Introduction: Beyond Monism, Dualism, Pluralism

Abstract

This Special Issue is the result of a year-long collective reflection on the relationship between the EU legal order and international law. Discussions took place within the 2014–15 Annual Seminar Series ‘Beyond Pluralism? Co-Implication, Embeddedness and Interdependency between Public International Law and EU Law’ of the Centre for Law and Society in a Global Context of Queen Mary, University of London, convened by the co-editors of this volume.1 The Series analysed specific legal areas from the viewpoint of both the EU and public international law in a range of ‘thematic dialogues’ (on monetary policy; energy and environmental law; human rights; crime, justice and terrorism; and common foreign and security policy). An inductive methodology was applied, based on direct observation of the respective thematic field, intended to allow contributors to draw conclusions on the actual processes of reception, compliance, and/or contestation between the EU and international legal orders on that basis. A final one-day workshop: ‘Constructive Links or Dangerous Liaisons? The Case of Public International Law and European Union Law’, closed the Series and served to put findings into perspective, reflect upon them, and consider how best to articulate the link between the two regimes.2