The Possibility of Legal Standing for FTA Partners under Article 263 TFEU - European Foreign Affairs Review View The Possibility of Legal Standing for FTA Partners under Article 263 TFEU by - European Foreign Affairs Review The Possibility of Legal Standing for FTA Partners under Article 263 TFEU 29 3

The EU has concluded many international agreements with third states. Since the EU is not a state, it cannot act as a party before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), either as an applicant or as a defendant, which means that the enforcement of these agreements must be regulated through Dispute Settlement provisions in the agreements themselves (though, depending on the subject of the dispute, a procedure within the framework of the WTO is also possible). However, the Court of Justice might have opened the door for a new enforcement possibility in its Venezuela v. Council judgment, where it ruled that Venezuela – a third state – could have legal standing before the Court on the basis of the fourth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU. This article will analyse whether third states could have access to the Court, in order to seek annulment of an EU legal act that potentially violates a provision of an international agreement that the third state had previously concluded with the EU. It will do so by looking at the ratio decidendi of the Court in Venezuela v. Council, and by analysing the conditions of direct and individual concern, the potential exclusionary effects of Dispute Settlement provisions in international agreements, and the need for direct effect of these agreements. For a variety of reasons, the article will mostly focus on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

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