Submitted Abstract
The Lecture Series on the topic The European Union as a global international actor had already addressed with success, since March 2014, the general question as to whether the European Union can be considered as a global political actor in the context of global governance, according to the objectives set out in the Treaty of Lisbon. The 4 Lectures planed between October 2017 and January 2018 continued to provide a platform for debate and exchange of ideas and research resultsin the field of the external action of the European Union. They were linked to the internal project “The European Union as global international actor and the question of competence” and they addressed the controversial questions concerning the Union’s competence and external representation.The lectures reinforced the visibility of this research activity, which ended at the edition of a collective book. The lectures followed a working seminar organised in the framework of the internal research project involving young researchers (on the basis of a selection after a call for papers) and experienced academics as well as members of the Court of Justice or other European Institutions.Participants of the workshop contributed actively as discussants to the debatefollowing the lecture.The lectures were linked to a concrete analysis and didactic systematisation of the question of division of competences between the Union and the Member States, as well as the question of the external representation of the Union. At the same time, and based on the success of the lecture series already funded by the FNR, they contributed to the exchange of ideas through inter academic discussions, they involved members of theCourts of Justice of the European Union and of European institutions and organs, as well as national experts andpolicy makers, and contributed to the understanding of the European integration process.The programme stimulated the interest of students, researchers, practitioners and members of the European and national institutions, as it was linked to current negotiations of important international agreements.