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This chapter provides a systematic overview of EU practice relevant to international law. Inspired from comparable articles on the contribution of UN practice to international law, this EU practice will be set in context within the broader framework of international law, whilst trying to assess its impact on the development of international law at large. The chapter begins by recalling the constitutional foundations in European law which entrusts the EU with powers to act under international law. It then focuses on questions of general international law such as sources, subjects, jurisdiction, responsibility, and enforcement. This is followed by analysis of the EU's contribution to certain specialized branches of international law.

This chapter explores how the principles and methods of cultural evolution can inform our understanding of technology and science. Both technology and science are prime examples of cumulative cultural evolution, with each generation preserving and building upon the achievements of prior generations. A key benefit of an evolutionary approach to technological or scientific change is “population thinking,” where broad trends and patterns are explained in terms of individual-level mechanisms of variation, selection, and transmission. This chapter outlines some of these mechanisms and their implications for technological change, including sources of innovation, types of social learning, facilitatory developmental factors, and cultural transmission mechanisms. The role of external representations and human-constructed environments in technological evolution are explored, and factors are examined which determine the varying rates of technological change over time: from intrinsic characteristics of single technological traits, such as efficacy or manufacturing cost, to larger social and population-level factors, such as population size or social institutions. Science can be viewed as both a product of cultural evolution as well as a form of cultural evolution in its own right. Science and technology constitute separate yet interacting evolutionary processes. Outstanding issues and promising avenues for future investigation are highlighted and potential applications of this work are noted. Published in the Strungmann Forum Reports Series.

In line with the European Union’s (EU’s or Union’s) dual commitment to human rights and effective multilateralism, cooperation with the United Nations (UN) is an important element of the Union’s external human rights policy. Owing to a strong internal coordination mechanism, the EU acts as one of the most cohesive regional blocs at the UN. It successfully promotes a range of resolutions and ranks among the principal donors of UN human rights institutions. Nevertheless, the EU’s engagement with the UN is not without challenges, both external and internal in nature. Limited participation rights and time-consuming internal coordination processes, but also the increasing tendency among EU Member States to act outside of the Union, limit the EU’s potential for assuming its intended leadership role. This chapter provides a brief introduction to the UN human rights system and explores the Union’s political commitment to engaging with the UN, as well as the legal framework for doing so. After a brief overview of the Union’s internal coordination and external representation mechanisms, the chapter analyses the different tools that the EU has at its disposal in the UN. Finally, the chapter explores the opportunities and the challenges of EU-UN cooperation and concludes with a set of recommendations.

This chapter presents the rules under EU law and international law that enable the EU to participate in the work of other international organizations. It explains the process of the EU becoming and acting as a full member in an international body composed of States, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) or the World Trade Organization (WTO). When full membership is legally not possible, the EU is often granted the status of an observer. In this regard, the chapter presents pertinent examples from the UN and its specialized organizations. It puts particular emphasis on recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law, including Germany v Council (‘OTIF I’), where the Court underlined that the presentation of common EU positions is necessary in international organizations, even if the EU is not a full member thereof and has not legislated in the entire field of action covered by that organization.