Publisher's Synopsis
Article 224 is one of the most powerful Articles of the Treaty of Rome, allowing a member state to take unilateral measures and to suspend some or all its Treaty based obligations in times of what can loosely be described as serious internal turmoil or external threat. It is for this reason that the very next Article of the Treaty, Art.225, allows the Commission or a member state to challenge the invocation of Art.224, before the ECJ, on grounds of improper use. In practice, the use of Art.224 by a member state presents multiple problems. The obvious connection with defence and security issues has inhibited the ECJ which still has not given an authentic interpretation of this Article. As the recent FYROM cases (Greek referral for the embargo on FYROM) indicate unless the use of Art.224 is blatantly flippant the ECJ is not in a position to challenge a member state?s unilateral measures. - - In this original, interdisciplinary research the authors have surveyed all the cases where Art.224 has been invoked, with particular emphasis on the recent FYROM cases and have looked at the political implications of the connection between Arts.224 and 225 with defence and security. They also examine recent claims about the ECJ?s 'minimalist' approach and conclude that the current state of affairs, with reference to these two Treaty Articles, presents a 'Catch-22' situation which, in an enlarged EU, may pose a threat to the member states? solidarity.
