Treaty Interpretation in the EU: Ensuring Consistency with the bona fide Principle and jus cogens

Abstract

Abstract Treaty interpretation in the EU involves not only the observance of principles governing the interpretation of international agreements, but also the observance of substantive rules of international law applicable in the relations between the parties. While compliance with the former rarely presents an issue for the EU Court of Justice, perhaps because of the open-ended character of rules on treaty interpretation, its judicial practice shows the importance of carefully interpreting treaties so as to ensure their full consistency with customary international rules of a peremptory nature, such as the principle of self-determination of peoples. The Western Sahara saga is illustrative in this regard. These issues are addressed by the article.