External Relations Powers of the European Community

As a result both of the way in which the external relations powers of the European Community (“EC” or “Community”) have been organized by the Treaty establishing the European Community (“EC Treaty”) and of the interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (“ECJ”), an analysis of the evolution of the external relations powers requires distinguishing between powers relating to foreign trade in the strict sense of the terms, i.e., “common commercial policy” under Article 113 of the EC Treaty, and other external relations powers both express and implied. The subject of this contribution is the external relations powers of the Community. This contribution does not deal with the external relations of the European Union (“EU” or “Union”) in the area covered by the common foreign and security policy.