly. In contradistinction to the original treaties about Communities the member states in Maastricht treaty did not acknowledged the personality of Union. Article 24 and 38 of the Treaty of the European Union (added by the Treaty of Amsterdam) give the Council of the European Union the capacity to conclude international agreements. But this competence is strictly limited only on areas covered by the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters and only when it is necessary to implement those titles. The legal effects of such agreement apply only on member states individually and according to the terms and conditions laid down by national law. Regarding this provision the European Union must be seen as a Union of States without legal personality of its own under international public or domestic law, which, when it takes action at international level, does so on the behalf of the member states on not on his own account.
The question of legal personality was comprehensively researched by the European Convention. There was created a working group on legal personality. The group examined the matter closely and for the purpose heard the views of a number of experts. In the final report that was brought into open in October 2002 the working group recommended conferring explicit legal personality on the Union. The single legal personality, according to the opinion of working group, should replace the existing legal personalities. The question of legal personality was one of the "simple" issues discussed by Convention. The working group on legal personality has finished its search quite early (comparing with other working groups) and the final report was established on broad consensus.

Published: June 1, 2004  Show citation