EU law as applicable law in international disputes and its procedural implications

This contribution aims to prove that, depending on the specific circumstances of the dispute at stake, different solutions are required in order to protect the Union autonomy where EU law is the applicable law. This analysis will take into consideration the different nature of Union law—as international or domestic law—distinguishing four different typologies of international disputes. The first of the four categories is the so-called inter se EU Member States disputes, where two EU Member States are parties to an international dispute as applicant and respondent. The second category where EU law, as international law, amounts to applicable law is foreseen under the so-called “integration-oriented agreements”, that is, treaties whose purpose is to extend EU law to third parties. The third category of international disputes takes place when EU law amounts to domestic law, and will be treated as ‘a matter of fact’, rather than ‘a matter of law’, while the applicable law is the international agreement allegedly violated. The fourth and final category will focus on intra-EU investor-state disputes where EU law may be the applicable law as international or domestic law.