UCC School of Law’s Dr Luigi Lonardo to publish new book exploring the legal evolution of EU foreign policy

27 Jan 2021

The monograph is forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan.

Dr Luigi Lonardo, who recently joined the faculty at the UCC School of Law, has just signed a book contract with Palgrave: Macmillan to publish a new monograph with the working title of “Legal Evolution of EU Foreign Policy”.

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is an area of critical importance for the project of European integration, for security purposes, for political motives, and as an issue of identity. A repeated call is often heard for the EU to ‘do more’ in foreign policy: but a fundamental reason why the EU cannot ‘do more’ is due to the peculiar constitutional structure of this policy. This book is dedicated to recalling the history of such distinctive constitutional structure.

The monograph explores the history of the legal distinctiveness of the European Union’s CFSP by adding an in-depth engagement with historiography (and political science) to the literature on EU external relations law. The book thus combines two approaches: that of the lawyer, in so far as the subject matter are legal rules; and that of the historian, in so far as it traces the development of the institutions and processes of CFSP

Methodologically, the book studies the influence of individuals on international history, and in particular on European law. In line with an established tradition of history and political science, the monograph will be concerned with the study of the causality of the choice made by individuals (as a refinement of the idea that choices are made by states). It seeks to develop a narrative of the behaviour of the people who, by reason of the position (political leaders and high-ranking civil servants), were able to shape or influence decision-making which resulted in EU ‘constitutional’ texts. The book follows protagonists at the fore-front of European integration, such as De Gasperi, Adenauer, and De Gaulle, but also more recent political figures such Blair, Chirac and Merkel.

The message of the book is that it is possible to find an explanation of the constitutional distinctiveness of CFSP – which is among the most researched topic in EU external relations law – in the accidents of the history of European integration, rather than in the ‘big picture’ of history, or in a grand design by a single political leader.

Commenting on the news, Dr Luigi Lonardo said:

I am particularly delighted that Palgrave has placed trust in this ambitious project. The target audience is interdisciplinary, as the book is aimed not only at scholars of EU law, but also, if not predominantly, at readers with an interest in EU politics and European history. A book published among Palgrave’s ​​Politics and International Studies is perfectly placed to reach a very wide readership among scholars of European studies.

This book builds upon and complements the historical chapters of my PhD thesis, awarded in 2020 by King’s College London. I am really grateful to Professor Tridimas for his doctoral supervision, and to Professor Koutrakos and Professor Govaere for examining and commenting on the PhD thesis.

The date for publication of Dr Lonardo’s monograph is to be confirmed, but is estimated to be late 2022 at the earliest. Watch this space for more information!