CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ NO REASON TO PARTY: UNITED KINGDOM AS PARTY TO EU … will probably take place during the period of provisional application of the most developed trade treaty which the EU has signed until now – the CETA. In conclusion, this article will provide final remarks on the impact of Brexit on UK participation in EU FTAs and a recommendation for next steps. EU Exclusive Agreements When the EU negotiates an international agreement, including FTAs, in the realm of its exclusive competences, 9 the EU alone has the power to conclude such an agreement. Accordingly, the EU is an independent entity in its own right and a subject of international law. As such it along with the relevant third country can be the sole signatories to exclusive agreements. Under these circumstances, the Member States and specifically the UK are not named as a Contracting party to relevant agreements. This is underlined by the fact that the EU has an international legal personality since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. 10 Therefore, regarding exclusive FTAs, the UK is not a Contracting Party to these treaties because they only bind the UK as a matter of EU law 11 by virtue of its membership in the EU. By leaving the EU, all regulations, directives, decisions, framework decisions and other legal acts of the EU, whether binding or not, are set to terminate their applying to a departing Member State. 12 Since the UK will not be a Member State of the EU any longer, the rights and obligations arising via its EU membership cease to exist for the UK. 13 It is important to recall the continuously expanding scope of the EU Common commercial policy. 14 The EU’s exclusive competence over customs and foreign trade 15 means that the majority of EU FTAs is of an exclusive nature, covering all possible wide-ranging aspects of international trade such as trade in textile products with Serbia, 16 certain steel products with Russia 17 or government procurement with Israel. 18 As a result, a prevailing 9 According to Art. 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) the Union shall have exclusive competence in the following areas: (a) customs union; (b) the establishing of the competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market;(c) monetary policy for the Member States whose currency is the euro; (d) the conservation of marine biological resources under the common fisheries policy; (e) common commercial policy. 10 Art. 47 of the TEU. 11 Supra note 6, Koutrakos. 12 ŁAZOWSKI, Adam, Unilateral withdrawal from the EU: realistic scenario or a folly?, Journal of European Public Policy , Vol. 23, No. 9 (2016), p. 1298. 13 FERNEKESS, Katrin, PALEVIČIENĖ, Solveiga, THADIKKARAN, Manu, The Future Of The United Kingdom In Europe – Exit Scenarios And Their Implications On Trade Relations , Graduate Institute Trade and Investment Law Clinic Papers, 2013 (7 January 2014), p. 48. 14 See the last decision of the European Court of Justice regarding the scope of Common Commercial Policy: Opinion A-2/15 (16 May 2017). 15 Art. 207 of the TFEU governs the EU’s trade policy which is exclusive competence of the EU as well as customs union. 16 Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Serbia on trade in textile products, L90, 08/04/2005, p. 36. 17 Agreement between the European Community and the Russian Federation on trade in certain steel products, L300, 17/11/2007, p. 52. 18 Agreement between the European Community and the State of Israel on government procurement, L202, 30/07/1997, p. 85.

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