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European exceptionalism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 September 2013

GEORG NOLTE*
Affiliation:
Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 9, D-10099 Berlin, Germany
HELMUT PHILIPP AUST*
Affiliation:
Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 9, D-10099 Berlin, Germany

Abstract

The paper discusses recent propositions that, after a period of ‘American exceptionalism’, forms of ‘European exceptionalism’ are now emerging. The paper first asks what makes a political entity ‘exceptionalist’. For this purpose inspiration is sought in the defining features of ‘American exceptionalism’. The paper then discusses whether ‘Europe’ displays comparable features in the fields of international legal policy and domestic rights culture. It also asks whether there are other aspects of European governance which could make it plausible to speak of a European exceptionalism. The paper concludes that it is misleading to use the term ‘European exceptionalism’ because the underlying phenomena are not comparable with what is usually understood as ‘American exceptionalism’.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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References

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11 The book is in large parts an attack on what Gingrich perceives to be President Obama’s ignorance towards the importance of American exceptionalism: ‘President Obama, for example, simply does not understand this concept. In the past, he was outright contemptuous of American exceptionalism, deriding Americans as “bitter” people who “cling” to guns and religion, pronouncing himself a “citizen of the world” … .’ Gingrich, N, A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters (Regnery, Washington DC, 2010) 9Google Scholar. On Obama’s comment on the US ‘leading from behind’ in the Libya crisis: ‘This “definition of leadership” – the closest thing we have to an Obama Doctrine – not only violates American Exceptionalism, it is the precise antithesis of American Exceptionalism. This notion – that America should acknowledge its “decline” and abdicate its global leadership at the behest of those who supposedly “revile” us – is a self-fulfilling prescription for our future as a weaker, less respected, and ultimately less safe country.’, ibid, 178.

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24 Licková (n 5) 487–8.

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26 ILC Fragmentation Report (n 23) para 293, with a reference to art 41, para 1(b)(ii) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 22 May 1969, entered into force on 27 January 1980, 1155 UNTS 331.

27 See, however, for critical views Economides and Kolliopoulos (n 23) 299–300 as well as the ILC Fragmentation Report (n 23) para 294: ‘From the perspective of other treaty parties, the use of disconnection clause (sic) might create double standards, be politically incorrect or just confusing.’

28 Licková (n 5) 489.

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33 Commission v Sweden, Case C-205/06, 2009 ECR I-1335; Commission v Austria, Case C-118-07, 2009 ECR I-1301; Commission v Finland, Case C-118/07, ECR 2009 I-10889.

34 Commission v Sweden, Case C-205/06, 2009 ECR I-1335, para 37.

35 The Commission apparently does not seek a renegotiation of all existing member states’ BITs but rather confines this requirement to those agreements which it considers to include provisions incompatible with EU law; see Cremona, M, ‘Member States Agreements as European Union Law’ in Cannizzaro, E, Palchetti, P and Wessel, RA (eds), International Law as Law of the European Union (Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden, 2012) 291, 321–2.Google Scholar

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38 But see Bradford and Posner (n 5) 39 who argue with respect to pre-emptive self-defence that the ‘Bush Administration and previous administrations never claimed that the United States has the exclusive right to go to war for these purposes.’

39 See UN Doc S/2002/1012.

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45 Bradford and Posner (n 5) 52.

46 B Fassbender, ‘The Better Peoples of the United Nations? Europe’s Practice and the United Nations’ (2004) 15 European Journal of International Law 857, 870.

47 Scheffer (n 20) 221.

48 See de Búrca (n 5) 690–1.

49 Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua, Nicaragua v United States, ICJ Rep 1986, 14, para 186.

50 For an overview of the pertinent legal issues surrounding ‘FRONTEX’ see E Papastavridis, ‘Fortress Europe and FRONTEX: Within or Without International Law?’ (2010) 79 Nordic Journal of International Law 75. On the general limits to cooperation between states in international law see Aust, HP, Complicity and the Law of State Responsibility (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011).Google Scholar

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53 Presidency Conclusions, Brussels Council of the European Union (29–30 October 2009), para 40.

54 Regulation (EU) No 1168/2011 (25 October 2011) OJ (L 304) 1.

55 Frontex Press Release (18 June 2008), available at <http://www.frontex.europa.eu/news/frontex-unhcr-reinforced-cooperation-a0Yf4h> accessed 13 January 2013.

56 Letter of the European Ombudsperson (6 March 2012), Case: OI/5/2012/BEH-MHZ, available at <http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/cases/correspondence.faces/en/11316/html.bookmark> accessed 13 January 2013.

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60 This becomes apparent already from the preamble to the Convention: ‘Considering the Universal Declaration of Human Rights … ; Considering that this Declaration aims at ensuring the universal and effective recognition and observance of the rights therein declared … Being resolved, as the governments of European countries which are likeminded and have a common heritage of political traditions, ideals, freedom and the rule of law to take the first steps for the collective enforcement of certain of the rights stated in the Universal Declaration …’; see also White, RCA and Ovey, C, The European Convention on Human Rights (5th edn, OUP, Oxford 2010) 12.Google Scholar

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63 On missed opportunities to develop a strong EU/EC mechanism for the protection of human rights see de Búrca (n 5).

64 See art 59, para 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights as amended by art 17 of Additional Protocol No 14, May 13 2004 (entry into force 1 June 2010), ETS No 194.

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66 Notable differences between the regional systems should not be overlooked; however, for an instructive comparison see Evans, MD, ‘The Future(s) of Regional Courts on Human Rights’ in Cassese, A (ed), Realizing Utopia: The Future of International Law (OUP, Oxford, 2012) 261, 273–4.Google Scholar

67 It has also been criticized that the EU is not acting very consistently in this regard. See to this effect the study of Khaliq, U, Ethical Dimensions of the Foreign Policy of the European Union: A Legal Appraisal (CUP, Cambridge, 2008) 219–33Google Scholar on the changes of EU foreign policy towards Pakistan. Whereas the coup d’état of General Pervez Musharraf in October 1999 led to the suspension of development aid and cooperation, relations were quickly restored after the attacks of 11 September 2001.

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71 See European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Opinion on the Existing Mechanisms to Review the Compatibility with Human Rights Standards of Acts by UNMIK and EULEX in Kosovo, adopted 17–18 December 2010, CDL-AD(2010)051, para 17.

72 Ibid 13 with fn 17.

73 Ibid.

74 Cf the heated debate in the aftermath of European Court of Human Rights, Agim Behrami and Bekir Behrami v France/Ruzhdi Saramati v France, Germany and Norway, App Nos 71412/01 and 78166/01, Decision of the Grand Chamber of 2 May 2007 on the scope of accountability of UNMIK, available at < http://www.echr.coe.int> accessed 13 January 2013. See, for example, H Krieger, ‘A Credibility Gap: The Behrami and Saramati Decision of the European Court of Human Rights’ (2009) 13 Journal of International Peacekeeping 159.

75 Venice Commission (n 71) para 58.

76 Koh (n 1) 1483.

77 Cf G Nolte, ‘Das Verfassungsrecht vor den Herausforderungen der Globalisierung’ (2007) 67 Veröffentlichungen der Vereinigung der Deutschen Staatsrechtslehrer 129, 151–3.

78 The Court frequently makes use of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its interpretation, see Al-Adsani v United Kingdom, ECHR 2001-XI, para 60 (on the prohibition of torture); A and others v United Kingdom, 49 European Human Rights Review 29, para 178 (on the temporal extension of a state of emergency).

79 Koh (n 1) 1484.

80 Reservation of the United States to the ICCPR, declared upon ratification on 8 June 1992: ‘That the United States considers itself bound by article 7 to the extent that “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” means the cruel and unusual treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and/or Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.’

81 Rubenfeld (n 6) 1988.

82 See also Gardbaum (n 2) 397; Schauer, F, ‘The Exceptional First Amendment’ in Ignatieff, M (ed), American Excpetionalism and Human Rights (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2005) 29, 56.Google Scholar

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84 Koh (n 1) 1483.

85 Ignatieff (n 1) 10.

86 Gardbaum (n 2) 449; and the United States is certainly not exceptionalist in this regard if compared with other common law countries, ibid, at 448; E Riedel, ‘Vorbemerkung vor Titel IV’ in Meyer, J (ed), Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union (3rd edn, Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2011) para 25.Google Scholar

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88 Bundesverfassungsgericht [BVerfG] [Federal Constitutional Court] 9 February 2010 125 Entscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts [BVerfGE] 175 (an English translation of the Judgment is available at <http://www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/ls20100209_1bvl000109en.html> (19 March 2012)).

89 Ibid para 133 of the English translation.

90 National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius, 132 S.Ct. 2566, decision of 28 June 2012.

91 Cf Gardbaum (n 2) 408; it must of course be recognized that several state constitutions in the United States provide for social and economic rights, ibid, at 446; Sunstein, CR, ‘Why Does the American Constitution Lack Social and Economic Guarantees?’ in Ignatieff, M (ed), American Exceptionalism and Human Rights (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2005) 90, 100–1.Google Scholar

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98 G de Búrca, ‘The European Court of Justice and the International Legal Order after Kadi’ (2010) 51 Harvard International Law Journal 1, 49. The Medellin case (Medellin v Texas, 552 U.S. 491 (2008)) concerned the international effects of a judgment by the International Court of Justice on the rights of foreigners to be informed about consular assistance under art 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. In the case, the US Supreme Court found ICJ decisions not to be enforceable in the US legal order.

