Summary
The European Union has a unique sui generis status on the international plane, which is reflected in its capability to enter into diplomatic relations with third states and international organizations. Over nearly six decades, the European Union (EU) has gradually built its own worldwide bilateral and multilateral diplomatic network, which is made subject — through specific agreements with the host country — to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The ‘Union delegations’ are now operating as the diplomatic missions of the EU as a whole, in contrast to the former Commission delegations. This article examines the relationship between the EU and international diplomatic law. How does the EU establish and conduct diplomatic relations? What legal instruments are being used? How do the Vienna Convention and customary diplomatic law come into play? What is the exact legal status of EU ambassadors and diplomatic staff? By critically analysing these issues, this article assesses the specific contribution the EU makes to the further development of international diplomatic law.
Summary
When serving abroad, diplomats must abide by both the diplomatic functions detailed in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Convention’s general obligations. This applies, too, to the European Union’s missions (Union delegations), which execute diplomatic functions for the eu in third countries. These diplomatic activities are more severely constrained than for individual member states by the limits set by eu law in terms of the horizontal and vertical division of competences. This article demonstrates how Union delegations fulfil nearly all traditional diplomatic tasks outlined in the Vienna Convention, while going beyond the traditional conception of diplomatic functions in terms of human rights protection, the execution of administrative programmes, and the management of coordination/cooperation modes with eu member state missions on the ground. Ultimately, the article argues that Union delegations are able to meet the demands of modern diplomatic interchange and may have inadvertently altered diplomatic functions altogether.
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