The representation of the EU and its Member States in multilateral fora : the AMP antarctique effect

Abstract

This chapter discusses the implications of the Court’s ruling in AMP Antarctique for the question of the EU and the Member States’ representation in international fora established pursuant to mixed multilateral agreements. While the Court itself as well as some commentators have presented AMP Antarctique as a special case with limited precedential value, it is not clear yet what its ramifications will be for the practice of mixed representation in international fora. It is argued that the Court’s reasoning fails to entirely convince in terms of both EU law and public international law. Although in principle AMP Antarctique could have significant repercussions for the EU’s representation in international fora, the ruling leaves enough flexibility for the Court to reduce the judgment’s precedential value to zero. As a result, the Commission has missed an opportunity to clarify the legal framework governing the joint representation of the EU and its Member States under mixed multilateral agreements.