The European Union’s external action: views from the outside

Abstract

While most studies in EU external relations law take an inside-out perspective, the question of how the EU and its external action is viewed from the ‘outside’ is hardly ever raised in EU legal scholarship. Yet studies from the outside can help us to understand how third States and international institutions perceive the (normative) role the EU aims to play. As the EU’s external action develops, the law governing the EU’s external action has indeed received greater attention from the ‘outside’. The articles published in this special issue were presented at a workshop on ‘The European Union’s External Action and International Law: A View From the Outside’ organised by the International Law and Affairs Group (ILAG) of the City Law School and the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on the EU as a Global Actor. This introductory article sets the scene for a special issue drawing together various outside perspectives, examining the views from selected international institutions, cooperation frameworks, and non-EU States.