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EMIL RUFFER
CYIL 5 ȍ2014Ȏ
academic year 2000-2001 he received the Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship for
studies of European and International Public Law at Humboldt University in Berlin.
He has been working in the EU Law Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Czech Republic since 2003 and became its director in 2008. During the United
Kingdom’s Presidency in the EU (6-12/2005) he was posted at the Czech Embassy
in London. In 2007 he received a Ph.D. from Charles University, Faculty of Law
(doctoral programme Public Law I: European, International and Constitutional
Law) upon completing research in the area of legal aspects of EU external relations,
which is one his fields of specialisation. In 2011 he spent 6 months as a Visiting
Fulbright Scholar at Fordham Law School in New York. One of his most favorite
plays is Tom Stoppard’s Rock’n’Roll (2006), which just about sums up his theatrical
and musical tastes (with some bits of Shakespeare, Handke, Creation Records and
New York post-punk).
1. Introduction
This contribution will focus on the recent trend to complement the legal
system of the European Union, namely in the area of the Monetary and Economic
Union (hereinafter as the “EMU”), by intergovernmental treaties concluded by the
Member States of the EU outside the Union’s legal framework. Taking recourse to
intergovernmental treaties within the realm of public international law is not an
entirely new method for the progress of European integration: one might just recall the
Schengen Agreement (1985)
2
and the Schengen Implementing Convention (1990),
3
as well as the more recent Prüm Convention (2005).
4
However, we shall focus on the EMU related instruments only and shall therefore
look at the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (hereinafter as the
“ESM Treaty”) and the context in which it was adopted, and, further on, the Treaty
on Stability, Coordination and Governance in Economic and Monetary Union
(hereinafter as the “TSCG” or the “Fiscal Treaty”). These constitute the two most
2
Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal
Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common
borders (Schengen, 14 June 1985), OJ L 239 , 22. 9. 2000, p. 13.
3
Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the
States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic
on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders (Schengen, 19 June 1990), OJ L 239,
22. 9. 2000, p. 19.
4
The Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom
of Spain, the French Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands
and the Republic of Austria on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating
terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration (Prüm, 27 May 2005). The Convention was
subsequently incorporated into the EU legal framework by Council Decision 2008/615/JHA of
23 June 2008 on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and
cross-border crime (OJ L 210, 6.8.2008, p. 1) and Council Decision 2008/616/JHA of 23 June 2008
on the implementation of Decision 2008/615/JHA on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation,
particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime (OJ L 210, 6. 8. 2008, p. 12).