99 See Nolte, G, ‘The Limits of the Security Council’s Powers and the International Legal System’ in Byers, M (ed), The Role of Law in International Politics (OUP, Oxford, 2000) 315Google Scholar; Nolte (n 77) 132–9; HP Aust, ‘Between Self-Assertion and Deference: European Courts and their Assessment of UN Security Council Resolutions’ (2008) 8 Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional 51.

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102 See (n 33).

103 The Queen, on the application of International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko) and Others v Secretary of State for Transport, Case C-308/06, ECR 2009, I-405.

104 See on this question C Tietje, ‘The Status of International Law in the European Legal Order: The Case of International Treaties and Non-Binding International Instruments’ in J Wouters, A Nollkaemper and E de Wet (eds), The Europeanisation of International Law: The Status of International Law in the EU and its Member States (TMC Asser Press, The Hague, 2008) 55, 59–64; A Tancredi, ‘On the Absence of Direct Effect of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body’s Decisions in the EU Legal Order’ in E Cannizzaro, P Palchetti and RA Wessel (eds), International Law as Law of the European Union (Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden, 2012) 249.

105 Eckes (n 29) 367.

106 Brita v Hauptzollamt Hamburg, Case C-386/08, ECR 2010-1289.

107 Air Transport Association of America et al. v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change et al., Case C-366/10, ECR 2011 – not yet reported, paras 50 (on the priority of international agreements over EU secondary legislation), 101 (on customary international law as a limit to EU action) and 123 (on the general obligation of the EU to exercise its competences in light of the international legal requirements).

108 Ignatieff (n 1) 8.

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112 See, for example, Jalloh v Germany, ECHR 2006-IX, paras 49 ff and 105 for a reference to the jurisprudence of the US Supreme Court; A and others v United Kingdom, 49 EHRR 29, paras 111 (for a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada) and 112 (US Supreme Court); see further Wildhaber, L, ‘The Role of Comparative Law in the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights’ in Bröhmer, J (ed), Internationale Gemeinschaft und Menschenrechte: Festschrift für Georg Ress (Heymanns, Cologne, 2005) 1101.Google Scholar

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114 For references to the practice of the UN Human Rights Committee see, for example, Mammatkulov and Askarov v Turkey, ECHR 2005-I, paras 114, 124; Öcalan v Turkey, App No 46221/99, Judgment of 12 March 2003, para 203 (in this respect upheld by the Grand Chamber in ECHR 2005-IV, para 166).

115 Nußberger, A, ‘Wer zitiert wen? Zur Funktion von Zitaten bei der Herausbildung gemeineuropäischen Verfassungsrechts’ (2006) 61 JuristenZeitung 763, 766 with fn 20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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120 See in particular JHH Weiler, ‘The External Legal Relations of Non-Unitary Actors: Mixity and the Federal Principle’ in JHH Weiler (ed), The Constitution of Europe: “Do the New Clothes Have an Emperor”? And Other Essays on European Integration (CUP, Cambridge, 1999) 130; see further P Koutrakos, EU International Relations Law (Hart, Oxford, 2006) 135–81.

121 Safrin (n 5) 1328–30.

122 Wessel, RA, ‘The EU as a Party to International Agreements: Shared Competences, Mixed Responsibilities’ in Dashwood, A and Maresceau, M (eds), Law and Practice of EU External Relations: Salient Features of a Changing Landscape (CUP, Cambridge, 2008) 152Google Scholar; Tietje (n 104) 64–7; Hoffmeister, F, ‘Litigating against the European Union and its Member States’ (2010) 21 European Journal of International Law 723.Google Scholar

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125 de Búrca (n 5) 690–1.

126 SC Res 1973, UN Doc S/RES/1973 (17 March 2011).

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132 On the limited impact of the EU as a normative power see, for instance, Bendiek, A and Kramer, H, ‘The EU as a ‘‘Strategic’’ International Actor: Substantial and Analytical Ambiguities’ (2010) 15 European Foreign Affairs Review 453, 467–9Google Scholar; Smith, KE, ‘The European Union at the Human Rights Council: Speaking with One Voice But Having Little Influence’ (2010) 17 Journal of European Public Policy 224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

133 Meunier, S and Nicolaїdis, K, ‘The European Union as a Conflicted Trade Power’ (2006) 13 Journal of European Public Policy 906, 922.Google Scholar

134 de Witte, B, ‘International Law as a Tool for the European Union’, (2009) 5 European Constitutional Law Review 265, 278–9Google Scholar; the concept of ‘norm generator’ was first used by Cremona (n 130) 557.

135 Meunier and Nicolaїdis (n 133) 913.