THE LEGAL PERSONALITY OF THE EU

Abstract

The pillar-structure of the European Union, emphasizing the
differences between the three issue-areas, has prevented many observers
from taking the single legal system underlying the EU as a basis of their
analyses. The EC and EU Treaties were deemed to form two separate
legal orders, a view supplemented by the description of the EU as a
temple-like construction, with the EU as a roof resting on three pillars.
The existence of largely isolated European Communities, Common
Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Police and Judicial Cooperation
in Criminal Matters (PJCC) research communities mainly stresses the
differences between the pillars while neglecting the overall context of
the EU legal system.