This book examines how and where the EU's intensified external actions have impacted its internal constitutional structure, concentrating on how its organisational principles have been influenced and as a result, profoundly alter the involvement of the various EU institutions and the influence of the Member States on the decision-making process.

• Introduction: External Relations as a Constitutional Challenge


• 1: Conceptual Toolkit: Bonding Structures, Autonomy, Effectiveness and Legitimacy


• 2: EU Loyalty: Framing Legal Relationships


• 3: Organizational Principles Under External Pressure: Subsidiarity, Primacy, and Coherence


• 4: Consequence of Choosing a Legal Basis


• 5: Institutional Powers in External Relations


• 6: International Courts or Tribunals and the Autonomy of the EU Legal Order


• Conclusion: Internal Structures under External Pressure

Christina Eckes is Professor of European Law at the University of Amsterdam and director of the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG).